19th Annual NYC
Elder Justice Conference
Building Bridges for Elder Safety
and Justice: A Shared Responsibility
June 24, 2025 | 9:00am - 4:00pm
As our society faces increasing challenges in safeguarding older adults, this year’s virtual Elder Justice Conference will center on the power of collaboration. We invite professionals across disciplines to come together in a shared commitment to building a stronger, more connected elder justice community.
Now more than ever, cross-sector partnerships are essential to ensuring that older adults—especially those affected by abuse, neglect, and exploitation—are safe, respected, and supported. In the face of ongoing challenges to programs, policies, and funding, frontline providers and organizations are being asked to do more with less.
This conference will address these realities head-on, providing attendees with actionable tools, innovative solutions, and the opportunity to connect with peers who share a passion for justice.
Highlights include a compelling keynote from a nationally recognized elder justice leader, skill-building workshops, and interactive sessions designed to inspire, inform, and ignite change. Whether you're a seasoned advocate or new to the field, you'll leave equipped and energized to advance elder justice in your community.
Join us as we elevate the cause, strengthen our collective impact, and reaffirm that elder safety and justice is not the work of one—it’s a shared responsibility.
Introduction to Conference
Conference Chair: Florian Edwards, LMSW, Senior Director, Protective Services, JASA
Florian Edwards is JASA’s Senior Director of Protective Services, which entails oversight of Adult Protective Services (APS), Elder Justice Prevention Services, and the Annual Elder Justice Training Institute. Florian has provided individual and group therapy in her professional work with victims of domestic violence, elder abuse, human trafficking, and modern-day slavery. She is a core member of the Enhanced Multi-Disciplinary Team (EMDT). She is passionate about fighting for social justice, especially for vulnerable and at-risk populations. Florian attended CUNY’s Herbert H. Lehman College where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 2002, with honors. Florian attended Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service where she received her Master’s of Social Work in 2004. Florian remains an active member of the National Association of Social Workers.
Keynote Speaker
M.T. Connolly is an elder justice pioneer, researcher, lawyer, nonprofit leader, and MacArthur “genius” grant awardee who works to make aging more joyful, gentle, and just. Her book, The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life is a sweeping and intimate portrait of the elder justice movement in which she maps aging in new ways -- revealing its practical challenges, fragmented systems, and promising innovations, while also showing how connection, purpose, and awe can protect and enrich us as we age. Previously, MT was an architect of the Elder Justice Act, founder of the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, and lead author of the Elder Justice Roadmap, shaping research, policy, and practice for decades. That work and her book research led MT to co-design the RISE model, a more holistic, person-centered, and restorative approach to reducing elder abuse. Pilot data from Maine found that RISE reduced re-referrals to APS by 50% and was positively reviewed by clients, APS workers, and RISE advocates alike. Those findings led policymakers, in 2023, to enact RISE as a permanent (funded) healthy aging program under Maine law. The RISE team also has formed a free-standing RISE program in Ontario, Canada (which has no APS) and worked with elder abuse prosecutors and drug court in a Seattle pilot, to allow a defendant who exploited and mistreated his grandmother to receive drug treatment in lieu of incarceration. To further innovate, test, and scale new solutions, the RISE team formed the nonprofit RISE Collaborative, of which MT is the president. In 2024, the RISE Collaborative received a $3.6 million 3-year ACL grant to replicate RISE in three new locations and was selected by the World Health Organization from among 89 promising international elder mistreatment interventions, as one of seven to replicate and study.Continuing Education Information
CEU credits will be offered.
CLE credits will be offered. Financial scholarships available.
Registration Information
Registration Cost: $100 per person
Discounts are available for students or groups of 10 or more.
For more information, please contact conferences@jasa.org.
Thank you to our funders
This program is funded in part by the David Berg Foundation, Lifespan of Greater Rochester Inc., Monroe County Office for the Aging, New York State Office for the Aging, NYC Aging, US Administration on Aging, and participant contributions.