Innovations and Resources

California is leading the nation in developing innovations and promising practices. To the right are links to some examples. We look forward to adding to our list. Let us know what your community is doing to promote elder justice.

Counties Commit to Older Adults and Combating Abuse
Counties across California are stepping up to support their older members. Some notable examples include:

San Francisco's Dignity Fund. On November 8, 2016, the City and County of San Francisco amended its charter to create the Dignity Fund to support seniors and adults with disabilities. It requires the City to provide $38 million in initial funding (to increase in future years) to fund services. The amendment further requires San Francisco to establish a planning process for using the funds, and an oversight and an advisory committee.
LA's Affordable Housing Linkage Fee. City Council members have voted to create a dedicated revenue source for affordable housing—the Affordable Housing Linkage Fee, which will double the city’s annual affordable housing production by requiring builders to pay $1 to $15 a square foot for new projects. It followed two years of campaigning by the Coalition for a Just Los Angeles, a city-wide collaboration of community organizations and advocates, affordable housing developers, and civic and religious leaders. San Jose has as similar fee.

Prioritizing Older Crime Victims
For many years, funding for crime victims was only available to victims of violence, ignoring the devastating consequences that financial crimes can have on victims, especially older victims. That has changed in California thanks to the vision of the Office for Emergency Services, which has made older victims in general, and older victims of financial crimes in particular, a top priority.

Romance Scam Survivor Support Group
WISE & Healthy Aging of Long Beach California operates a weekly telephone support group for survivors of scams. The group focuses on helping members break ties with abusers, deal with the emotional and financial impact of the scams, and resume their lives. One group member summed it up the best, “This group has help me recover from the most devastating time in my life. There is a common language and feelings that we share that no one else would understand. They are amazing women of courage, strength and love. We are all warriors.” AARP collaborated with WISE & Healthy Aging to produce WISE & Healthy Aging Romance Scams, a 5+ minute that features that groups and describes how it came to be https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=n6pxXjWj7Vo Wise & Healthy Aging also operates the Holistic Elder Abuse Response Team (HEART) program, a collaboration with the Long Beach Police Department to fill gaps in services for older victims of physical, sexual, emotional, and financial abuse, abandonment, and neglect by caregivers. Services include crisis de-escalation, safety planning, and referrals for health care, food, housing and transportation.

Sacramento Death Review Team
Since 1999, Sacramento’s District Attorney’s Office has partnered with the county’s Department of Health and Human Services to run the Elder Death Review Team (EDRT). The multidisciplinary team is convened by the DA’s office and members represent law enforcement, social services, the coroner, and community based organizations. Its purpose is to conduct in-depth reviews of elder and dependent adult abuse and neglect cases that resulted in death. The group identifies systemic needs, develops strategies, policies and procedures to improve communication between the organizations, and works toward preventing elder abuse and neglect. Each year EDRT publishes a report for the Board of Supervisors that describes its findings and offers recommendations for systems improvements. The 2017 report is available here.

Santa Clara County Task Force Assessment Guidelines
The Elder Abuse Task Force of Santa Clara County has released Elder Abuse – Guidelines for Professional Assessment and Reporting, a comprehensive elder abuse training manual designed to help professionals identify the types of elder and dependent adult abuse, assess and document the situation carefully, intervene appropriately, and report. The Task Force, formed in 1981 and composed of professionals representing agencies serving older adults, is committed to the education, advocacy, and prevention of elder abuse. The Task Force invites other California Counties to replicate the guidelines by adding local reporting agencies and community resources.

New Initiative to Extend Access to SSI Coverage
As part of its work in economic security, Justice in Aging (JIA) is pushing for improved Supplemental Security income (SSI) policies and practices on the local, state and federal levels. The focus is on training, support, capacity building, and coalition building. The geographic focus for the project is Southern California, starting with Los Angeles County, with similar work planned for the Northern California Counties of Alameda and Contra Costa. JIA personnel anticipate that the approach will decrease homelessness. For more on the initiative and JIA’s efforts to end poverty go to Justice in Aging’s website.

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