This chapter briefly discusses the history of the Caregiver Support Act and its specific components and explains how the Caregiver Support Act provides resources to older adults and people with disabilities. It provides an overview of the current status of family members serving as caregivers, with special attention to grandparents raising grandchildren. It then discusses a current profile of relative caregivers raising children in the United States; reasons for the increase in relative caregiving; and issues facing grandparents raising grandchildren. It also provides some background into the literature and promotes an awareness of issues that grandparents face as primary caregivers. A literature review examines some of the current issues and services needed. The chapter discusses resources and services designed to meet the needs of grandparents raising grandchildren, and reviews programmatic responses through the national resources. Finally, the chapter outlines some best practice interventions for review in the text.

This chapter presents a brief overview of some legislative efforts within the mental health (MH) arena and examined their limitations and application with respect to older adults and people living with mental illness. The chapter also takes us through a journey to examine the current status of MH and older adults, with a particular emphasis on depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. It discusses and reviews the programs, services and issues still outstanding within the MH arena. The chapter helps the reader to understand specific components of the Community Mental Health Act and other MH-related legislation. Many of the community day hospital programs and community MH programs administered through the Community Mental Health Act are based on the deinstitutionalization paradigm since the goal is to treat people outside the institution and within community settings. It concludes with laying out some challenges for the future in the area of MH and older adults.

This chapter briefly discusses the history of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and community and presents specific components of the ACA in relationship to community prevention. The chapter deals with specific aspects of the legislation that impact older adults and people with disabilities. It presents a short review of the ten titles: Title one: quality, affordable health care for all Americans; Title two: role of public program; Title three: improving the quality and efficiency of health care; Title four: prevention of chronic disease and improving public health; Title five: health care workforce; Title six: transparency and program integrity; Title seven: improving access to innovative medical therapies; Title eight: Class Act; Title nine: revenue provision; Title ten: strengthening quality, affordable health care for all Americans. The chapter explains some of the legislative highlights, policies, and programs that have been articulated within each of the specific titles of the ACA.

This chapter focuses on sources of evidence for evidence-based policy development. It explores some of the dilemmas with developing an evidence base and provides a range of empirical sources within the aging and disabilities arenas that can be used in building an evidence-based approach to policy development. The journey, however, will not be without struggle—since philosophical paradigms, and social and economic factors will interface and play a role in the development of evidence-based policy. The chapter helps the reader to be aware of healthy people 2020 benchmarks that are used to guide program planning and policy development. Benchmarks currently have been established in order to identify where health goals for the nation and individual states should be, and the program is evaluated routinely by local and state health departments. Healthy people 2020 is also used to gauge the impact of health policy.

This chapter helps the reader to understand the history of the Elder Justice Act (EJA). It provides specific components of the EJA and how programs and services flow for older adults and people with disabilities. The chapter discusses the limitations in programs and services within the EJA. The EJA requires the oversight and the appropriation of federal funding to protect people growing older and people with disabilities from abuse. It addresses legal issues with a special emphasis on the concept of a power of attorney. The chapter explores several legal issues that face older adults. It also address elder abuse, power of attorney, and a differentiation made between the types of power of attorney and the healthcare power of attorney. In addition, the chapter explores legal services provided to older adults as a result of the Older Americans Act, and outlines the challenges within the realm of legal issues.