How a Foundation’s Response to Elder Abuse Impacted Systems Change (Medical Examiner, District Attorney, Police)

• In Event: Roundtable: How a Foundation’s Response to Elder Abuse Impacted Systems Change (Medical Examiner, District Attorney, Police)

Abstract

In 2014, the Plough Foundation (a private Memphis-based grant-making institution) launched a 3-year $3.45 million Coordinated Response to Elder Abuse (CREA) with the goal to address elder abuse in Shelby County by aligning and streamlining services offered by the public and nonprofit sector to older adults. The participants will describe the overall initiative and their use of policy and procedure adjustment as a means of ameliorating elder abuse. These include the establishment of an Elder Death Review Team (EDRT) by the ME, a modified response system for law enforcement, and the development of agency-wide efforts to strengthen the legal response to elder abuse (DA’s office). Participants will share tips on replicating their work, describe barriers to implementation and possible solutions. Data from the first 1.5 years of this initiative show that CREA has led to measureable improvements in the provision of services for older abuse victims, and that partners in the effort believe that their collective impact represents a significant advance in the response to elder abuse. Lessons learned through this project will serve to inform the field of elder abuse and the larger philanthropic and criminal justice community.

Author

• Doug Imig, University of Memphis