Elder abuse prevention interventions program - elder abuse and self-neglect (EASN) affect 10%-29% of community-dwelling older adults annually, yet most cases go unreported, leading to premature…

The Jewish Association For Services For The Aged (JASA) received a $358,418 Cooperative Agreement awarded on September 30, 2025, by the Administration for Community Living under the Special Programs for the Aging, Title IV, and Title II, Discretionary Projects program (CFDA 93.048). The award supports the adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of RISE@JASA, an elder justice intervention designed to prevent elder abuse and self-neglect (EASN) in senior affordable housing. The intervention integrates restorative justice, motivational interviewing, and supported decision-making principles with JASA's existing housing-based interdisciplinary team (IDT) model at Casa Celina, a senior affordable rental apartments site in the Bronx. Core services include IDT care coordination, residential service coordination, legal services, and peer specialist support embedded directly within housing operations.

The project will employ a mixed-methods evaluation comparing RISE@JASA outcomes with a matched comparison JASA housing site through the project's completion on September 29, 2028. Evaluation will assess feasibility, fidelity, and effectiveness across key metrics including EASN occurrence and recurrence, resident engagement, service utilization, referrals, satisfaction, and health indicators. The RISE model has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing Adult Protective Services referral recurrence by over 50% in prior implementations. If successful, the project will generate a replicable, scalable model for preventing and addressing elder abuse in senior affordable housing nationwide, with findings disseminated through publications, trainings, and a capstone convening to housing, aging, and elder justice networks.

Elder abuse prevention interventions program - elder abuse and self-neglect (EASN) affect 10%-29% of community-dwelling older adults annually, yet most cases go unreported, leading to premature mortality, worsened health, and costly health system utilization. Despite recognition as a public health crisis, few prevention-focused, evidence-informed interventions have been implemented in real-world settings. Affordable senior housing, home to over 1.6 million older adults in the US, presents an underused platform for prevention and early intervention, offering consistent engagement, trust-building, and timely support. The proposed project, a partnership between jasa and the rise collaborative, will adapt, implement, and evaluate rise@jasa, an elder justice intervention integrated into jasa's housing-based interdisciplinary team (IDT) model at casa celina, a senior affordable rental apartments (SARA) site in the bronx. The rise model, proven to reduce recurrence of adult protective services referrals by more than 50%, combines restorative justice, motivational interviewing, teaming, and supported decision-making to enhance safety, connection, and autonomy. Rise@jasa will expand this framework by embedding jasa's IDT care coordination, residential service coordinators, legal services, and a peer specialist directly into housing operations. Using a matched comparison jasa housing site, the project will employ a mixed-methods evaluation to assess feasibility, fidelity, and effectiveness, tracking outcomes such as EASN occurrence and recurrence, resident engagement, service utilization, referrals, satisfaction, and health indicators. If successful, rise@jasa will deliver a replicable, scalable model for preventing and addressing EASN in senior affordable housing nationwide. Findings will be shared with housing, aging, and elder justice networks through publications, trainings, and a capstone convening, advancing the ACL's goal of developing and testing innovative approaches to elder maltreatment prevention among populations at elevated risk.