Fighting For Elder Jusitce

Senate, May 04, 2007

A bipartisan group in Congress yesterday introduced legislation to protect senior citizens from abuse and exploitation. The Elder Justice Act of 2007 would combat the reported mistreatment of as many as 2 million American seniors by their caregivers. The legislation’s sponsors are Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), and Rep. Peter King (R-NY).

“Thousands of cases of elder abuse go unaddressed every day,” Hatch said. “We have armies of federal employees fighting child and domestic abuse, yet we don’t have one federal employee working full time combating elder abuse. That’s going to change when this bill becomes law.”

“Every older person living in this country has the right to be free of abuse, neglect, and exploitation,” Lincoln said. “The Elder Justice Act makes combating elder abuse a national priority, and its passage is long overdue.”

“Every year, millions of American seniors are victims of abuse and neglect. This bill will bring focus to the problem of elder abuse and elevate it to the same level as other family violence issues, like domestic violence and child abuse,” Emanuel said. “Elder abuse remains under-researched, under-reported, under-funded and under-prosecuted.”

"Elder abuse, neglect and exploitation are alarming issues that must be addressed by Congress,” King said. “That is why I am proud to stand with such a bipartisan coalition to introduce this legislation."

If enacted into law, the Elder Justice Act would provide federal resources to state and community officials who currently grapple with elder abuse with scarce means and fragmented systems. Mechanisms for identifying and tracking elder abuse indicate that many instances of injustice are not reported for appropriate prosecution.

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.