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It's received scant attention, but tucked in the sweeping health care reform bill signed by President Barack Obama is the most comprehensive federal effort ever to fight elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

The legislation includes the long-sought Elder Justice Act, which spotlights and devotes hundreds of millions of federal dollars to elder abuse for the first time. Its companion, the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act, also included in the legislation, creates new protections for those in long-term care facilities.

"Elder abuse is a very significant problem in our society," U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who co-authored the House version of the Elder Justice Act, said in an interview. "But there has not been a comprehensive federal response. This measure should have a significant impact."

The legislation comes as the latest reports of elder abuse reached new highs in Dane County and Wisconsin.

Two years ago, the State Journal's seven-day series, "Elder Abuse: A Silent Shame," found social service and justice systems barely able to handle reported cases, missing the majority of the abuse and unready to handle aging baby boomers who will soon challenge the system.

Abuse can lead to serious mental and physical problems and drain a senior's life savings, and studies have shown that elder victims have three times the risk of premature death.

The legislation "will put elder abuse more front and center nationally," Dane County Department of Human Services Director Lynn Green said. "Awareness is part of the cure."

Over four years, the Elder Justice Act will deliver $400 million in new funds for Adult Protective Services and $100 million for state demonstration grants to test best practices.

Wisconsin is likely to receive about $1 million in APS funding and could receive demonstration grant money, which means "more boots on the ground" to fight abuse, said Jane Raymond, advocate and protection systems developer for the state Department of Health Services.

"This is very exciting news for people who are working at the local level," she said.

The act also delivers $32.5 million over four years in grants to support the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, $40 million over four years for training, and creates an Elder Justice Coordinating Council to make recommendations to coordinate local, state federal and private agencies.

The patient safety act creates a national program of criminal background checks for those seeking jobs in long-term care facilities.

The legislation will dramatically improve data, develop forensic capacity, support safe haven for victims, boost training and more, according to an analysis by the national Elder Justice Coalition.

"Part of the effort is to coordinate law enforcement and public health to take a comprehensive approach to study, detect, treat, prosecute, along with increased prevention," Baldwin said.

The full implications for Wisconsin are still unclear, Raymond said.

Contacts with Dane County officials about elder abuse rose 8.5 percent to 485, while statewide they increased 5.1 percent to 5,144, in 2008, according to the latest Department of Health Services report.

The county figures represent cases of suspected abuse. But the state number includes incomplete reports and information requests. Suspected abuse cases in the state rose 2.8 percent to 4,898 in 2008. Twenty-six cases were related to deaths and 376 were considered life-threatening.

Statewide, of all reported abuse cases, 56 percent were substantiated.

Nationally, research shows that nearly 11 percent of people 60 and older -5.7 million -- suffered some form of abuse in the last year alone, the Elder Justice Coalition reports.

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To see more of The Wisconsin State Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com.

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