A social worker informed me today that because I have Durable Power of Attorney for my father, who has dementia, that if I leave him alone and anything happens, I am legally responsible. I had no idea this was the case. I assume this would fall under the category of neglect. Does anyone know if this is in fact the case and what I might be exposing myself to as POA if I don't make sure someone is with him 24/7. I had no idea when I agreed to the POA in 2008 (I've been his only care-giver since February, 2012) that this was even something that was possible.
He is currently on hospice for something unrelated to the dementia and I did ask if this was only while he was on hospice (turns out he's fine and they jumped the gun placing him on hospice so he'll likely be discharged soon) and she said its really because of the dementia and that if I didn't have DPOA it would be different!
Now I'm freaking out because I do leave him alone because I think he's okay for a few hours (and the doctors have agreed with me although I'll be asking again tomorrow).
I even called Adult Protective Services to ask them, but they didn't pick up.