Support the Elder Justice Act
Posted by
Dan FrithApril 23, 2009 9:50 AMGood news! House of Representative member, Peter King (R-NY), reintroduced the Elder Justice Act (H.R. 2006) - the first comprehensive federal effort to address and prevent elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. It is estimated that over 5 million American seniors fall victim to abuse and neglect each year, yet an overwhelming majority of these cases go unreported. The Elder Justice Act aims to make communities safer for older Americans by developing new strategies and requiring prompt reporting of crimes in nursing homes.
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 $72.5 million over four years 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 $67.5 million over four years 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.
My Take: This is important legislation. Write your members in Congress and urge them to vote in favor of passage. Tell them to turn down the money offered by the long-term care industry and do what is right to protect America's elderly.