Moving the Boulder on Elder Justice: 5 Years of Collaboration

By Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging, HHS

Last week, the Elder Justice Coordinating Council (EJCC) held its spring meeting on Capitol Hill, hosted by the Senate Special Committee on Aging. We heard from experts from across the country about milestones in three key areas—research, financial services, and spreading knowledge through training—and where the gaps remain.

As I listened to these dedicated, talented people presenting what they have learned and how they are tackling the thorny issues that elder abuse presents, it struck me that we have accomplished a great deal since the EJCC was established in 2012. We—and by ‘we’ I mean all of us who work on the issues of elder justice from our own spheres of influence—have infused new energy into the field by seeking new partners and joining together to see the work more comprehensively than ever. Law enforcement, health care, community organizations, governments, the aging network, the financial services sector, and philanthropy are all involved in doing this important work.

For the past five years, I’ve carried around a report I call my “calling card” — I’ve used it to ask for help from my colleagues at every level of government and in the private sector. In that 2011 report, titled Stronger Federal Leadership Could Enhance the National Response to Elder Abuse, the Government Accountability Office reported that, “[f]ederal elder justice activities have been scattered across agencies and as a whole have had a limited impact on the elder justice field; a clear indication that federal leadership in this area has been lacking.”

And it was true. But not anymore. We have worked hard to connect the dots with people, with policy and with practice, and we are seeing that approach bear fruit.