Protecting the rights, independence, and safety of older people by exploring barriers, sharing information and ideas, and providing a voice from the field to policy makers
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CEJC News
CEJC's 2019 Policy Priorities
CEJC's policy agenda for 2019 focuses on safeguarding the state's most vulnerable members. We are partnering with the County Welfare Directions Association (CWDA), the CA Commission on Aging (CCoA), and the CA State Association of PA/PG/PC in calling for a budget request for training funds for Adult Protective Services workers and public guardians. For more, click here. CEJC is further collaborating with its partners in calling for a Cognitive Impairment Task Force (SB 440) to explore the needs of adults with cognitive impairments and reduce their risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination. More on this initiative to follow. For more on these efforts and other news, see CEJC News in March/April News & Updates. |
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News & Updates |
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California News
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DSS Funds 24 Home Safe Elder Homelessness Prevention Pilots
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has announced that it has awarded funds to 24 county APS programs in the state to launch Home Safe homelessness prevention programs. Funding for the programs was secured through a 2018 initiative spearheaded by the CWDA and co-sponsored by CEJC and the California Commission on Aging. The programs will assist APS clients who are experiencing, or at imminent risk of experiencing, homelessness due to elder or dependent adult abuse, neglect, self-neglect, or financial exploitation. Grantees will implement a range of strategies to support housing stability, including short-term financial assistance, legal services, eviction prevention, heavy cleaning, and landlord mediation. Grantees are also encouraged to collaborate with local homelessness networks. For more on the program and a list of counties that received grants, go to Home Safe Fact Sheet. |
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Governor Newsom Commits to Aging Agenda
During his state of the state address, Governor Newsom acknowledged the state's growing aging population and the need for a new Master Plan on Aging, singling out the need for person-centered care and addressing the "patchwork of public services, social isolation, bed-locked seniors in need of transportation, the nursing shortage, and demand for In-Home Supportive Services that far outpaces its capacity." He also announced the launch of an Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness Task Force to bring together scientists and thinkers to develop first-of-its-kind research in this area. It will be headed by a leading advocate for families dealing with Alzheimer’s, our former first lady, Maria Shriver. She is here today and we are grateful for her continued service. |
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CALOES Funds 13 New Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team (MDTs)
California's Office of Emergency Services has announced funding for 13 new MDTs, bringing the total to 25. The new recipients are San Mateo County; Women's Transitional Living Center, Inc; County of Yolo; Women Escaping a Violent Environment; VIP Community Mental Health Center, Inc; Foothill Family Service; Placer County District Attorney; Healthy House Within a MATCH Coalition; South Asian Helpline and Referral Agency; Lao Family Community Development, Inc; Fathers & Families of San Joaquin; County of Los Angeles; and Ombudsman Services of Contra Costa, Inc. Once again, CEJC and its partners, CDSS and the California Commission on Aging, will conduct an intensive training for currently funded and newly funded teams in April. |
National News
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Senate Aging Committee Launches 116th Congress with Fraud Hearing
The Senate Special Committee on Aging held its first hearing of the 116th Congress, Fighting Elder Fraud: Progress Made, Work to Be Done, on January 16, 2019. The Committee considered progress made by federal, state, and local law enforcement to combat elder fraud and highlighted the need for continued action to fight fraud that has been the focus of the Committee’s work in recent years, including the ever-increasing number of nuisance robocalls. The committee also released its 2019 Fraud Book with information on the top 10 most common scams reported to its Fraud Hotline (1-855-303-9470) in 2018 and tips on ways to protect ourselves from scams. Last year, the Hotline received more than 1,500 calls from nearly every state. Once again, the IRS impersonation scam, was the most reported scam. Read the 2019 Fraud book here. |
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Senate Holds Hearing on Guardianship Reform
On November 28, the Senate Special Committee on Aging convened “Ensuring Trust: Strengthening State Efforts to Overhaul the Guardianship Process and Protect Older Americans.” The hearing focused on: the oversight of guardians, alternatives to guardianship, the restoration of rights, and the need for better data. The Committee released a report in conjunction with the hearing that is available here. Committee Chair Susan Collins and Ranking Member, Bob Casey have further authored the “Guardianship Accountability Act” to promote information sharing among courts, local organizations, state and federal entities; encourage the use of background checks and less restrictive alternatives to guardianship, and expand the availability of federal grants to improve the guardianship system. To watch the hearing and read statements and testimony, click here. |
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Lori Delagrammatikas Named New NAPSA Executive Director
Kathleen Quinn, former and Acting Director of the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA), has announced the selection of Lori Delagrammatikas as NAPSA's new Executive Director, starting January 21, 2019. Lori, who currently serves as APS Liaison for the California Department of Social Services, is a founding CEJC memeber and served on the Steering Committee. Congratulations Lori! |
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Public Charge Rule Change Threatens Immigrant Families
The Trump Administration has proposed a "public charge" rule change that could reduce access to programs that support health, nutrition, and economic stability by immigrants and their families. Alliance for Justice is spearheading an effort to push back on the rule change and has produced a webinar and template to help frame the issue. For more on how the rule will affect older adults go to http://www.justiceinaging.org/public-charge-and-immigrant-seniors/ |
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Summit Highlights Rural and Tribal Elders
In November, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) sponsored the Rural and Tribal Elder Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, to discuss challenges to protecting the 20% of older Americans who live in rural communities. The event was part of a larger collaboration between DOJ and the Department of Agriculture to explore how geographic isolation increases vulnerability to abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Topics included the emerging role of tele-health and tele-medicine in accessing services. Houston's TEAM- Forensic Assessment Center Network, which links geriatric and elder abuse experts to APS caseworkers and their clients across the state, was among the models highlighted. |
State News, Other States
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Ohio Stakeholders Prioritize Elder Abuse Research Needs
A newly released study by the Ohio Attorney General’s Elder Abuse Commission suggests how experts in the state would prioritize funds for elder abuse research. It is based on a survey of 459 practitioners, senior service administrators, researchers, advocates, and others across the state that asked respondents to allocate a hypothetical $1,000 for research on abuse, with respondents asked to chose among six possible research questions. Responders allocated an average of $263 for research on “What programs and policies can best prevent elder abuse before it happens?” and $227 for “What programs and policies can best serve victims after elder abuse has begun?.” The priorities were consistent among advocates and researchers and for respondents from both urban and rural regions. The Ohio Elder Abuse Commission plans to inform key stakeholders, including researchers, administrators, practitioners, policy makers, and funders about the results. |
New Resources
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Shelter, the Missing LInk in a Coordinated Community Response to Elder Abuse
Produced by the Weinberg Center for Elder Justice, which was the first elder abuse shelter in the nation, this publication describes the Center's model and makes the case for why shelters are a vital component of coordinated community responses to abuse. The center also recently updated its website: weinberg-center.org. |
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New Tools to Assist in Financial Exploitation Investigations
Dr. Peter Lichtenberg, the director of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University and colleagues have released the "Older Adult Nest Egg Tools" for evaluating older adults" decision-making abilities, psychological vulnerability, and susceptibility to exploitation. They can be used to set a baseline or immediately after suspected exploitation. It provides a score of risk and recommends next steps. For more, go to https://olderadultnestegg.com. |
Media Watch
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When Private Equity Firms Care for America's Vulnerable
This chilling Washington Post article describes what happens when the ManorCare nursing home chain, the second-largest in the country, was taken over by the Carlyle Group, one of the richest private-equity firms in the world. See Overdoses, Bedsores, Broken Bones. |
Visit our News & Updates Archive for additional recent news items.