Elder Abuse: Additional Resources

Federal Resources

• National Center on Elder Abuse
  The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), directed by the U.S. Administration on Aging, is committed to helping national, state, and local partners in the field of elder abuse to ensure that older Americans will live with dignity, integrity, independence, and without abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The NCEA is a resource for policy makers, social service and health care practitioners, the justice system, researchers, advocates, and families.
• Eldercare Locator
  Eldercare Locator, a public service of the U.S. Administration on Aging, connects older adults and their families to services.
• National Institutes of Health / National Institute on Aging
  The National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. The NIA has sponsors developmental research that will ultimately provide the scientific basis for understanding, preventing, and treating elder mistreatment. This is done by focusing on vital work that must be completed in advance of effort to launch full scale, national studies to capture information on the incidence and prevalence of elder mistreatment.
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
  The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) advises the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on policy development in health, disability, human services, data, and science, and provides advice and analysis on economic policy. ASPE conducts research and evaluation studies, develops policy analyses, and estimates the cost and benefits of policy alternatives under consideration by the Department or by Congress. Work on Elder abuse is currently coordinated by staff in The Office of Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy, which addresses long-term care issues and personal assistance services, including informal care giving.
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institutes of Justice
  The National Institutes of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice dedicated to researching crime control and justice issues. NIJ provides objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the state and local levels. To assist the field in responding to current and emerging needs of older Americans, NIJ has established a research program focusing on elder mistreatment. NIJ’s primary objectives regarding elder mistreatment are to identify promising, emerging practices and evaluate their effectiveness in improving prevention, detection, and intervention efforts.
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime
  The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) was established to oversee diverse programs that benefit victims of crime. OVC funds state-operated victim assistance and compensation programs and support training designed to educate criminal justice and allied professionals regarding the rights and needs of crime victims. The OVC Web site has a page specifically for victims of elder abuse. It contains links to many agencies that will assist a senior following a victimization.
• National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center
  The National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center provides support, technical assistance, and training to the 53 state Long Term Care Ombudsman Programs and their statewide networks of almost 600 regional (local) programs. The Center’s objectives are to enhance the skills, knowledge, and management capacity of the state programs to enable them to handle resident complaints and represent resident interests (individual and systemic advocacy).

Non-Federal Resources

• American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging
  The American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging works to strengthen and secure the legal rights, dignity, autonomy, quality of life, and quality of care of elders by supporting and initiating research, policy development, technical assistance, advocacy, education, and training. The Commission consists of a 15-member interdisciplinary body of experts in aging and law, including lawyers, judges, health and social services professionals, academics, and advocates. It examines a wide range of law-related issues, including elder abuse.
• Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect, University of California Irvine
  The Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect provides medical, forensic, and victim services to abused and neglected seniors and serves as a “living laboratory” of innovative approaches. Statewide and nationally, the Center of Excellence serves as a central source of technical assistance, best practice information, multidisciplinary training, useful research, and relevant policy issues in California.
• Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly
  The Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly (CANE), located at the University of Delaware Center for Community Research and Service, is the nation’s largest computerized catalog of elder abuse literature. With over 6,000 entries, you can search CANE’s database to obtain references pertaining to many aspects of elder abuse and neglect, and the conditions that impact elder mistreatment.
• International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
  The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse is an organization dedicated to the global dissemination of information as part of its commitment to the world-wide prevention of the abuse of older people. The organization’s aim is to increase society’s ability, through international collaboration, to recognize and respond to the mistreatment of older people in whatever setting it might occur, so that the latter years of life will be free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
• National Adult Protective Services Association
  The National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) is a national nonprofit 501 (c) (6) organization formed in 1989 to provide state Adult Protective Services program administrators and staff with a forum for sharing information, solving problems, and improving the quality of services for victims of elder and vulnerable adult abuse. NAPSA is a partner in the National Center on Elder Abuse funded by the U. S. Administration on Aging, and a founding member of the Elder Justice Coalition.
• National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
  The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA) is an association of researchers, practitioners, educators, and advocates dedicated to protecting the safety, security, and dignity of America’s most vulnerable citizens. The NCPEA was established in 1988 to achieve a clearer understanding of abuse and to provide direction and leadership to prevent it. Through research, advocacy, public and professional awareness, interdisciplinary exchange, and coalition building, NCPEA’s mission is to prevent abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older persons and adults with disabilities.
• National Association of State Units on Aging
  The National Association of State Units on Aging (NASUA) is a nonprofit association representing the nation’s 56 officially designated state and territorial agencies on aging. Its mission is to advance social, health, and economic policies responsive to the needs of a diverse aging population and to enhance the capacity of its membership to promote the rights, dignity, and independence of and expand opportunities and resources for current and future generations of older persons, adults with disabilities, and their families.