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BREAUX,
HATCH INTRODUCE FIRST-EVER "ELDER JUSTICE" BILL U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging WASHINGTON (Sept. 13) - Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced the first-ever comprehensive federal legislation to address elder abuse and crimes against seniors, and to guarantee protections for older Americans. "Thousands of cases of elder abuse go unaddressed each day," said Sen. Breaux. "Our Elder Justice bill tackles these crimes, and provides seniors the protections they need to live safely and securely. By addressing law enforcement, social service and public health concerns, our bill utilizes the approach used to combat both child abuse and violence against women. But unlike those crimes, not one single employee in the federal government is devoted full time to address elder abuse and neglect. Without more attention and more resources, far too many of these cases of abuse, neglect and exploitation will go unaddressed and far too many people will suffer." "We are committed to doing everything in our power to prevent elder abuse," stated Hatch. "This bipartisan legislation, the "Elder Justice Act of 2002," which I'm proud to join Senator Breaux in introducing, is a big step in the right direction to protect older Americans from terrible crimes and neglect." Research in the field is scarce, but, by some estimates, up to five million cases of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation occur each year. The Breaux-Hatch bill, the "Elder Justice Act of 2002," is designed to create a national focus on elder abuse to increase detection, prevention, prosecution and victim assistance. It lays the cornerstone of federal leadership to ensure states, communities, consumers and families will have access to the information and resources they need to confront this difficult issue. In addition to Sens. Breaux and Hatch, other original cosponsors include Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee; Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). With 84 percent of these crimes never reported, the bill elevates crimes against seniors to the national stage to the level of crimes against women and children. In the United States today, the federal government spends only $153.5 million on programs addressing issues of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, with funds spread thinly across the many agencies and programs responsible for protecting older Americans. In sharp contrast, the federal government spends $520 million on programs combating violence against women and $6.7 billion on child abuse prevention efforts. From national efforts to confront child abuse and violence against women, experts have found the best approach to addressing these crimes is a combined law enforcement and public health approach. The Breaux-Hatch measure establishes dual Offices of Elder Justice at the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to coordinate disparate federal, state and local elder abuse prevention efforts, while also housing policy experts and coordinating programs to study, detect, treat, prosecute and, most importantly, prevent elder abuse, neglect and exploitation of seniors living independently and those in residential care facilities. The bill also establishes new programs to assist victims and provides grants for education and training for law enforcement and prosecutors, while developing more forensic expertise. It enhances reporting of crimes in long-term care settings and requires FBI criminal background checks for those employed by long-term care providers, rather than state checks alone. Finally, the Breaux-Hatch bill includes new measures to increase and retain staff in long-term care facilities, including a staff demonstration project, training and degree programs, and incentives to draw more people to health professions serving elders. FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Action on Aging distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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