Creating A National Network of State Elder Justice Coalitions

In March 2017, CEJC's National Elder Justice Advocates Academy hosted "Building an Elder Justice Movement State by State," a panel featuring representatives from five state elder justice coalitions* at the annual conference of the American Society of Aging in San Francisco. As is often the case, the planning and lead-up turned out to be as engrossing as the event itself. Georgia Anetzberger, Iris Freeman, Paul Caccamise, Risa Breckman, and I used the opportunity to catch up on how our groups were coping with the unnerving setbacks and threats to elder justice we're witnessing and to marvel at unforeseen opportunities.

*Our Coalitions: 

• Georgia Anetzberger: Ohio Coalition for Adult Protective Services and Ohio Elder Abuse Commission
• Iris Freemen: Minnesota Elder Justice Center
• Paul Caccamise: New York State Coalition on Elder Abuse
• Risa Breckman: New York City Elder Abuse Center (NYCEAC)
• Lisa Nerenberg: California Elder Justice Coalition

​The panel went well, prompting us to take the show on the road (virtually speaking) with a webinar in May. See Elder Justice State by State. 

Still, we wanted to keep the conversation going and see if others wanted to join. In September, we posted a "calling all coalitions" alert on NCEA's listserve, asking state groups that focus on advocacy, information sharing, and problem-solving to identify themselves. Twelve groups fitting the bill as networks, coordinating councils, collaboratives, and partnerships responded and two more were identified to us. We also heard from an impressive array of well-wishers and let-me-know-how-I-can-helpers. 

Twelve groups that fit the bill as networks, coordinating councils, collaboratives, and partnerships responded and two more were identified to us. We also heard from an impressive array of well-wishers and let-me-know-how-I-can-helpers.

And so, we're moving forward. With a tentative name—the National Network of State Elder Justice Coalitions— and tentative agenda of identifying and addressing states' needs and challenges, we'll continue to seek partners and welcome expressions of interest. In the meantime, the core group has agreed to advise the Advocates Academy on topics for upcoming webinars, blogs, and toolkits that are of interest to state groups. We'll also be back at ASA's next Future Aging in America conference in April hosting a symposium and peer session and look forward to having members of other state coalitions join us.

About the author

Lisa Nerenberg

Lisa Nerenberg is CEJC's executive director and teaches  at City College of San Francisco.