Lincoln Leads Bipartisan Coalition In Fight For Elder Justice

Press Release

Lincoln Leads Bipartisan Coalition In Fight For Elder Justice

A bipartisan group in Congress yesterday introduced legislation to protect senior citizens from abuse and exploitation. The Elder Justice Act of 2007 would combat the reported mistreatment of as many as 2 million American seniors by their caregivers. The legislation's sponsors are Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), and Rep. Peter King (R-NY).

"Thousands of cases of elder abuse go unaddressed every day," Hatch said. "We have armies of federal employees fighting child and domestic abuse, yet we don't have one federal employee working full time combating elder abuse. That's going to change when this bill becomes law."

"Every older person living in this country has the right to be free of abuse, neglect, and exploitation," Lincoln said. "The Elder Justice Act makes combating elder abuse a national priority, and its passage is long overdue."

"Every year, millions of American seniors are victims of abuse and neglect. This bill will bring focus to the problem of elder abuse and elevate it to the same level as other family violence issues, like domestic violence and child abuse," Emanuel said. "Elder abuse remains under-researched, under-reported, under-funded and under-prosecuted."

"Elder abuse, neglect and exploitation are alarming issues that must be addressed by Congress," King said. "That is why I am proud to stand with such a bipartisan coalition to introduce this legislation."

If enacted into law, the Elder Justice Act would provide federal resources to state and community officials who currently grapple with elder abuse with scarce means and fragmented systems. Mechanisms for identifying and tracking elder abuse indicate that many instances of injustice are not reported for appropriate prosecution.

Some of the bill's provisions include measures to:

Establish an Elder Justice Coordinating Council to make recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the coordination of activities of the Federal, State, local and private agencies and entities relating to elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Improve the quality of information and research related to elder abuse.

Create new forensic expertise in elder abuse (similar to that in child abuse) that will promote detection and increase the capacity to prosecute offenders. New programs will train health professionals in both forensic pathology and geriatrics.

Establish penalties and prosecution for failure to promptly report crimes in long-term care facilities. The act will require reporting of crimes in nursing homes on an official federal website.

Provide a first-time direct funding stream for Adult Protective Services (APS) - $100 million a year for four years.

Establish an advisory board to create a short and long-term multidisciplinary strategic plan for the developing field of elder justice.

Authorize $10 million for national organizations or states that represent or train long-term care ombudsman representatives to provide training, technical assistance, demonstration programs and research to improve ombudsman effectiveness in addressing abuse and neglect in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Authorize $500,000 to determine the efficacy of establishing and maintaining a national nurse aide registry.

Authorize $20 million in grants to enhance long-term care staffing through training and recruitment to establish employee incentives including career and wage benefit ladders and programs to improve management practices.

The legislation has been endorsed by the Elder Justice Coalition, a national membership organization comprised of 525 groups dedicated to eliminating elder abuse, neglect and exploitation in America, including the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, National Association of Adult Protective Service Administrators, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, National Association of State Ombudsman Programs and the National Association of State Units on Aging.

The coalition has said about the Elder Justice Act, "The consistent goal of this legislation has been to produce a stronger and more coordinated federal response to promote elder justice in our nation through increased support to our states and communities. This legislation will achieve that goal."

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