Domestic Violence in Later Life and Elder Abuse

The Central Virginia Training Alliance to Stop Elder Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation was activated in 2006 and builds upon the collaborative work of the Central Virginia Task Force on Domestic Violence in Later Life. In 2006, the Training Alliance was one of ten grantees nationwide to be awarded a three-year pilot grant to train criminal justice professionals. In October 2008, the Training Alliance was awarded two years of continuation funding for additional activities, detailed below.

Focus: Elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, including domestic violence and sexual assault

Jurisdictions served: City of Richmond; Counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico

Funding: Enhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program (formerly the Training Grants to Stop Abuse and Sexual Assault Against Older Individuals or Individuals with Disabilities Program), U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women; from October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2009; continuation funding for additional programmatic activities from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2010.

Purpose: The Training Alliance will deliver trainings to law enforcement, send prosecutors to a national training, and offer judges the opportunity to attend a national judicial institute. Participating organizations also will engage in a review of policies and protocols, based on multidisciplinary collaboration, to aid in improving the identification, investigation, prosecution and adjudication of cases of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. Continuation funding was awarded in October 2008 to provide a training event for service providers and cross-training for a variety of disciplines, conduct a community needs assessment for outreach, service delivery, and staff training, and implement outreach and service delivery to older victims.

This project is supported by Grant Nos. 2006-EW-AX-K002 and 2008-EW-AX-K002 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, US Dept. of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Dept. of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

For more information about the Central Virginia Training Alliance to Stop Elder Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation, contact Paula Kupstas, PhD at (804) 828-1525 or pkupstas@vcu.edu