Citation

Teaster PB, Wangmo T, Anetzberger GJ. J. Elder Abuse Negl. 2010; 22(1-2): 6-15.

Affiliation

Graduate Center for Gerontology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40536, USA. pteaster@uky.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/08946560903436130

PMID

20390824

Abstract

This article highlights the brief 30-year history of major U.S. policies that address elder abuse. The history of elder abuse policy is checkered and incomplete, reflecting a lack of comprehensive federal legislation. We begin our review by discussing the scope of elder abuse policy and, in particular, the Social Security Block Grant, which has become the sole source of federal aid for Adult Protective Services programs. The other source of federal aid, typically for helping efforts by Area Agencies on Aging, is the Older Americans Act. We document the incremental but increasing attention paid to elder abuse by chronicling key initiatives, including early congressional reports and hearings; White House Conferences on Aging; and efforts by pioneers such as Mario Biaggi, Claude Pepper, John Breaux, and Orin Hatch-efforts that we believe have led to the various introductions of the Elder Justice Act.

Language: en