Letter from the Director

The Rhode Island Coalition for Elder Justice has made some great strides in the last quarter. Advancements include hiring a Communications Manager, Brooke Conneally, who has helped us update our website and trifold. Thanks to Brooke, our social media presence has become more robust. In June alone, our Facebook impressions increased by 130%. Brooke put together a needs assessment. As we administered the survey, we are also educating older adults and providers about elder maltreatment and reporting. The needs assessment data will be used to inform our strategic plan. Furthermore, the data will help us shape our work and it will inform us about challenges, barriers and opportunities.

Other advancements include that we have a pretty active public awareness subcommittee, who put together a PSA on reporting, which aired throughout the month of June, which is World Elder Abuse Awareness month. Also, our executive committee members were featured on the Rhode Show, which is a local show that highlights programs, services, events and initiatives. Additionally, we were a part of the planning committee of a successful World Elder Abuse Breakfast that our backbone agency, Saint Elizabeth Community, hosts every year. There were over 150 attendees and this was a great networking event that highlighted elder justice. We recognized three Warwick Police Detectives for catching a couple of scammers in a local grandparent's scheme. We also recognized one of our Coalition members, Lorie Chavez, for all of her efforts for putting together an elder abuse Multidisciplinary Team. The breakfast brought along some press and our Program Director, Jeanne Gattegno, was featured in two news stories.

Additionally, we held an election and voted in a new executive committee, which had not been done since our inception. We also increased our membership by 6 new members.

Lastly, we put out an RFP for a strategic planner, in hopes of putting together a plan that will guide our coalition through a process of looking at our strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities. We have formed a strategic planning committee and will be selecting our top candidate soon.

The RI Coalition for Elder Justice enjoyed a wonderful time at the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day breakfast on June 14, hosted by Saint Elizabeth Community. We were thrilled to see many of our partner organizations and colleagues come together to raise awareness about elder justice.

The event included awards presented to remarkable individuals who have made significant contributions to the community of older adults. We were also honored to be interviewed by NBC 10 WJAR and WPRI 12 to further promote elder justice.

To check out the NBC 10 WJAR article, please click here.

To check out the WPRI 12 article, please click here.

During the month of June, the coalition was really in the media! Coalition members went to the WPRI station and filmed a segment for The Rhode Show which aired multiple times throughout the month. The coalition also paid for a tv PSA which ran multiple times every week during the month.

To watch The Rhode Show segment and to read the article, please click here.

To watch the RICEJ PSA advertisement, please click here.

The Rhode Island Coalition for Elder Justice is pleased to announce the appointment of Robin Covington as its first Coalition Director! Robin was featured in the Providence Business News in July. To read the article, please click here.

Our PSA Commercial on WPRI had 13k views, with a 98% completion rate. The Public Awareness committee will now focus on putting together a webinar series on elder justice issues.

To join the Public Awareness Committee, email Chair gillian@ricadv.org

The Nominating Committee is working towards strengthening our nomination processes and board development. We are looking for additional members in the fields of faith based, mental health, higher ed, geriatrician, and health insurance.

If you’d like to join the Nominating Committee or make a nomination, please reach out to Chair lchavez@riag.ri.gov

The Guardianship Committee recently met with a fresh start with Co-Chairs Steve Bagian and Adela Hogan-Caron from RI Legal Services. They discussed that Maryland developed a Probate Court Worksheet to make it more cohesive. The Guardianship committee is looking into proposing the use of this worksheet amongst Probate court judges. The committee has an upcoming meeting with AARP regarding guardianship.

To join our Guardianship committee, please reach out to Co-Chair

ahogancaron@rils.org

The Protocols Committee is going to be working on developing a

1-year strategic plan for their committee. Also, the committee is working on finalizing a provider letter that will be sent out to remind providers about mandated reporting. The committee is working to arrange meetings with hospital staff at Kent, Roger Williams, Fatima, and Butler to discuss their processes for identifying and addressing elder abuse and to explore the potential use of an elder abuse assessment toolkit.

To join the Protocols committee, please reach out to Chair civilianpatnaude@aol.com

Our Homecare committee continues to gather data regarding underutilized homecare programs and CNA shortages and they continue to promote free CNA trainings throughout the state.

To join the Homecare Committee, email Chair michelle.machado@oscil.org

Hoarding and seniors: "The Consequences of Clutter Report" by Herb Weiss

A U.S. Senate report highlights the growing issue of hoarding among seniors, which poses significant health, safety, and social challenges. The report calls for increased federal support to expand treatment access, provide better training for local officials, and improve coordination among various agencies to effectively address the problem.

For more details, you can read the full article here.

Understanding Historically Marginalized & Minoritized Communities in the Forgotten Middle - Study conducted by NORC.

The NORC study investigates the financial and care access challenges faced by middle-income older adults from historically marginalized and minoritized communities. The research highlights significant disparities in assets, home ownership, and health outcomes among Black, Hispanic, and rural populations, urging policy changes to address these inequities and support aging with dignity.

For more details, you can read the full article here.

NCEA Podcast

The Critical Role of Faith Communities in Working for Elder Justice

View on Youtube | Listen on Spotify

NCEA Webinar

How does elder abuse impact Latinx communities?

View on Youtube | View the presentation slides