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Posted June 11, 2013 byLanaBandoim Follow

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Interview with Carolyn A. Brent:A Caregivers StoryBy LanaBandoim | Posted June 11, 2013

I had the opportunity to interview Carolyn A. Brent who is the founder of thenonprofit organization A Caregivers Story and Grandpas Dream. She is anactivist and advocate for caregivers. Brent has proposed a bill in the Californiastate legislature and hopes to see it on the 2013 ballot.

Carolyn A. Brent gave a presentation to the California State Assembly inFebruary about raising the penalties for vexatious litigation. She recentlyshared how her own battles as a caregiver have pushed her to help others inthe same role.

For 12 years, I took care of my father, a veteran who earned a Purple Heart,as he suffered from dementia, and my siblings refused to help, stated Brent.She was the sole caregiver for her father and moved him into her home. After

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his dementia became more serious, and he was found wandering the streets170 miles away from her house, she was forced to move him into a carehome. Brent paid an additional $6,500 a month out of her own pocket for hisprivate assisting living facility because the $1,500 he received in benefits fromthe government was not enough. She worked full-time in the sales division ofthe pharmaceutical industry to support him.

Carolyn A. Brent stated her nightmare began after her father had anemergency and ended up in the hospital. My siblings thought my father wasgoing to die. They took me to probate court and accused me of neglectinghim. One of my family members filed a restraining order, and I wasinvestigated by both the state and federal government. They wrongly believedmy father had money, but I had been paying for all of his expenses,mentioned Brent.

Brent became the victim of vexatious litigation as her family dragged herthrough different jurisdictions just to drop the charges as soon as she made acourt appearance. Her sister actually forced Carolyns niece to give her one ofthe restraining orders outside of the courtroom. Brent was wrongly accused ofabuse and neglect. The restraining order prevented her from seeing her fatheras his condition deteriorated. To this day, I still dont know where he is buried.I only know he died because someone called me. My sister ended up putting

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TAGS: litigation, caregivers, nonprofit, law, news

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him in a state institution because she couldnt afford the private facilities, saidBrent.

Carolyn A. Brent is advocating for a change that would make vexatiouslitigation less appealing to family members and others. Currently, it is amisdemeanor, but she would like it to become a felony. Since 2008, she hasbeen pushing for this change while helping caregivers. She has supported hernonprofit organization with her own money and has spent $100,000. Shehopes she can partner with others in the future and find more funding toadvocate for this important cause. Brent would like to prevent other caregiversfrom becoming victims of this type of abuse.

Sources:http://www.caregiverstory.com/the-project/about-grandpas-dream/

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Thank you Mary for your continued support. Sincerely, Carolyn

This story is essential to families and Carolyn Brent has done outstandingwork in this area. I hope everyone reads her book and pays attention tosuch occurences. The issue of vexatious litigation is one that hurts everyoneinvolved in the situation.

Thank you for your comment jruka. The aim is to educate the world aboutthis well known problem.

This has been a growing trend amongst innocent caregivers who care for aparent and are faced with elder abuse by greedy siblings and familymembers who know, in most cases, nothing about the health or welfare oftheir aging parent. If it was not for a caring daughter or son of the family

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jrukaJune 12, 2013

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most of these elders would be ignored. However, when it comes to a parent'sestate, or lack there of, in most cases...