WASHINGTON D.C. (Jan. 21) -- The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA) today announced its officers and new Board members for 2004. This year marks the first time that a two-year term was given to NCPEA officers.

NCPEA President Robert Blancato was re-elected for a third term. Blancato is President of Matz, Blancato and Associates of Washington D.C. His career involves more than 25 years in public service in both the Congress and the Executive Branch. This includes serving as Staff Director of the House Select Committee on Aging’s Subcommittee on Human Services from 1977 through 1988 and as Senior Advisor until 1993. He served as the Executive Director of the last White House Conference on Aging held in 1995. Blancato is also Chairman of the National Silver Haired Congress Advisory Council, Special Advisor to the Board of Generations United and serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Washington Urban League.

Also elected to new terms were President Elect Randolph Thomas of South Carolina, who recently retired as the Section Coordinator for the Domestic Investigations and Behavioral Science Units at the Criminal Justice Academy of South Carolina's Department of Public Safety and Vice President Pamela B. Teaster, a researcher and Assistant Professor in the Kentucky School of Public Health and Ph.D. Program in Gerontology/Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. Treasurer Mary Lynn Kasunic, who is the President and CEO of the Area Agency on Aging, Region One in Arizona was also re-elected to a third term and Clerk Georgia Anetzberger, a consultant in private practice and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, was elected for her second term.

In addition, the following new board members were elected to NCPEA's Board of Directors: Dr. Patricia J. McFeeley, Assistant Chief Medical Investigator at the University of New Mexico, Candace M. Mosley, Director of Programs at the National College of District Attorneys at the University of South Carolina and Natalie Thomas, State Legal Services Developer with the Georgia Division of Aging Services. Election results were finalized following a membership meeting September 14th in Washington, DC.

NCPEA, the nation’s largest membership organization focused on elder abuse prevention through research, advocacy, public awareness and training, was founded in 1985 by the late Rosalie Wolf of Massachusetts. Dr. Wolf was a tireless advocate of elder abuse and was devoted to the study of elder abuse in domestic settings. The effects of Dr. Wolf's work can still be seen today in many Elder Abuse and Aging organizations. NCPEA is a partner in the National Center on Elder Abuse and co-founder of the Elder Justice Coalition.

Interviews with officers and board members can be arranged by contacting Megan Wiley at 202.682.4140 or at ncpea@verizon.net.