The impact of a forensic collaborative for older adults on criminal justice and victim outcomes: A randomized-control, longitudinal design

The primary goal of this project is to conduct a rigorous, randomized-control evaluation of the impact of the Denver Forensic Collaborative (DFC), a victim-focused, forensic multidisciplinary team, relative to usual care on criminal justice as well as victim physical and mental health outcomes. The project will enroll 230 participants, age 60 and older. Participants are likely to be 60% women; aged 60-80; at least 50% racial/ethnic minority group members, 90% heterosexual, and majority low income.

Following intakes for older adults at Adult Protective Service (APS) as well as the City and District Attorneys Offices, older adults will be randomized to DFC or UC. The research team will interview older adults at case inception, 3-, 6- , and 9-months. In addition, the research team will interview a collateral reporter at case inception and 9-months, as well as review case files from the referring agency. A thorough battery of victim-focused risk factors for and consequences of abuse/neglect/financial exploitation will be collected at each interview. The impact of the DFC versus usual care will be assessed on victim-focused (e.g., mental health) and criminal justice (e.g., victim engagement with prosecution) outcomes. Analyses will be based on the mixed modeling approach to analysis of (co)variance (GLMM), which is the most powerful approach to examine longitudinal data that includes classification variables, repeated measures, and continuous individual difference variables. ca/ncf