Evaluating The Elder Justice Act: Challenges In Funding, Implementation, And Coalition Dynamics

Authors

Annabelle Weberg, University of PortlandFollow

Keywords

Elder Justice Act, elder abuse, Advocacy Coalition Framework

Abstract

The Elder Justice Act (EJA) was a significant policy that passed in 2010 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The goal of the EJA was to provide public health and social service programs for preventing, detecting, and treating elder abuse. Due to limited federal discretionary spending, most programs authorized under the Elder Justice Act have not been fully funded or implemented as intended.

The paper seeks to answer this research question: What has caused the limited funding and implementation of the Elder Justice Act, and what role have coalitions played? It analyzes the factors that have contributed to the lack of funding and implementation of the EJA, and it reviews existing literature on the topic to contribute to the analysis. The EJA is evaluated based on policy evaluation criteria such as effectiveness, efficiency, adequacy, equity, responsiveness, and appropriateness to understand what the EJA accomplished. The Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) is also applied to better understand the context and influences affecting the EJA, particularly the long-term interactions between coalition groups surrounding federal protection for the elderly. The ACF is used to understand why policymakers may have taken the path they did as opposed to others. The paper will conclude with my recommendations for improving the EJA by addressing the gaps in funding, implementation, and coordination. These recommendations can help elder justice advocacy groups by giving them more information and solutions to help solve this problem. They can also help policymakers create more effective protections for the elderly, ensuring that vulnerable populations receive the care and protection they need.

Publication Date

June 2025

DOI

10.15760/hgjpa.2025.9.1.10

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43707

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Weberg, Annabelle (2025) "Evaluating The Elder Justice Act: Challenges In Funding, Implementation, And Coalition Dynamics," Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 10.
https://doi.org/10.15760/hgjpa.2025.9.1.10