I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8169 

To amend the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act to authorize 

the Elder Justice Initiative, to require that online resources of such 

initiative are made available in Spanish, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act 

to authorize the Elder Justice Initiative, to require that 

online resources of such initiative are made available 

in Spanish, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Elder Abuse Protection 

5 Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELDER JUSTICE INITIATIVE. 

2 Section 101(b) of the Elder Abuse Prevention and 

3 Prosecution Act (34 U.S.C. 21711(b)) is amended to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘(b) ELDER JUSTICE INITIATIVE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PERMANENT INITIATIVE.—The Attorney 

7 General shall establish within the Criminal Division 

8 an Elder Justice Initiative to coordinate criminal en9 forcement and public engagement efforts to combat 

10 elder abuse, neglect, and financial fraud and scams 

11 that target elders, and to support and coordinate the 

12 efforts of the Elder Justice Coordinators designated 

13 under subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ELDER JUSTICE

15 COORDINATOR.—The Attorney General shall des16 ignate an Elder Justice Coordinator within the De17 partment of Justice who, in addition to any other re18 sponsibilities, shall be responsible for— 

19 ‘‘(A) coordinating and supporting the law 

20 enforcement efforts and policy activities as the 

21 head of the Elder Justice Initiative for the De22 partment of Justice on elder justice issues; 

23 ‘‘(B) evaluating training models to deter24 mine best practices and creating or compiling 

25 and making publicly available replication guides 

26 and training materials for law enforcement offiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8169.IH H8169

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1 cers, prosecutors, judges, emergency respond2 ers, individuals working in victim services, adult 

3 protective services, social services, and public 

4 safety, medical personnel, mental health per5 sonnel, financial services personnel, and any 

6 other individuals whose work may bring them in 

7 contact with elder abuse regarding how to— 

8 ‘‘(i) conduct investigations in elder 

9 abuse cases; 

10 ‘‘(ii) address evidentiary issues and 

11 other legal issues; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) appropriately assess, respond to, 

13 and interact with victims and witnesses in 

14 elder abuse cases, including in administra15 tive, civil, and criminal judicial pro16 ceedings; and 

17 ‘‘(C) carrying out such other duties as the 

18 Attorney General determines necessary in con19 nection with enhancing the understanding, pre20 vention, and detection of, and response to, elder 

21 abuse. 

22 ‘‘(3) ONLINE PUBLIC RESOURCES.—The Elder 

23 Justice Initiative shall maintain and publish on the 

24 internet, information aimed at protecting elders 


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1 from fraudulent schemes and contain resources 

2 aimed at preventing elder abuse. 

3 ‘‘(4) SPANISH LANGUAGE RESOURCES.—The 

4 Attorney General shall ensure that Elder Justice 

5 Initiative online resources are available in Spanish 

6 and link linguistically appropriate resources to in7 form Spanish-speaking elders of Federal and State 

8 resources to combat fraud and abuse that targets 

9 the elderly, to include— 

10 ‘‘(A) Spanish-language resources and links 

11 that help report instances of elder fraud and 

12 abuse to State and local law enforcement; and 

13 ‘‘(B) resources that help prevent financial 

14 exploitation of elders.’’. 

Æ 


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