Elder Justice Act 2009

What would a society look like without healthy elderly individuals? The elderly compose a large portion of the population, and many people do not realize how vulnerable and unsafe old age can be. It is difficult for elderly people to live out the later stage in their lives without protection and prevention of certain problems. An act that I will discuss is The Elder Justice Act of 2009. This act has helped support elders by combating elder abuse, and helping prevent it as well. Another act I will focus on is The Older Americans Act, which has provided an array of helpful resources for elderly people in need.
The Elder Justice Act
The Elder Justice Act of 2009 is "widely regarded as the most comprehensive bill ever passed to combat elder abuse,
This act outlines two parts. Part 1 allows federal government representatives to form an Elder Justice Coordinating Council. The council is responsible for making programs to advance promotion of elder justice. Recommendation on problems surrounding abuse, neglect and exploitation of the elderly are to be provided to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Under this act, the council receives input and insight from twenty-seven professionals in their expertises on research, training, services to provide, practices, regulations, and enforcement issues. The use of forensic centers is emphasized with this act. Forensic centers improve prosecution of criminals dealt with elderly abuse by legal, medical, social service, and law enforcement agencies. Part 2 addresses the funding of Adult Protective Service
Guidance for the Administration on Aging to include training to prevent and screen for elder abuse for the states, area agencies on aging, and service providers. The act pushes to provide consistency when dealing with elder abuse situations. It updates definitions of adult protective services, exploitation or financial abuse, elder justice, and preventing fraud and abuse. To prevent fraud and abuse, the act supports the Medicare program to train senior volunteers. Ombudsman, under this act, are allowed to serve any resident in long-term care facilities and to guarantee privacy, advocacy, following of the client after discharge to the home, and identification and resolution of a perceived problem.With this act, ADRCs improve coordination with the area agencies on aging and community-based entities to provide informational resources on home and community-based services for people who might be at risk for institutional settings, or are already living in a institutional setting. ADRCs are to be held at a consistent level with current practices