510 E
VIDENCE
-B
ASED
F
AMILY AND
C
OMMUNITY
P
RACTICE
state-level policy issue, it does provide a definition of elder abuse and neglect that
can assist in standardizing the definitions codified in state and local laws. It also
recognizes that more research is needed on the incidence, prevalence, and best
practice interventions for elder abuse, and that a dedicated source of federal
funding would greatly strengthen state and locally funded (and underfunded)
APS programs. The current legislative strategy in enacting the Elder Justice Act
is to work with lawmakers to review its content and seek to include some com-
ponents of the bill in the Older Americans Act reauthorization, with other com-
ponents—most notably the APS provisions—in separate legislation (Robert
Blancado, national coordinator, Elder Justice Coalition, personal communication,
March 17, 2006).
Financial exploitation of older adults has increased dramatically in the past 20
years (Rabiner, Brown, & O’Keefe, 2004). Although much financial abuse and ex-
ploitation is perpetrated by older persons’ family members, a significant portion
occurs through abuses of powers of attorney, guardianships, unauthorized trans-
fers of property, and fraud, thefts, and scams. Financial abuse of the elderly is ad-
dressed in the 2000 reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, and in state law
and regulation, but there are still an estimated 5 million older victims of finan-
cial abuse and exploitation a year, according to the NCEA (2006). Policies that en-
sure improved protection of older adults against financial abuse, as well as
legislative initiatives to promote prevention strategies and programs, are needed
to improve the safety and well-being of older adults.
The 2000 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) ad-
dressed a gap in the original VAWA legislation by including a section on older
women and abuse. The focus was primarily on the need for older women to have
access to domestic violence services and both residential and nonresidential care
that are age-appropriate. The U.S. Department of Justice, through its research
arm, the National Institute of Justice, has provided limited funding for demon-
stration projects and evaluations to examine how best to serve older women do-
mestic violence victims. The 2006 reauthorization continues the commitment to
include abuse of older women as an area of concern. Under Title II: Improving
Services for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and
Stalking (Violence against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization
Act, 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-162, 42 U.S.C. section 13925), based on the National
Elder Abuse Incidence Study, elder abuse perpetrators were defined as primarily
family members.
The most recent VAWA reauthorization identified barriers for older victims
wishing to leave abusive domestic relations as lack of ability to support them-
selves, ill health necessitating dependency on an abusive member, fear of being
removed from their home in the community to a nursing home, and lack of rele-
vant responses from traditional domestic violence programs and law enforcement
(Pub. L. No. 109-162, 42 U.S.C. section 13925). Section 205 (Training and Services
to End Violence Against Women in Later Life) supports the creation of multidis-
ciplinary collaborative community responses to elder abuse and neglect and ex-
ploitation for victims who are at least 50. It also provides for the creation of
cross-training for victims service and governmental agencies, courts, law enforce-
ment, and nonprofit nongovernmental organizations serving victims of elder
abuse (Pub. L. No. 109-162, Section 205).