Details on Elder Justice Act

• 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.
• Provide a first-time direct funding stream for Adult Protective Services (APS) – $100 million a year for four years.
• Establish an advisory board to create a short- and long-term multidisciplinary strategic plan for the developing field of elder justice.
• Authorize $10 million for national organizations or states that represent or train long-term care ombudsman representatives to provide training, technical assistance, demonstration programs and research to improve ombudsman effectiveness in addressing abuse and neglect in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
• Authorize $500,000 to determine the efficacy of establishing and maintaining a national nurse aide registry.
• Authorize $20 million in grants to enhance long-term care staffing through training and recruitment to establish employee incentives including career and wage benefit ladders and programs to improve management practices.

        The legislation has been endorsed by the Elder Justice Coalition, a national membership organization comprised of 525 groups dedicated to eliminating elder abuse, neglect and exploitation in America, including:

• The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse,
•  National Association of Adult Protective Service Administrators,
•  National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys,
•  National Association of State Ombudsman Programs, and
• The National Association of State Units on Aging.