Doctor and senior woman wearing facemasks during coronavirus and flu outbreak. Virus protection. COVID-2019..

The Elder Justice Act (HR 1783) received a heap ofaccolades from senior care advocates and industry representatives at a hearingon Capitol Hill Thursday.

Testimony from AARP and Robert Blancato, nationalcoordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition, highlighted the care community’ssupport of the bill, which was introduced last year by Representative RahmEmanuel (D-IL).

Among the more than 556,000 confirmed cases of elderabuse recorded in 2004, 20,000 of those occurred in a nursing home or long-termcare facility, said Blancato, speaking to the House Judiciary Subcommittee onCrime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. In its submitted testimony, AARP echoedBlancato’s sentiments of concern and praised the legislation.

Among the provisions of the bill: federal funding foradult protective services, improved APS training and investigations, requiredimmediate reporting of crimes in nursing homes and long-term care facilities,and the creation of a National Training Institute for Surveyors of long-termcare facilities.