well June is elder abuse awareness month and new data from the Texas Department of Family and protective services shows a month like this is absolutely necessary with the amount of cases they're investigating if you or a loved one needs help to report elder abuse you can call the number you see right there at the bottom of your screen we're going to leave that up for you throughout this story here's kvu's Fort Sanders nearly 120 000 reports of abuse neglect or exploitation of Texas Elders in the 2022 fiscal year the Texas Department of Family and protective services Adult Protective Service staff investigated nearly 85 000 of those claims and they validated more than 50 000 of them it can be physical it can be emotional it can be verbal abuse Michael Aguirre works for APS in Travis County he says his team validated nearly 4 500 local cases of abuse or neglect in 2022 but exploitation cases may be harder to investigate because the person at the center of the allegations may have a close relationship with the victim they're using their ongoing role to support that individual to help them and then take an advantage through some form of exploitation it's like you know is most often Financial exploitation the more than 50 000 reports that APS validated are only tied to issues behind the doors of private residences to make sure residents in care facilities are accounted for a state employee called an ombudsman like Patty dukaye is there to step in being at the bedside of residence visiting them room to room and introducing ourselves and reminding them of our service which is to meet with them provide them information about their rights and the responsibilities of the facility both departments say they work with authorities to help put an end to any issues but for the ombudsman's office it's all about what the patient is comfortable with before taking next steps ideally we're really trying to help them communicate with the facility where they live talk to the people who care for them and who manage the building operations and help them express what they need both say during elder abuse awareness month it's important for older adults to know the resources that are available to report abuse neglect or exploitation in Austin I'm Ford Sanders