National Center on Elder Abuse Update
In the four weeks since we issued our analysis of the National
Center on Elder Abuse’s (NCEA) “Accomplishments
and Promises” (www.WordBridges.net/elderabuse/AAR/vol2issue4/accomplishments_promises.html),
there have been several developments related to the NCEA.
Most importantly, the 2000 Survey of State Adult Protective
Services -- which compiles not only 1999 APS reports
to all the states, but includes other important data -- has
finally been issued. It is available at http://www.elderabusecenter.org/pdf/research/apsreport030703.pdf
and will be reviewed by AAR in the near future.
The bank reporting white paper has now been released in two
versions. Can
Bank Tellers Tell? Legal Issues Relating to Banks Reporting
Financial Abuse of the Elderly at http://www.elderabusecenter.org/pdf/publication/bank_reporting_long_final_52703.pdf
is the longer one; the abridged version, Legal Issues
Related to Bank Reporting of Suspected Elder Financial Abuse,
is at http://www.elderabusecenter.org/pdf/publication/bank_reporting_summary_final_52703.pdf/.
AAR will also review these in an upcoming edition.
The eighth in the NCEA/Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect
of the Elderly series of annotated bibliographies has been
released. The newest one, “Addressing the Needs of Older
Battered Women, with Special Emphasis on Intimate Partner
Violence,” is available at www.elderabusecenter.org/default.cfm?p=cane_obw.cfm/.
The “content analysis” of the national elder
abuse listserve has now been uploaded onto the new website.
Listserve subscribers only can reach it by clicking on “Elder
Abuse Listserve” in the right-hand column of many pages,
then clicking on “Listserve Members Only” now
showing in the right-hand column of the new page, and entering
the user name and password that is included in most first-of-the-month
Frequently Asked Questions emails from Lstiegel@staff.abanet.org.
Note, however, that it appears the analysis has not been updated
since mid-2000.
Some of the NCEA website has been technologically adjusted
so that a greater percentage of its contents can be accessed
through its “Search” function than AAR initially
reported. Now when you search the site for, saying, “training,”
references in both the newsletters and the publications list
will be returned.
We have also learned how to find contact information on the
elder abuse coalitions NCEA has listed, although you still
cannot do it by going only to your state via the map or pull-down
menu. Instead, go to http://www.elderabusecenter.org/default.cfm?p=coalitionsandtaskforces.cfm/,
scroll up from the map, and click on, “To see the full
list of coalitions, click here.” Here is the full list,
alphabetically by state, with the coalition name linked to
a page containing its contact information and other data.
Request for Proposals for New NCEA Issued
In related news, the Administration
on Aging (AoA) on July 15th finally issued a Request for
Proposals (RFP) for a new National Center on Elder Abuse (the
current one is scheduled to end July 31st).
The new RFP seeks proposals to enter into a 3-year, $809,703
annually, cooperative agreement with AoA to run the NCEA.
Grantees will work closely with AoA, which will “be
substantially involved in the development and execution of
the activities of the grantee.” AoA says the new NCEA
will “incorporate the latest technology to generate
and disseminate knowledge that can build and strengthen elder
rights networks and enhance the effectiveness of state and
community-based elder abuse prevention and intervention programs.
It will serve as a national clearinghouse of information on
all forms of elder abuse, including physical, psychological,
sexual and financial abuse; neglect and self-neglect. NCEA
will tailor its activities and work products to meet the special
needs of disadvantaged populations, including limited-English
speaking individuals.”
Specifically, the RFP says the new NCEA shall carry out the
following activities:
- Provide up-to-date information to individuals, professionals,
public and private agencies, and service providers interested
in the subject of elder abuse, elder abuse prevention and
intervention activities, state aging and adult protective
service programs, state and federal legislation that impacts
on elder abuse prevention and intervention programs and
recent or ongoing elder abuse-research studies. NCEA shall
respond to inquiries promptly and shall disseminate information
via an NCEA website, list serve, monthly newsletter, and
mailings.
- Develop and maintain a web-based information clearinghouse
on all programs (including private programs) showing promise
of success for the prevention, identification, and treatment
of elder abuse.
- Develop and maintain a lending library of information
on elder abuse prevention and intervention promising practices,
research, training and technical assistance programs, and
public awareness campaigns. NCEA shall keep copies of reports,
curricula, CD ROMs, journal articles, posters, brochures,
videos, books, pamphlets and other materials. Those wishing
to duplicate these materials shall be able to download,
order or borrow them via an index on the NCEA web site.
- Provide technical assistance, training and consultation
to state and area agencies on aging and to other public
and nonprofit private agencies and faith-based organizations
to assist the agencies and organizations in planning, implementing,
improving, coordinating and evaluating programs and activities
relating to the special problems of elder abuse. This technical
assistance, training and consultation shall be carried out
directly on-site as well as through state-of-the-art communication
and technology-based methods.
- Compile, publish, and disseminate training materials
for personnel who are engaged or intend to engage in the
prevention, identification and treatment of elder abuse.
- Conduct research and demonstration projects regarding
the causes, prevention, identification and treatment of
elder abuse, including projects to test and evaluate interventions.
- Annually compile, publish and disseminate a summary
of recently conducted research on elder abuse.
- Identify emerging elder abuse issues and prepare
and disseminate informational materials addressing such
issues.
- Prepare and disseminate fact sheets and specialized
information packets addressing a range of elder abuse issues.
- Operate an NCEA web site that provides the public
and professionals with updated elder abuse prevention and
intervention information, including all written materials
produced by NCEA.
NCEA is expected to address a full range of subjects
related to the operation of state and community-based elder
abuse prevention and intervention programs. Such subjects
may include, but are not limited to:
- Major issues, trends and promising practices in the
planning, delivery and evaluation of services by programs
designated by state elder abuse laws to investigate and
follow through reports of elder abuse;
- Major issues, trends and promising practices in the
planning, delivery and evaluation of services by all levels
of government and by the private sector to combat elder
abuse;
- Coordination of services provided by area agencies
on aging with services instituted under state and local
adult protective services programs;
- Coordination of state and local aging and adult protective
services programs with other state and local service programs,
including legal, social, health, domestic violence, victim
assistance, criminal justice, law enforcement, consumer
protection and Medicare/Medicaid fraud control;
- Development and maintenance of state and community-based
elder rights networks and elder abuse prevention multi-disciplinary
teams;
- Improvement of state elder abuse information and
reporting systems;
- Ethical issues related to provision of elder abuse
prevention and intervention services;
- Education of key professionals within both the aging
and adult protective services network and such other service
networks as health, criminal justice, law enforcement, victims
assistance, legal assistance and domestic violence;
- Analyses of federal and state program issues, policies,
legislative trends, regulations and the impacts related
to state and local elder abuse programs; and
- Development of strategies to assist states to target
limited elder abuse prevention resources for maximum impact.
Eligible applicants are public and/or nonprofit agencies,
organizations, or institutions, including faith-based organizations.
Note, however, that “applicants must demonstrate a proven
track record of expert knowledge concerning the operation
and organization of elder abuse programs at national, state,
and local levels, as well as the requisite organizational
capacity to carry out the activities of the Center on a national
scale.”
Unfortunately, AoA gave potential applicants for the NCEA
only a month to prepare a proposal; the deadline for proposals
is August 15, 2003.
For further information on the RFP, go to http://www.aoa.gov/doingbus/fundopp/fundopp.asp/.
The NCEA RFP is part of the FY 2003 AoA Consolidated Program
Announcement and Application Instructions (AoA-03-07).
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