I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4827 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to enhance age-friendly 

communities for older individuals. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 23, 2019 

Mr. CRIST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to enhance 

age-friendly communities for older individuals. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Age-Friendly 

5 Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 

7 AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES. 

8 Section 203 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

9 U.S.C. 3013) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (18) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end, 

3 (B) in paragraph (19) by striking the pe4 riod at the end, and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(20) section 393D of the Public Health Serv7 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 280b–1f), relating to safety of 

8 seniors.’’, and 

9 (2) in subsection (c)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘Aging’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘Age-Friendly Communities’’, and 

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘to support the abil14 ity of older individuals to age in place, in15 cluding through the provision of homeless16 ness prevention services, support the abil17 ity of older individuals to access preventive 

18 health care, promote age-friendly commu19 nities, and address the ability of older indi20 viduals to access long-term care supports, 

21 including access to caregivers and home22 and community-based services’’ before the 

23 period at the end, 

24 (B) in paragraph (4) by inserting ‘‘, except 

25 that the first term of a member appointed to 


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1 the Interagency Coordinating Committee on 

2 Age-Friendly Communities shall begin not later 

3 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

4 the effective date of this exception’’ before the 

5 period at the end, 

6 (C) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘once 

7 each year’’ and inserting ‘‘semiannually’’, 

8 (D) in paragraph (6)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

10 (I) in clause (iii) by striking 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end, 

12 (II) in clause (iv) by adding 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end, and 

14 (III) by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(v) identifying best practices for con17 necting older individuals to services for which 

18 they may be eligible;’’, 

19 (ii) by amending subparagraph (B)(ii) 

20 to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(ii) innovations in technology applications 

22 (including assistance technology devices and as23 sistance technology services) that— 

24 ‘‘(I) promote safe and accessible inde25 pendent living environments; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) give older individuals access to 

2 information on available services or help in 

3 providing services to older individuals;’’, 

4 (E) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘‘non5 governmental experts and organizations, includ6 ing public health interest and research groups 

7 and foundations’’ and inserting ‘‘nongovern8 mental organizations, academic or research in9 stitutions, community-based organizations, and 

10 philanthropic organizations’’, 

11 (F) by redesignating subparagraphs (E), 

12 (F), and (G) as subparagraphs (F), (G), and 

13 (H), respectively, 

14 (G) by inserting after subparagraph (D) 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(E) work with the Centers for Disease Control 

17 and Prevention, the National Institute on Aging, 

18 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the 

19 Housing and Urban Development Office of Lead 

20 Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, and other Fed21 eral agencies as appropriate, to develop rec22 ommendations, in accordance with paragraph (1), to 

23 reduce falls among older individuals that incorporate 

24 evidence-based falls prevention programs and home 

25 modifications to reduce and prevent falls;’’, and 


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1 (H) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(9) In this subsection, the term ‘age-friendly com3 munity’ means a community that-— 

4 ‘‘(A) is taking steps— 

5 ‘‘(i) to include accessible housing, acces6 sible spaces and buildings, safe and secure 

7 paths, variable route transportation services, 

8 and programs and services designed to maintain 

9 health and well-being; 

10 ‘‘(ii) to respect and include older individ11 uals in social opportunities, civic participation, 

12 volunteerism, and employment; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) to facilitate access to supportive serv14 ices for older individuals; and 

15 ‘‘(B) has a plan in place to meet local needs for 

16 housing, transportation, civic participation, social 

17 connectedness, and accessible spaces.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON AGE-FRIENDLY COM19 MUNITIES. 

20 Section 205(a)(2) of the Older Americans Act of 

21 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3016(a)(2)) is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub23 paragraph (D), and 

24 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(C) The Assistant Secretary may provide technical 

2 assistance, including through the regional offices of the 

3 Administration, to State agencies, area agencies on aging, 

4 local government agencies, or leaders in age-friendly com5 munities (as defined in section 203(c)(9)) regarding— 

6 ‘‘(i) dissemination of, or consideration of ways 

7 to implement, best practices and recommendations 

8 from the Interagency Coordinating Committee on 

9 Age-Friendly Communities established under section 

10 203(c); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) methods for managing and coordinating 

12 existing programs to meet the needs of growing age13 friendly communities.’’. 

Æ 


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