National Center on Elder Abuse Resource Center

BackgroundOriginally established in 1988 as a demonstration project, the NCEA was made permanent through the 1992 Amendments to the Older Americans Act.2 Since 1992, the NCEA has served as a national resource center dedicated to preventing elder maltreatment. The NCEA provides relevant information and materials on elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, with the goals of identifying promising practices in elder maltreatment prevention, identification, and treatment, serving as a repository of research, and conducting demonstration projects to promote effective and coordinated responses to elder maltreatment. NCEA disseminates information to professionals and the public, and it provides technical assistance to states and to community-based organizations. The NCEA makes available resources; provides consultation, education, and training; identifies and provides information about promising practices and interventions; answers inquiries and requests for information; and operates a listserv forum for professionals. The NCEA has become a valued resource to many professionals working with elders who have experienced maltreatment, including but not limited to Adult Protective Services (APS); national, state, and local aging networks; law enforcement; health care professionals; domestic violence networks; Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders (WINGS) coalitions, researchers, elder justice advocates, community-based multi-disciplinary teams and others.Project OverviewACL envisions the NCEA as a comprehensive resource center that is an authoritative source of accurate and actionable information, and a key stakeholder in providing insight on developments and issues in the field of elder maltreatment. ACL expects that the NCEA will be responsive to the changing needs and priorities in the field of elder maltreatment. Inherent in such flexibility is the ability to capitalize on and leverage new research findings, new initiatives, and new opportunities. As a leader in the field, the NCEA should strengthen existing, and seek out new, collaborations and partnerships with other entities to better address the multidimensional issues of elder maltreatment.Funding Opportunity DescriptionUnder this funding opportunity, the NCEA will continue to serve as a national resource center dedicated to the prevention of elder maltreatment and to carry out its mission:National, state, and local partners in the field will be fully prepared to ensure that older Americans will live with dignity, integrity, independence, and without abuse, neglect, and exploitation.To achieve this mission, Section 202(d) of the OAA establishes the following activities for the NCEA:Annually compile, publish, and disseminate a summary of recently conducted research on elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;Develop and maintain an information clearinghouse on all programs (including private programs) showing promise of success, for the prevention, identification, and treatment of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;Compile, publish, and disseminate training materials for personnel who are engaged or intend to engage in the prevention, identification, and treatment of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;Provide technical assistance to State agencies and to other public and nonprofit private agencies and organizations to assist the agencies and organizations in planning, improving, developing, and carrying out programs and activities relating to the special problems of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation; andConduct research and demonstration projects regarding the causes, prevention, identification, and treatment of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.Consistent with the statutory requirements above, ACL has identified the following five (5) objectives for the NCEA. At a minimum, applicants must identify how they propose to meet/carry-out the objectives outlined below for the NCEA. Applicants may propose additional objectives that build upon or expand those established by ACL, consistent with the authorizing statute. However, please note that application review scores will not correspond to the number of objectives that are presented, above the minimum required.Serve as a national authority and leader on elder maltreatment. ACL interprets this to include, but is not limited to:Communication with the field:Develop and deploy a consistent communications strategy, including developing and distributing content across multiple online and offline platforms, to inform on a regular basis, professionals, policymakers, and the public of key events and emerging, state-of-the art developments, information, and opportunities;Engage in cutting edge activities to raise awareness of elder maltreatment among professionals and the public, including, but not limited to, developing, updating, and disseminating materials and/or programs related to elder abuse prevention;Maintain and regularly update the content of the https://ncea.acl.gov/home website and the look and feel of the website;Serve as the operational lead of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), including developing educational content based on the ACL approved WEAAD theme for WEAAD to be promoted through the Federal website and social media and collecting information about WEAAD events, and amplifying WEAAD events.Leadership:Work with other entities, both private and public, national, state, and local entities, to create national collaborations for the purpose of identifying trends, responding to needs, leveraging resources in elder justice and improving responses to people who are experiencing, have survived, or are at risk of elder abuse and the elder justice professional community that serves them.Collect data and develop research projects to further understand the causes, prevention, and treatment of elder abuse. Annually compile, publish, and disseminate a summary of recently conducted research on elder maltreatment. ACL interprets this to include, but is not limited to:Working with other national elder justice programs to coordinate and curate relevant research in an effort to reduce redundancy of effort and to streamline access to this information by elder justice professionals;Updating NCEA website content with new and key research on elder abuse topics findings, as appropriate;Disseminating research findings and information that emphasize translating relevant research into practice for elder justice professionals, including specific information on how professionals can update or change current practices in response to new research.Develop and maintain an information clearinghouse on elder justice programs (including private programs) showing promise of success for the prevention, identification, and treatment of elder maltreatment. ACL interprets this to include, but is not limited to:Working with other national elder abuse programs to coordinate and curate relevant promising practices/policies in an effort to reduce redundancy of effort and to streamline access to this information by elder justice professionals;Updating NCEA website content with findings on new promising practices/policies, as appropriate;Identifying promising practices/policies in the field and disseminating this information (e.g., via newsletters, briefs, webinars)Developing a strategy for distributing materials, including specific metrics to track progress, that utilizes multiple distribution methods and that connects materials across platforms.Compile, publish, and disseminate training materials for professionals who are engaged or intend to engage in the prevention, identification, and response to elder maltreatment. ACL interprets this to include, but is not limited to:Working with other national elder abuse programs and other ACL resource centers to coordinate and curate relevant curricula in order to reduce redundancy and streamline access to this information;Providing training through various modalities on topics related to elder maltreatment and self-neglect;Maintaining and updating the NCEA website content with new and key findings related to training materials, as appropriate, and updating the NCEA website with the information described in this Notice of Proposed Funding Opportunity;Providing instructional training on Reframing how to talk about elder abuse, including an evidence-based communication strategy, to federal and non-federal entities (see: https://ncea.acl.gov/reframing-elder-abuse); Identifying and disseminating training materials.Provide technical assistance to State agencies and to other public and nonprofit private agencies and organizations to assist the agencies and organizations in planning, improving, developing, and carrying out programs and activities relating to the special problems of elder maltreatment. ACL interprets this to include, but is not limited to:Creating criteria for a systematic and evidence-based approach to responding to technical assistance requests;Providing technical assistance to elder justice professionals, policy makers, elders who are experiencing or have survived maltreatment, their family members, and other members of the public;Working with other national elder abuse programs to coordinate provision of technical assistance in order to reduce redundancy and streamline access to this comprehensive information by members of the public and professionals in the field;Providing technical assistance to those who are conducting research and demonstration projects regarding the causes, prevention, identification, and treatment of elder maltreatment pursuant to OAA Section 202(d)(2)(e);Updating NCEA website content for disseminating technical assistance to the field and the general public, as appropriate.It is expected that to fully achieve its mission and goals, applicants’ chosen approaches will reflect ACL’s commitment to advancing equity, racial justice, and equal opportunity, including ensuring that a representative sample of people from underrepresented and underserved communities are invited to contribute and provide feedback about the work required to execute the activities of the grant.For all five (5) of the objectives above, plus any additional objectives identified by the applicant, applications must:Identify a sample of the agencies/organizations the applicant believes are important beneficiaries for each of the objectives/activities;Describe the criteria, methods, and frequency the applicant would use to carry out all of the proposed activities and processes under each objective;Describe how the selected approach/es will reflect ACL’s commitment to advancing equity, racial justice, and equal opportunity, including ensuring that people from underrepresented and underserved communities are invited to inform the work in the execution of grant activities;Describe how the applicant will update their planned activities as new activities and opportunities are identified via collaborations;Describe how the applicant will update their planned work as new information, research, and practice are identified in order to remain relevant, current, and state of the art; including how proposed approaches will incorporate the latest technology and tools to generate and disseminate knowledge; andDescribe the methods to be employed to measure and ensure quality, relevance and extent of activities undertaken to meet the project’s objectives.NCEA WebsiteACL will host the NCEA website. The NCEA grantee will be responsible for maintaining and updating all website content, pending ACL review and approval. All grantee materials and content created for public dissemination must be compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, codified at section 29 USC 794d. HHS provides a number of free accessibility checklists to aid in the creation of compliant products.Rights in DataAs established by HHS Grants Policy Statement3, “[i]n all cases, whether HHS funded all or part of the project or program resulting in the data, the Federal government must be given a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license for the Federal government to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the material and to authorize others to do so for Federal purposes, e.g., to make it available in government-sponsored databases for use by other researchers…. Data developed by a subrecipient also are subject to this policy”4. Any product developed under this grant may be copyrighted without ACL prior approval. However, the grantee may not in any way infringe upon the royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license of the Federal government. As such and within these parameters, ACL expects to assess all materials developed under this cooperative agreement for their appropriateness to post on the NCEA website for the use and benefit of the general public. ACL also retains the right to grant permission for others to use, distribute, and cite materials developed under this grant.---------------------------------------ENDNOTES1. The Older Americans Act defines abuse, neglect and exploitation in Section 102:(1) The term ‘‘abuse’’ means the willful—(A) infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or cruel punishment with resulting physical harm, pain, or mental anguish; or(B) deprivation by a person, including a caregiver, of goods or services that are necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish, or mental illness.(18) (A) The term ‘exploitation’ means the fraudulent or otherwise illegal, unauthorized, or improper act or process of an individual, including a caregiver or fiduciary, that uses the resources of an older individual for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain, or that results in depriving an older individual of rightful access to, or use of, benefits, resources, belongings, or assets.(38) The term ‘neglect’ means-(A) the failure of a caregiver (as defined in paragraph (18)(B) or fiduciary to provide the goods or services that are necessary to maintain the health or safety of an older individual; or (B) self-neglect.2. https://acl.gov/programs/elder-justice/national-center-elder-abuse3. The HHS Grants Policy Statement is available online at https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/grants/grants/policies-regulati… .4. The HHS Grants Policy Statement is available online at https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/grants/grants/policies-regulati… .