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Charles Sabatino: Calling for a U.N. Convention on the Rights of Older People
John Dussich on Restorative Justice and Elder Abuse: A Promising Match?
Georgia Anetzberger on How Not to Be a Victim: Remembering Jenny

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CEJC News

CEJC Launches "Awareness Snapshots" Presentation Series
"Awareness Snapshots" is a series of short recorded presentations by subject matter experts on a variety of elder justice topics. See Awareness Snapshots for more information and to see our first presentation on Investment Scams.

CEJC's 2019 Policy Priorities
CEJC's 2019 policy agenda focuses on safeguarding the state's most vulnerable members in partnership with the County Welfare Directions Association (CWDA), the California Commission on Aging (CCoA) and the California Association of CAPA/PG/PCs (CAPAPGPC). Co-sponsored initiatives include:

Success! Budget Request for Enhanced APS, CAPA/PG/PC Training Approved. This request for $5.75 million from the General Fund has been approved and will be matched by federal funds.
Senate Bill 440. This bill to create a Task Force to explore the needs of adults with cognitive impairments and reduce their risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination, was placed on the suspense file where its fiscal impact will be reviewed. CEJC will work with its partners who co-sponsored the bill to consider next steps.

Act Now/Weigh In

ACL Seeking Stakeholder Input on EJCC
The Administration for Community Living is soliciting input from stakeholders about future activities they would like to see the Elder Justice Coordinating Council (EJCC) undertake. The EJCC coordinates federal activities related to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Comments can be submitted electronically to ejcc@acl.hhs.gov with “Thoughts and Ideas” in the subject line through September 30, 2019. For more, go to EJCC Comments.

National Advocates Academy

Webinar Recording Now Available
In case you missed our July 23 webinar: Reforming Adult Guardianship Through Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders (WINGS), a recording is now available on the Past Webinar Recordings page.

First Meeting of State Elder Justice Coalitions
Following the Advocates Academy's 2018 ASA panel presentation and follow-up webinar "Building an Elder Justice Movement State by State," the panelists began meeting to explore the need for an ongoing network to foster collaboration and information sharing. The result is the newly formed National Network of State Elder Justice Coalitions (NNSEJC). The group met for the first time on July 24. To learn more, visit NNSEJC.

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News & Updates

California News

Governor's Budget is Good News for Elder Justice
Among the items contained in the Governor's $214.8 billion "age friendly budget" is $5.75 million to support training for APS social workers and public administrators/public guardians/public conservators (PA/PG/PC). The increase, which will be matched by federal dollars, was included in response to a request spearheaded by the California Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) and co-sponsored by CEJC along with the California Commission on Aging (CCoA) and the California State Association of PA/PG/PC. Other wins for elder justice are:

$4.2 million for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman this year and $5.2 million annually;
$873,000 for six positions to work on Governor’s Master Plan on Aging, the Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness Task Force, and the Single Payer Commission;
$30 million for Caregiver Resource Centers; and
$300,000 to the California Senior Legislature.

The budget further supplements or restores key safety net services and benefits. For a summary of other key age-related items, see CCoA's AgeWatch Vol 10 Issue 3, July 2019.

Reactions to Governor's Master Plan for Aging
On June 10, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-14-19, calling for a Master Plan for Aging. In it, he directed Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHSS), to convene a cabinet-level Workgroup for Aging to help develop the plan and a Stakeholder Advisory Committee to include older Californians, adults with disabilities, local government representatives, health care providers, health plans, employers, community-based organizations, foundations, academic researchers, and organized labor. The goal for completing the plan is October 2020. The SCAN Foundation has produced a series of publications about the initiative, including:

Perspectives. President and CEO Bruce Chernof discusses the importance of designing a plan that reflects what matters most to Californians.
California's Master Plan for Aging: Transforming a Fragmented System Through Statewide Leadership and Coordination
Developing California's Master Plan for Aging: Examples from Other States and Relevant California Efforts

National News

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

DoJ Announces Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force
Attorney General Barr has announced the creation of the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force to investigate and prosecute individuals and entities associated with foreign-based fraud schemes that disproportionately affect older Americans. The force will include the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and other law enforcement organizations. It will also collaborate with the Federal Trade Commission and industry partners.

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Stamp Out Elder Abuse Bill Reintroduced
Once again, Representative Peter King has introduced a bill (H.R.2719) to create a "semipostal" (fundraising) stamp with proceeds going to increase funding for elder abuse programs in the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services. A similar bill was introduced on the Senate side in June by Senator Susan Collins and cosponsors Jacky Rosen, Martha McSally, and Amy Klobuchar. Bob Blancato, Coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition, has noted that millions in new revenues could be generated through the stamp, citing as an example, the Breast Cancer Research stamp, which has raised over $89.5 million since 1998. Funds to HSS would go to developing emerging practices and DOJ funds would be used to improve prosecution, data collection, litigation support, and prevention.

Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

Administration Proposes Rescinding Regs on Payday Lenders
In 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it intended to reconsider its 2017 Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans rule that would require payday lenders to determine whether borrowers had the ability to repay payday loans, which can carry annual interest rates of more than 300%. Earlier this year, CFPB announced that it would delay the compliance date for the provisions for 15 months to allow it to review comments, make changes, and account for potential unanticipated implementation challenges. The Trump administration has argued that rescinding the rule will encourage competition in the industry and provide more options for borrowers. A public comment period on the proposed change closed May 15 and it is unclear when a final rule will be issued.

Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash

Advocates Celebrate Olmstead Decision Anniversary
On June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court ruled in Olmstead v. L.C. that unjustified segregation of people with disabilities is a form of unlawful discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA, which had been championed by disability rights advocates, improved access to employment, public spaces, and transportation for people with disabilities and required states to ensure that services for members of this group were provided in the most integrated settings possible.
The ruling had a tremendous impact on older Americans by asserting that older people had a right to live in the least restrictive settings possible and that failure to make "reasonable accommodations" to enable them to do so constituted a violation of their rights under the ADA. States were told to respond to nursing home residents' requests for reviews to determine if they were capable of living in the community, and LTC Ombudsmen were directed to help residents seek reviews and file complaints against facilities for failures to comply. The decision also fueled the “consumer choice” movement, which cast users of community-based long-term care as “consumers” and created more opportunities for them to exercise choice and direct their own care. On June 25, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living and Office for Civil Rights hosted a celebration of the historic case. For more on Olmstead v. L.C. go to Background on the Olmstead Decision.

New Resources

Supported Decision-Making (SDM)
Concern for preserving autonomy and individual rights has led to growing interest in SDM, which is a process for providing guidance to people with limited or failing capacity. Proposed by some as an alternative to guardianship, it involves explaining the benefits and drawbacks of decisions to decision-makers in plain language, providing advice and recommendations, and finding ways to help those who have communication barriers express and exercise choice. The following resources focus on SDM for older adults and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities respectively.

Finding the Right Fit: Decision-Making Supports and Guardianship is a training designed by the National Center for State Courts and the American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging that provides an overview of decision-making supports and guardianship. It explains options available to help people exercise choice about health, money, and lifestyle; when guardianship is needed; and how to reduce the risk of abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Supported Decision-Making (SDM) Bootcamp: Training Videos and Materials Produced by The Arc California, this training program includes five modules, available in English and Spanish, that range from a basic introduction to SDM to case law and legislation pertaining to it.

The Weinberg Center for Elder Justice’s Elder Abuse Shelter Monograph
Produced by the Weinberg Center for Elder Justice, this publication describes the benefits of elder shelters, different models for providing shelter care, and trauma-informed approaches to working with shelter clients.The latest version of the annual summary of statistics related to the older population, drawn from census data, includes a new section on emergency and disaster preparedness in addition to providing updated information on older Americans' income, living arrangements, education, health, and caregiving.

Interviewing Alleged Perpetrators APS Curriculum
This new training module by the Adult Protective Services Workforce Innovations (APSWI) training program at the Academy for Professional Excellence, San Diego State University School of Social Work is among the latest in a series of APS training videos.

Research & Reports

Studies Show Ageism Not as "Baked in" as Believed
The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently funding four studies aimed at defining ageism, its causes and health consequences, the best ways to measure it, and how to combat it. The findings will appear in a United Nations report that is expected to be published within a year. Among the researchers involved in the project is Karl Pillemer, one of the foremost researchers in elder abuse, who is exploring ageist attitudes. He concludes that “the message is loud and clear. Ageist attitudes don’t seem as baked in as we think. They may be relatively malleable.” See Ageism: A ‘Prevalent and Insidious’ Health Threat.

Visit our July/August 2019 News & Updates for more, including:

CEJC News