Ground-breaking Elder Justice Act
Introduced into U.S. Senate

The first-ever comprehensive federal legislation to address elder abuse and crimes against elders was introduced into the U.S. Senate on September 13, 2002. S. 2933, the Elder Justice Act of 2002, was introduced by Senator John Breaux (D-LA) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), along with nine co-sponsors: Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Christopher Bond (R-MO), Jean Carnahan (D-MO), Susan Collins (R-ME), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Robert Torricelli (D-NJ). On the 23rd, two more Senators co-sponsored the bill: Pete Domenici (R-NM) and John D. Rockefeller, IV (D-WV).

The 138-page bill “establishes dual Offices of Elder Justice at the US Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to coordinate disparate federal, state and local elder abuse prevention efforts, while also housing policy experts and coordinating programs to study, detect, treat, prosecute and, most importantly, prevent elder abuse, neglect and exploitation of seniors living independently and those in residential care facilities,” says a Senate press release on the bill.

The release goes on to say, “[t]he bill also establishes new programs to assist victims and provides grants for education and training for law enforcement and prosecutors, while developing more forensic expertise. It enhances reporting of crimes in long-term settings and requires FBI criminal background checks for those employed by long-term care providers, rather than state checks alone.

“Finally, the Breaux-Hatch bill includes new measures to increase and retain staff in long-term care facilities, including a staff demonstration project, training and degree programs, and incentives to draw more people to health professions serving elders.”

The bill has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee, which bill co-sponsor Max Baucus chairs.

The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse has asked those interested in elder abuse to send letters of support to the bill’s sponsors and co-sponsors, particularly if they represent your state.

Commentary: This bill is not perfect. Most obviously, it perpetuates a troubling division between those who are above an arbitrary age (and hence “elder”) and those who are below that age but vulnerable because of disabilities. Given its size, it probably contains many more things an advocate could take a disliking to! But it is a marvelous opportunity to raise public awareness of elder abuse, takes a multidisciplinary approach, and covers both institutional and domestic elder abuse. It’s a good vehicle to get behind even while, possibly, working to see that it eventually passes with some changes. WordBridges therefore recommends that if your Senator is not a co-sponsor, you contact her or him to ask them to co-sponsor the bill. They can get more of the information they need about it from Lauren Fuller of Senator Breaux’s office at 202-224-5364, Wan Kim of Senator Hatch’s office at 202-224-5225, or from the Elder Justice website at http://aging.senate.gov/elderjustice/.