National Efforts to Combat Crimes Against the Elderly

For my last post of the day, an article I wrote last month.

It is difficult to say how many older Americans are abused, neglected, or exploited because surveillance is limited and the problem remains greatly hidden and vastly under-reported. Nevertheless, there are a number of significant initiatives designed to reduce the incidence of crimes against the elderly.

The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), a program of the U.S. Administration on Aging, serves as a national resource center dedicated to the prevention of elder mistreatment. To carry out its mission, the NCEA disseminates elder abuse information to professionals and the public, and provides technical assistance and training to states and to community-based organizations.
A partial list of other national resources include: National Committee For The Prevention Of Elder Abuse; National Committee For The Prevention Of Elder Abuse; National Adult Protective Services Association; Clearinghouse On Abuse And Neglect Of The Elderly. In addition, every state has an Adult Protective Service Agency. The purpose of the APS agency is to prevent or to remedy abuse, neglect, self-neglect or exploitation of all vulnerable adults (18 and over) who are at risk of immediate harm to their own person or to others.
On March 29, 2007, federal legislation entitled the Elder Justice Act was introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. S. 1070, the Elder Justice Act was authored in the Senate by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and co-authored by Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) with co-sponsors Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR). On the House side the EJA companion bill, H.R. 1783, was authored by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and co-authored by Rep. Peter King (R-NY). Complete texts of both S. 1070 and H.R. 1783 are available at Thomas.
In June 2007, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), introduced the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act of 2007 (S.1577). The proposed legislation would amend titles XVIII and XIX (Medicare and Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require screening, including national criminal history background checks, of direct patient access employees of skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, and other long-term care facilities and providers, and to provide for nationwide expansion of the pilot program for national and State background checks on employees and providers of long-term care with direct patient access.

The impetus for this legislation resulted from the success of a pilot program in seven states between 2005-2007 funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The pilot programs were charged with identifying efficient, effective and economical procedures for conducting comprehensive background checks in long-term care settings. An analysis of the results of the pilot program revealed, among other things, that persons receiving long-term care in the seven pilot states are at lower risk of abuse: more than 9,500 applicants with a history of substantial abuse or a serious criminal background were barred from working in positions involving direct patient access.
(Note: Both of these legislative proposal failed to be enacted in the final days of the 110th Congress; however they enjoyed bi-partisan support and is almost certain they will be re-introduced in the next Congress that convenes in January 2009.)