II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2077 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize Federal assistance 

to State adult protective services programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2012 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. 

CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize 

Federal assistance to State adult protective services programs, and for other purposes. 

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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) In 2009, the Department of Justice esti8 mated that 14.1 percent of non-institutionalized 


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1 older adults in the United States had experienced 

2 some form of elder abuse in the past year. 

3 (2) Only 1 in 23.5 cases of elder abuse is ever 

4 reported due to a lack of screening, awareness, and 

5 prevention efforts. 

6 (3) The mortality rate of older adults who are 

7 victims of abuse is 3 times higher than older adults 

8 that are not victims of abuse. 

9 (4) The annual financial loss by victims of elder 

10 financial abuse is estimated to be at least 

11 $2,900,000,000, and steadily increasing. 

12 SEC. 2. ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES; DEFINITIONS. 

13 Section 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

14 U.S.C. 3002) is amended— 

15 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol16 lows: 

17 ‘‘(1) ABUSE.—The term ‘abuse’ means the 

18 knowing infliction of physical or psychological harm 

19 or the knowing deprivation of goods or services that 

20 are necessary to meet essential needs or to avoid 

21 physical or psychological harm.’’; 

22 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

23 (54) as paragraphs (5) through (55); 

24 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3), the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(4) ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES.—The term 

2 ‘adult protective services’ means such services pro3 vided to adults as the Secretary may specify and in4 cludes services such as— 

5 ‘‘(A) receiving reports of adult abuse, ne6 glect, or exploitation; 

7 ‘‘(B) investigating the reports described in 

8 subparagraph (A); 

9 ‘‘(C) case planning, monitoring, evaluation, 

10 and other case work and services; and 

11 ‘‘(D) providing, arranging for, or facili12 tating the provision of medical, social service, 

13 economic, legal, housing, law enforcement, or 

14 other protective, emergency, or support serv15 ices.’’; 

16 (4) by amending paragraph (18), as so redesig17 nated, to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(18) ELDER JUSTICE.—The term ‘elder jus19 tice’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) from a societal perspective, efforts 

21 to— 

22 ‘‘(i) prevent, detect, treat, intervene 

23 in, and prosecute elder abuse, neglect, and 

24 exploitation; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) protect older individuals with di2 minished capacity while maximizing their 

3 autonomy; and 

4 ‘‘(B) from an individual perspective, the 

5 recognition of an older individual’s rights, in6 cluding the right to be free of abuse, neglect, 

7 and exploitation.’’; 

8 (5) in paragraph (19), as so redesignated, by 

9 striking ‘‘The term ‘exploitation’ means’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘The terms ‘exploitation’ and ‘financial exploi11 tation’ mean’’; 

12 (6) in paragraph (25), as so redesignated— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

16 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘(D) abuse, neglect (including self-ne19 glect), financial exploitation, including factors 

20 that are the basis of a referral to adult protec21 tive services.’’; 

22 (7) in paragraph (29)(C), as so redesignated, 

23 by inserting ‘‘, including opportunities for work and 

24 volunteer service in the community’’ after ‘‘avail25 able’’; 


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1 (8) in paragraph (30), as so redesignated, by 

2 striking ‘‘information and referral’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘information and referral assistance’’; and 

4 (9) in paragraph (37), as so redesignated, by 

5 inserting ‘‘(including elder abuse and neglect screen6 ing)’’ after ‘‘educational services’’. 

7 SEC. 3. COORDINATION OF ELDER JUSTICE ACTIVITIES. 

8 (a) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 201 of the Older Amer9 icans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3011) is amended by adding 

10 at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(g) The Assistant Secretary is authorized to use 

12 funds appropriated to carry out this Act to implement ac13 tivities authorized under part I of subtitle B of title XX 

14 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397k et seq.), in15 cluding the establishment of the Advisory Board on Elder 

16 Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation, and to convene the 

17 Elder Justice Coordinating Council.’’. 

18 (b) ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE TRAINING FOR

19 STAFF.—Section 202 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 

20 (42 U.S.C. 3012) is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(g) The Assistant Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) ensure, where appropriate, that all pro24 grams funded under this Act include appropriate 


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1 training in prevention and provision of services that 

2 address elder justice and exploitation; and 

3 ‘‘(2) periodically update the need for and ben4 efit of such training related to prevention of abuse, 

5 neglect, and exploitation of older adults.’’. 

6 (c) INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE SERVICES.—Sec7 tion 202(a)(21) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

8 U.S.C. 3012(a)(21)) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(21)(A) establish information and assistance serv10 ices as priority services for older individuals, and ensure 

11 that quality information and assistance services are con12 sistently provided to older individuals; 

13 ‘‘(B) ensure that there is full collaboration between 

14 all governmental information and assistance systems that 

15 serve older individuals, whether specialized, crisis interven16 tion, disaster assistance, or others; and 

17 ‘‘(C) develop and operate, either directly or through 

18 contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements, a National 

19 Eldercare Locator Service, providing information and as20 sistance services through a nationwide toll free number to 

21 identify community resources for older individuals;’’. 

22 (d) INTEGRATION OF TITLES.—Section 701 of the 

23 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3058) is amend24 ed by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The Assistant Sec25 retary, to the maximum extent practicable, shall ensure 


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1 there be full integration of education and public awareness 

2 activities under this title with all service programs under 

3 title III with special emphasis on the nutrition programs, 

4 legal services, information and referral assistance activi5 ties, the work of aging and disability resource centers, and 

6 the long-term care ombudsman programs, including pro7 grams carried out under title VI.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. COORDINATION OF NATIONAL ADULT PROTECTIVE 

9 SERVICES RESOURCE CENTER WITH ELDER 

10 ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION PREVENTION. 

11 Subsection (e)(2) of section 201 of the Older Ameri12 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3011) is amended in the mat13 ter preceding subparagraph (A) by inserting ‘‘, and in co14 ordination with State Directors of the Adult Protective 

15 Services Programs and State Directors of the Office of 

16 Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs’’ after ‘‘and serv17 ices’’. 

18 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES RE19 SOURCE CENTER. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the Older Ameri21 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3011) is amended by adding 

22 at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(g)(1) The Assistant Secretary shall, by grant or 

24 contract with a national nonprofit entity, establish a Na25 tional Adult Protective Services Resource Center (referred 


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1 to in this subsection as the ‘Center’). The purposes of the 

2 Center are to improve the capacity of State and local adult 

3 protective services programs to respond effectively to 

4 abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable adults, in5 cluding home care consumers and residents of long-term 

6 care facilities, and to coordinate with the Long-Term Care 

7 Ombudsman Program to protect home care consumers 

8 and residents most effectively. 

9 ‘‘(2) The nonprofit entity awarded a grant or con10 tract under this subsection shall have expertise in, and 

11 representation by, State and local adult protective services 

12 programs. 

13 ‘‘(3) The Center shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) collect and disseminate information re15 garding, and increase public awareness of, the role 

16 of adult protective services programs in investigating 

17 the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), and ex18 ploitation of vulnerable adults, including home care 

19 consumers and residents of long-term care facilities, 

20 and in intervening to protect the consumers and 

21 residents from abuse; 

22 ‘‘(B) develop, distribute, and provide training 

23 and technical assistance for adult protective services 

24 program investigators and supervisors investigating 

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1 ploitation of vulnerable adults, including home care 

2 consumers and residents of long-term care facilities, 

3 and intervening to protect the consumers and resi4 dents from further abuse; 

5 ‘‘(C) develop, distribute, and provide training to 

6 home care and long-term care professionals and oth7 ers on recognizing, reporting (including regarding 

8 mandatory reporting requirements), and responding 

9 to the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), and fi10 nancial exploitation of vulnerable adults, including 

11 home care consumers and residents of long-term 

12 care facilities; 

13 ‘‘(D) compile and disseminate reports on re14 search and best practices for adult protective serv15 ices programs and other programs on effective re16 sponses to the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), 

17 and exploitation of vulnerable adults, including home 

18 care consumers and residents of long-term care fa19 cilities; 

20 ‘‘(E) work with the National Ombudsman Re21 source Center and long-term care ombudsman pro22 grams to develop and disseminate training, practice 

23 standards, and policies regarding— 

24 ‘‘(i) the roles and responsibilities of adult 

25 protective services and ombudsman programs; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) confidentiality and abuse reporting 

2 issues and protocols; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) effective ways to maximize the re4 sources of adult protective services programs 

5 for the benefit of home care consumers and 

6 residents of long-term care facilities; and 

7 ‘‘(F) establish a data system to collect informa8 tion on the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), 

9 and exploitation of home care consumers and resi10 dents of long-term care facilities and to measure the 

11 effectiveness of the activities carried out by the Cen12 ter. 

13 ‘‘(4) Not later than 18 months after the date of en14 actment of the Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention 

15 Act, the Director shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) collect and analyze, from leading national 

17 and State experts, the best practices related to 

18 screening for elder abuse; 

19 ‘‘(B) publish a report that describes rec20 ommendations regarding such best practices and dis21 seminate such report to all grantees under programs 

22 established under this Act and described under this 

23 section; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) submit to Congress such report and a de2 scription of the dissemination activities under sub3 paragraph (B). 

4 ‘‘(5) In this subsection, the term ‘home care con5 sumer’ means a person who receives services in the per6 son’s home or community to promote independence and 

7 reduce the necessity for residence in a long-term care facil8 ity, which may include home care services provided 

9 through this Act, the Medicare program under title XVIII 

10 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.), the 

11 Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security 

12 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), or another public or private 

13 funding source.’’. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

15 216 of the Older Americans Act is amended by adding 

16 at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES RE18 SOURCE CENTER.—There are authorized to be appro19 priated to carry out section 201(g) (relating to the Na20 tional Adult Protective Services Resource Center), such 

21 sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2012, 2013, 

22 2014, 2015, and 2016.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. INCLUSION OF ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES PRO2 GRAMS IN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS. 

3 Section 207(b)(1)(C) of the Older Americans Act of 

4 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3018(b)(1)(C)) is amended by inserting 

5 ‘‘and the adult protective services programs of the States’’ 

6 after ‘‘of the States’’. 

7 SEC. 7. PREVENTION, ASSESSMENT, AND RESPONSE TO 

8 ELDER ABUSE. 

9 (a) PREFERENCES.—Section 305(a)(2)(E) of the 

10 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3025(a)(2)(E)) 

11 is amended by inserting ‘‘older individuals who are or are 

12 alleged victims of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation,’’ 

13 after ‘‘proficiency,’’. 

14 (b) AREA PLANS.—Section 306 of the Older Ameri15 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3026) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by adding at the end 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(H)(i) in coordination with the State 

19 agency and with the State agency responsible 

20 for elder abuse prevention services, increase 

21 public awareness of elder abuse and financial 

22 exploitation, remove barriers to elder abuse edu23 cation, prevention, investigation, and treatment; 

24 ‘‘(ii) coordinate elder justice activities (in25 cluding screenings) provided by the area agency 

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1 lic agencies, and nonprofit private organiza2 tions; 

3 ‘‘(iii) develop standardized, coordinated, 

4 and reporting protocols with respect to elder 

5 abuse; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) report any instances elder abuse in 

7 accordance with State law.’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (b)(3)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (J), by striking 

10 ‘‘and’’; 

11 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (K) as 

12 subparagraph (L); and 

13 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (J) 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(K) protection from elder abuse, neglect, 

16 and financial exploitation; and’’. 

17 (c) STATE PLANS.—Section 307(a)(12) is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 

20 (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D); and 

21 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(B) that the State will develop and imple24 ment standardized protocols for screening and 

25 reporting with respect to elder abuse;’’. 


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1 (d) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.—Section 321(a) of the 

2 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030d(a)) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘elder abuse 

5 and neglect screening,’’ after ‘‘mental health),’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘, elder 

7 abuse, and neglect’’ after ‘‘mental health’’; and 

8 (3) in paragraph (23), by inserting ‘‘, elder 

9 abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation’’ after 

10 ‘‘mental health’’. 

11 (e) NUTRITION.—Section 339(2) of the Older Ameri12 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030g–21(2)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (J), by striking ‘‘, and’’ 

14 and inserting a comma; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (K), by striking the period 

16 at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(L) encourages individuals who distribute 

19 nutrition services under subpart 2 to distribute 

20 information on diabetes, elder abuse, neglect, fi21 nancial exploitation, and the annual Medicare 

22 wellness exam.’’. 

23 SEC. 8. ABUSE PREVENTION EDUCATION AND TRAINING. 

24 (a) ACTIVITIES FOR HEALTH, INDEPENDENCE, AND

25 LONGEVITY.— 


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1 (1) OLDER INDIVIDUALS’ PROTECTION FROM

2 VIOLENCE PROJECTS.—Section 413(b) of the Older 

3 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3032b(b)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

6 after the semicolon at the end; 

7 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(5) research and replicate successful models of 

11 elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation prevention and 

12 training.’’. 

13 (2) DEMONSTRATION, SUPPORT, AND RE14 SEARCH PROJECTS.—Section 417(a)(1) of the Older 

15 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3032f(a)(1)) is 

16 amended— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

18 after the semicolon; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon and inserting ‘‘or’’; 

21 and 

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

23 ‘‘(C) engage volunteers who are older than 

24 50 years of age in providing support and infor25 mation to older adults (and their families or 


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1 caretakers) who have experienced or are at risk 

2 of elder abuse, including physical, emotional, or 

3 financial abuse, neglect, or exploitation and;’’. 

4 (b) COMMUNITY SERVICE SENIOR OPPORTUNI5 TIES.—Section 502(b)(1)(E) of the Older Americans Act 

6 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3056(b)(1)(E)) is amended by insert7 ing ‘‘, and for the health and safety of, and prevention 

8 and detection of elder abuse for, older adults’’ after ‘‘fami9 lies’’. 

10 (c) ALLOTMENTS FOR VULNERABLE ELDER RIGHTS

11 PROTECTION ACTIVITIES.— 

12 (1) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

13 705(a)(2) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

14 U.S.C. 3058d(a)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘fam15 ily caregivers,’’ after ‘‘title VI,’’. 

16 (2) STATE LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PRO17 GRAM.— 

18 (A) SUPPORT OF OFFICE UNDER THE NA19 TIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVER SUPPORT PRO20 GRAM.—Section 373(g) of the Older Americans 

21 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030s–1(g)) is amend22 ed by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS FOR OMBUDSMAN PRO24 GRAM.—Amounts made available to a State to carry 

25 out the State program under this subpart may be 


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1 used to support the Office of the State Long-Term 

2 Care Ombudsman, including supporting the develop3 ment of resident and family councils.’’. 

4 (B) ENSURING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND

5 RESIDENTS’ RIGHTS.—Section 712 of the Older 

6 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3058g) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(k) ENSURING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND RESI9 DENTS’ RIGHTS.—The State agency shall ensure the Of10 fice— 

11 ‘‘(1) provides facility residents with private and 

12 unimpeded access to the Office, including access to 

13 all records concerning the resident; and 

14 ‘‘(2) allows all facility residents to receive serv15 ices from the Office.’’. 

16 (3) PREVENTION OF ELDER ABUSE, NEGLECT, 

17 AND EXPLOITATION.—Section 721(b) of the Older 

18 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3058i(b)) is 

19 amended— 

20 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), 

21 (9), (10), (11), and (12), as paragraphs (8), 

22 (10), (11), (12), (13), and (14), respectively; 

23 (B) by striking paragraph (6) and insert24 ing the following: 


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1 ‘‘(6) conducting specialized abuse sensitivity 

2 training for caregivers described in part E of title 

3 III; 

4 ‘‘(7) conducting training for professionals and 

5 paraprofessionals in relevant fields on the identifica6 tion, prevention, and treatment of elder abuse, ne7 glect, and exploitation, with particular focus on pre8 vention and enhancement of self-determination and 

9 autonomy;’’; and 

10 (C) by inserting after paragraph (8), as re11 designated by subparagraph (B), the following: 

12 ‘‘(9) conducting appropriate training to ensure 

13 cultural sensitivity in the provision of elder rights 

14 services, including training in cultural issues associ15 ated with abuse;’’. 

Æ 


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