II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3437 

To amend the Social Security Act to authorize grants and training to support 

area agencies on aging and other community-based organizations in addressing social isolation among older individuals and adults with disabilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2023 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Social Security Act to authorize grants and 

training to support area agencies on aging and other 

community-based organizations in addressing social isolation among older individuals and adults with disabilities. 

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 ‘‘Addressing Social Iso5 lation and Loneliness in Older Adults Act of 2023’’ or the 

6 ‘‘Addressing SILO Act of 2023’’. 

2 

•S 3437 IS

1 SEC. 2. GRANTS AND TRAINING TO SUPPORT AREA AGEN2 CIES ON AGING OR OTHER COMMUNITY3 BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO ADDRESS SOCIAL 

4 ISOLATION AMONG OLDER INDIVIDUALS AND 

5 ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES. 

6 Part II of subtitle B of title XX of the Social Security 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 1397m et seq.) is amended by adding at 

8 the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 2047. GRANTS AND TRAINING TO SUPPORT AREA 

10 AGENCIES ON AGING OR OTHER COMMUNITY11 BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO ADDRESS SOCIAL 

12 ISOLATION AMONG OLDER INDIVIDUALS AND 

13 ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES. 

14 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make grants to 

15 eligible area agencies on aging or other community-based 

16 organizations for the purpose of— 

17 ‘‘(1) conducting outreach to older individuals 

18 and adults with disabilities at risk for, or already ex19 periencing, social isolation or loneliness, through es20 tablished screening tools or other methods identified 

21 by the Secretary; 

22 ‘‘(2) developing community-based interventions 

23 for the purposes of mitigating loneliness or social 

24 isolation (including evidence-based programs, as de25 fined by the Secretary, developed with multi-stake26 holder input for the purposes of promoting social 

3 

•S 3437 IS

1 connection, mitigating social isolation or loneliness, 

2 or preventing social isolation or loneliness) among 

3 older individuals and adults with disabilities de4 scribed in paragraph (1); 

5 ‘‘(3) connecting such older individuals and 

6 adults with disabilities with community social and 

7 clinical supports; and 

8 ‘‘(4) evaluating the effect of programs devel9 oped and implemented under paragraphs (2) and 

10 (3). 

11 ‘‘(b) TRAINING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab13 lish programs to provide and improve training for 

14 area agencies on aging or community-based organi15 zations with respect to addressing and preventing 

16 social isolation and loneliness among older individ17 uals and adults with disabilities. 

18 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIZATION AUTHORITY.—For pur19 poses of connecting at-risk individuals with existing 

20 community social and clinical supports, the Sec21 retary may, in carrying out paragraph (1), prioritize 

22 models that incorporate training and service delivery 

23 in coordination with medical-legal partnerships. 

24 ‘‘(c) EVALUATION.—Not later than 3 years after the 

25 date of enactment of this section and every 3 years thereVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:46 Dec 15, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3437.IS S3437
4 

•S 3437 IS

1 after, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a written re2 port that assesses the extent to which the programs estab3 lished under this section address social isolation and lone4 liness among older individuals and adults with disabilities. 

5 ‘‘(d) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in the 

6 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is appro7 priated to the Secretary $62,500,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2024 through 2028, to remain available until ex9 pended, to carry out this section. 

10 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

11 with resource centers, grant programs, or other funding 

12 mechanisms established under section 411(a)(18) of the 

13 Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. 3032(a)(18)), section 

14 417(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3032f(a)(1)), or other 

15 programs as determined by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) ADULT WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

18 ‘adult with a disability’ means an individual with a 

19 disability as defined in section 372 of the Older 

20 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030s). 

21 ‘‘(2) AREA AGENCY ON AGING.—The term ‘area 

22 agency on aging’ means an area agency on aging 

23 designated under section 305 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 3025). 

5 

•S 3437 IS

1 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 

2 term ‘community-based organization’ includes, ex3 cept as otherwise provided by the Secretary, a non4 profit community-based organization, a consortium 

5 of nonprofit community-based organizations, a na6 tional nonprofit organization acting as an inter7 mediary for a community-based organization, or a 

8 community-based organization that has a fiscal 

9 sponsor that allows the organization to function as 

10 an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

11 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from 

12 taxation under section 501(a) of such Code. 

13 ‘‘(4) LONELINESS.—The term ‘loneliness’ 

14 means subjectively feeling alone, or the discrepancy 

15 between one’s desired level of social connection and 

16 one’s actual level of social connection. 

17 ‘‘(5) OLDER INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘older in18 dividual’ has the meaning given such term in section 

19 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

20 3002). 

21 ‘‘(6) SOCIAL CONNECTION.—The term ‘social 

22 connection’ means the variety of ways one can con23 nect with others socially, through physical, behav24 ioral, social-cognitive, and emotional channels. 

6 

•S 3437 IS

1 ‘‘(7) SOCIAL ISOLATION.—The term ‘social iso2 lation’ means objectively being alone, or having few 

3 relationships or infrequent social contact.’’. 

Æ