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World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Elder Justice Initiative
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Today, the Elder Justice Initiative joins millions around the globe in commemorating World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), a day intended to raise public awareness of the fight against elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. Research sponsored by the Department’s National Institute of Justice finds that millions of older adults experience some form of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation every year, often by someone they love. The harms resulting from mistreatment of older Americans drives our work every day. Today, we are proud to announce six new resources to support the efforts of elder justice professionals. |
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Guardianship Evaluation Worksheet for Judges
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Probate judges are routinely required to make determinations regarding an individual’s capacity and where appropriate, to appoint a guardian to protect individuals who are unable to make decisions in their own behalf or are unable to manage their personal needs to support their welfare. In making capacity determinations, judges rely on multiple sources of information. To assist judges to integrate that information, the Elder Justice Initiative supported the University of Southern California in developing the Guardianship Evaluation Worksheet, a 2-page fillable and printable PDF that provides judges with an organizational framework of the relevant factors to consider in adjudicating guardianship cases. |
 Find the Judicial Guardianship Evaluation |
Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Coordinator Training
| MDT coordinators fill a critical role on elder abuse MDTs, yet few educational resources exist to support their professional development. The MDT TAC is offering a no-cost, 2-day virtual training specifically for Elder Abuse MDT Coordinators. In groups of approximately 10 – 15 Coordinators, fundamental Coordinator skill-building will be achieved through 10 educational modules that can be adapted to different needs and levels of experience. |
Topics include:
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Elder Justice Decision-Making Symposium
| The Elder Justice Initiative hosted the Elder Justice Decision-Making Capacity Symposium: The Role of Decision-Making Capacity in Elder Justice Cases that Reach Civil and Criminal Courts (April 19-21, 2022). The Symposium brought to light how older adults are profoundly and negatively impacted in both the criminal and civil justice systems based on mistaken assumptions and inadequate assessments of their capacity to make decisions for themselves. Individual speakers and panel discussions highlighted what we know today about the aging brain and its impact on decision-making, as well as the protocols and tools available to assess decision-making capacity. By shedding light on the latest science as well as best clinical, legal and judicial practices, the Symposium sought to increase access to justice while promoting the self-determination of older adults. |  Symposium materials |
SAFTA (Senior Abuse Financial Tracking and Accounting)
| Guided by the adage “A picture is worth a 1000 words”, the SAFTA toolkit provides law enforcement, APS workers, and other elder justice professionals, with a simplified forensic tool for illuminating suspicious financial patterns and facilitating the prosecution of suspected elder financial exploitation. Developed by a forensic accountant, the SAFTA tool is an Excel macro-enabled worksheet into which financial records are entered and pivot tables and graphs are automatically created to provide a visual depiction of financial data. | 
Download the SAFTA toolkit |
SAFE (Safe Accessible Forensic Interviewing for Elders)
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Developed to meet the growing need for victim-centered interview techniques for use with older adults in criminal contexts, SAFE is founded in forensic interviewing best practices with considerations and adaptations to account for age related declines in cognition, underlying neuropathology (e.g., dementia, Alzheimer’s), co-existing individual disability, mental health disorder, language capacity and cultural background. |
There are three versions available:
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IC3 Financial Fraud Reporting Public Service Announcement (PSA)
| EJI collaborated with the FBI’s IC3 program to develop a financial fraud PSA for the general public. This PSA encourages the public to file reports of internet-related financial fraud through the IC3 electronic reporting system, demonstrates how to file the report, and explains what types of fraud can be reported, including internet-related fraud targeting older Americans. The PSA stresses the urgency of filing reports quickly to increase opportunities to intervene. | 
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Elder Justice Initiative is to support and to help coordinate the Department’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud and scams that target our nation’s seniors.
Elder Justice Initiative | Department of Justice
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