I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4979 

To establish a grant program to enhance training and services to prevent 

abuse in later life. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2012 

Ms. BALDWIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to enhance training and 

services to prevent abuse in later life. 

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 ‘‘End Abuse in Later 

5 Life Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENHANCED TRAINING AND SERVICES TO END 

7 ABUSE IN LATER LIFE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of the Violence Against 

9 Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14041 et seq.) is amended 

10 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle H—Enhanced Training 

2 and Services to End Abuse 

3 Later in Life 

4 ‘‘SEC. 40801. ENHANCED TRAINING AND SERVICES TO END 

5 ABUSE IN LATER LIFE. 

6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 

7 to— 

8 ‘‘(1) provide training, consultation, and infor9 mation on abuse in later life, including domestic vio10 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, ex11 ploitation, and neglect; 

12 ‘‘(2) create or enhance direct services to victims 

13 of abuse in later life, including domestic violence, 

14 dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, exploitation, 

15 and neglect; and 

16 ‘‘(3) create or support coordinated community 

17 response to abuse in later life, including domestic vi18 olence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, ex19 ploitation, and neglect. 

20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘exploitation’ has the meaning 

22 given the term in the section 2011 of the Social Se23 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1397j); 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘later life’, relating to an indi2 vidual, means the individual is 50 years of age or 

3 older; and 

4 ‘‘(3) the term ‘neglect’ means the failure of a 

5 caregiver or fiduciary to provide the goods or serv6 ices that are necessary to maintain the health or 

7 safety of an individual in later life. 

8 ‘‘(c) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney 

10 General, through the Director of the Office on Vio11 lence Against Women, may make grants to eligible 

12 entities to carry out the activities described in para13 graph (2). 

14 ‘‘(2) MANDATORY AND PERMISSIBLE ACTIVI15 TIES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) MANDATORY ACTIVITIES.—An eligible 

17 entity receiving a grant under this section shall 

18 use the funds received under the grant to— 

19 ‘‘(i) provide training programs to as20 sist law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, 

21 agencies of States or units of local govern22 ment, population-specific organizations, 

23 victims service providers, victim advocates, 

24 and relevant officers in Federal, Tribal, 

25 State, Territorial, and local courts in recVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:06 May 02, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4979.IH H4979

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1 ognizing and addressing instances of abuse 

2 in later life, including domestic violence, 

3 dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, 

4 exploitation, and neglect; 

5 ‘‘(ii) provide or enhance services for 

6 victims of abuse in later life, including do7 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual as8 sault, stalking, exploitation, and neglect; 

9 ‘‘(iii) establish or support multidisci10 plinary collaborative community responses 

11 to victims of abuse in later life, including 

12 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 

13 assault, stalking, exploitation, and neglect; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(iv) conduct cross-training for law 

16 enforcement agencies, prosecutors, agen17 cies of States or units of local government, 

18 attorneys, health care providers, popu19 lation-specific organizations, faith-based 

20 advocates, victims service providers, and 

21 courts to better serve victims of abuse in 

22 later life, domestic violence, dating vio23 lence, sexual assault, stalking, exploitation, 

24 and neglect. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligi2 ble entity receiving a grant under this section 

3 may use the funds received under the grant 

4 to— 

5 ‘‘(i) provide training programs to as6 sist attorneys, health care providers, faith7 based leaders, or other community-based 

8 organizations in recognizing and address9 ing instances of abuse in later life, includ10 ing domestic violence, dating violence, sex11 ual assault, stalking, exploitation, and ne12 glect; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) conducting outreach activities 

14 and public awareness campaigns to ensure 

15 that victims of abuse in later life (includ16 ing domestic violence, dating violence, sex17 ual assault, stalking, exploitation, and ne18 glect) receive appropriate assistance. 

19 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—An eligible entity re20 ceiving a grant under this section may use not 

21 more than 10 percent of the total funds re22 ceived under the grant for an activity described 

23 in subparagraph (B)(ii). 

24 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity shall be 

25 eligible to receive a grant under this section if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the entity is— 

2 ‘‘(i) a State; 

3 ‘‘(ii) a unit of local government; 

4 ‘‘(iii) an Indian Tribal government or 

5 Tribal organization; 

6 ‘‘(iv) a population-specific organiza7 tion with demonstrated experience in as8 sisting individuals over 50 years of age; 

9 ‘‘(v) a victim service provider with 

10 demonstrated experience in addressing do11 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual as12 sault, and stalking; or 

13 ‘‘(vi) a State, Tribal, or Territorial 

14 domestic violence or sexual assault coali15 tion; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the entity demonstrates that the enti17 ty is a part of a multidisciplinary partnership 

18 that includes, at a minimum— 

19 ‘‘(i) a law enforcement agency; 

20 ‘‘(ii) a prosecutor’s office; 

21 ‘‘(iii) a victim service provider; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) a nonprofit program or govern23 ment agency with demonstrated experience 

24 in assisting individuals in later life. 


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1 ‘‘(4) UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS.—In making 

2 grants under this section, the Attorney General shall 

3 give priority to proposals providing population-spe4 cific services to racial and ethnic minorities and 

5 other underserved populations. 

6 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

8 to be appropriated to carry out this subsection 

9 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 

10 through 2017. 

11 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Amounts appro12 priated pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall re13 main available until expended and may only be 

14 used for the activities described in this sub15 section. 

16 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the 

18 amount appropriated pursuant to subpara19 graph (A) in each fiscal year, the Attorney 

20 General may use not more than 2.5 per21 cent for administration and monitoring of 

22 grants made under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(ii) EVALUATION.—Of the amount 

24 appropriated pursuant to subparagraph 

25 (A) in each fiscal year the Attorney GenVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:06 May 02, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4979.IH H4979

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1 eral may use not more than 5 percent for 

2 contracts or cooperative agreements with 

3 entities with demonstrated expertise in 

4 program evaluation, to evaluate programs 

5 under this subsection.’’. 

6 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 40002(a) of the Violence 

7 Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by striking paragraph (9); 

10 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

11 (8) as paragraphs (2) through (9), respectively; and 

12 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redes13 ignated, the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) ABUSE IN LATER LIFE.—The term ‘abuse 

15 in later life’ means any action against a person who 

16 is 50 years of age or older that constitutes the will17 ful— 

18 ‘‘(A) infliction of injury, unreasonable con19 finement, intimidation, or cruel punishment 

20 with resulting physical harm, pain, or mental 

21 anguish; or 

22 ‘‘(B) deprivation by a person, including a 

23 caregiver, of goods or services with intent to 

24 cause physical harm, mental anguish, or mental 

25 illness.’’. 


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1 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING CORRECTION.— 

2 The table of contents in section 2 of the Violent Crime 

3 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 

4 103–322; 108 Stat. 1796) is amended in the table of con5 tents by inserting after the item relating to section 40703 

6 the following: 

‘‘Subtitle H—Enhanced Training and Services to End Abuse Later in Life 

‘‘Sec. 40801. Enhance training and services to end abuse later in life.’’. 

Æ 


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