The Elder Justice Coalition

A National Advocacy Voice for Elder Justice in America

Over 3,000 Member Coalition

John B. Breaux

 Honorary Chair

Robert Blancato

National Coordinator

The bipartisan Elder Justice Coalition (EJC) today commended Congress for its final passage of legislation to secure first time funding for the Elder Justice Act calling it "an important recognition that prevention of elder abuse deserves more federal attention." This was accomplished late Saturday night when the Senate joined the House in adopting the omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2015.  The bill now goes to the President who will sign it into law this week.

EJC National Coordinator Bob Blancato said the elder abuse provisions included $4 million in the Department of Health and Human Services appropriation (page 82) for a new Elder Justice Initiative to "provide competitive grants to States to test and evaluate innovative approaches to preventing and responding to elder abuse," according to the omnibus agreement.  Blancato noted that this was the first direct Congressional appropriation for the Elder Justice Act, which was passed in 2010.

In addition, the omnibus bill also dramatically increases funding for the Crime Victims Fund in the Department of Justice appropriation (page 30) from the current cap of $730 million to a new high of $2.361 billion. This increase should result in more funding for victim assistance grants, including those involving elder abuse, according to the Coalition.

Blancato added, "These important Congressional initiatives complement the solid work undertaken by the Obama Administration in the past year which includes the release of the Elder Justice Roadmap Initiative, the establishment of a new Office of Elder Justice and Adult Protective Services within the Administration for Community Living, and the ongoing work of the Elder Justice Coordinating Council.

"The advocacy to improve and expand the federal response to elder abuse will continue in the new Congress as there is still much to do.  Yet, we are grateful for the important steps taken in 2014 which would not have been possible without the consistent advocacy of the leadership groups of the EJC.  Elder justice is not achieved until older Americans are free from the fear of elder abuse."