I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3090 

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

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Mr. BARBER, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. RANGEL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CONNOLLY, 

Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, Mr. 

LANGEVIN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. PASCRELL, 

Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. HAHN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. RAHALL, 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. TONKO, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

GENE GREEN of Texas, and Mr. DEUTCH) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

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: 


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1 (1) In 2009, the Department of Justice esti2 mated that 14.1 percent of non-institutionalized 

3 older adults in the United States had experienced 

4 some form of elder abuse in the past year. 

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

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

7 prevention efforts. 

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

9 victims of abuse is 3 times higher than older adults 

10 that are not victims of abuse. 

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

12 financial abuse is estimated to be at least 

13 $2,900,000,000, and steadily increasing. 

14 SEC. 2. ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES; DEFINITIONS. 

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

16 U.S.C. 3002) is amended— 

17 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol18 lows: 

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

20 knowing infliction of physical or psychological harm 

21 or the knowing deprivation of goods or services that 

22 are necessary to meet essential needs or to avoid 

23 physical or psychological harm.’’; 

24 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

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


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1 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3), the fol2 lowing: 

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

4 ‘adult protective services’ means such services pro5 vided to adults as the Secretary may specify and in6 cludes services such as— 

7 ‘‘(A) receiving reports of adult abuse, ne8 glect, or exploitation; 

9 ‘‘(B) investigating the reports described in 

10 subparagraph (A); 

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

12 and other case work and services; and 

13 ‘‘(D) providing, arranging for, or facili14 tating the provision of medical, social service, 

15 economic, legal, housing, law enforcement, or 

16 other protective, emergency, or support serv17 ices.’’; 

18 (4) by amending paragraph (18), as so redesig19 nated, to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(18) ELDER JUSTICE.—The term ‘elder jus21 tice’ means— 

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

23 to— 


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

2 in, and prosecute elder abuse, neglect, and 

3 exploitation; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) protect older individuals with di5 minished capacity while maximizing their 

6 autonomy; and 

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

8 recognition of an older individual’s rights, in9 cluding the right to be free of abuse, neglect, 

10 and exploitation.’’; 

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

12 striking ‘‘The term ‘exploitation’ means’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘The terms ‘exploitation’ and ‘financial exploi14 tation’ mean’’; 

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

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

17 ‘‘and’’; 

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

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

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

21 ‘‘(D) abuse, neglect (including self-ne22 glect), financial exploitation, including factors 

23 that are the basis of a referral to adult protec24 tive services.’’; 


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

2 by inserting ‘‘, including opportunities for work and 

3 volunteer service in the community’’ after ‘‘avail4 able’’; 

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

6 striking ‘‘information and referral’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘information and referral assistance’’; and 

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

9 inserting ‘‘(including elder abuse and neglect screen10 ing)’’ after ‘‘educational services’’. 

11 SEC. 3. COORDINATION OF ELDER JUSTICE ACTIVITIES. 

12 (a) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 201 of the Older Amer13 icans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3011) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: 

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

16 funds appropriated to carry out this Act to implement ac17 tivities authorized under part I of subtitle B of title XX 

18 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397k et seq.), in19 cluding the establishment of the Advisory Board on Elder 

20 Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation and the continuation of 

21 the work of the Elder Justice Coordinating Council.’’. 

22 (b) ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE TRAINING FOR

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

24 (42 U.S.C. 3012) is amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(g) The Assistant Secretary shall— 

2 ‘‘(1) ensure, where appropriate, that all pro3 grams funded under this Act include appropriate 

4 training in prevention and provision of services that 

5 address elder justice and exploitation; and 

6 ‘‘(2) periodically update the need for and ben7 efit of such training related to prevention of abuse, 

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

9 (c) INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE SERVICES.—Sec10 tion 202(a)(21) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

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

12 ‘‘(21)(A) establish information and assistance serv13 ices as priority services for older individuals, and ensure 

14 that quality information and assistance services are con15 sistently provided to older individuals; 

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

17 all governmental information and assistance systems that 

18 serve older individuals, whether specialized, crisis interven19 tion, disaster assistance, or others; and 

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

21 contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements, a National 

22 Eldercare Locator Service, providing information and as23 sistance services through a nationwide toll free number to 

24 identify community resources for older individuals;’’. 


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

2 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3058) is amend3 ed by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The Assistant Sec4 retary, to the maximum extent practicable, shall ensure 

5 there be full integration of education and public awareness 

6 activities under this title with all service programs under 

7 title III with special emphasis on the nutrition programs, 

8 legal services, information and referral assistance activi9 ties, the work of aging and disability resource centers, and 

10 the long-term care ombudsman programs, including pro11 grams carried out under title VI.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. COORDINATION OF NATIONAL ADULT PROTECTIVE 

13 SERVICES RESOURCE CENTER WITH ELDER 

14 ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION PREVENTION. 

15 Subsection (e)(2) of section 201 of the Older Ameri16 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3011) is amended in the mat17 ter preceding subparagraph (A) by inserting ‘‘, and in co18 ordination with State Directors of the Adult Protective 

19 Services Programs and State Directors of the Office of 

20 Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs’’ after ‘‘and serv21 ices’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES RE2 SOURCE CENTER. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the Older Ameri4 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3011), as amended by section 

5 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(h)(1) The Assistant Secretary shall, by grant or 

7 contract with a national nonprofit entity, establish a Na8 tional Adult Protective Services Resource Center (referred 

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

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

11 protective services programs to respond effectively to 

12 abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable adults, in13 cluding home care consumers and residents of long-term 

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

15 Ombudsman Program to protect home care consumers 

16 and residents most effectively. 

17 ‘‘(2) The nonprofit entity awarded a grant or con18 tract under this subsection shall have expertise in, and 

19 representation by, State and local adult protective services 

20 programs. 

21 ‘‘(3) The Center shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) collect and disseminate information re23 garding, and increase public awareness of, the role 

24 of adult protective services programs in investigating 

25 the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), and ex26 ploitation of vulnerable adults, including home care 


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1 consumers and residents of long-term care facilities, 

2 and in intervening to protect the consumers and 

3 residents from abuse; 

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

5 and technical assistance for adult protective services 

6 program investigators and supervisors investigating 

7 the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), and ex8 ploitation of vulnerable adults, including home care 

9 consumers and residents of long-term care facilities, 

10 and intervening to protect the consumers and resi11 dents from further abuse; 

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

13 home care and long-term care professionals and oth14 ers on recognizing, reporting (including regarding 

15 mandatory reporting requirements), and responding 

16 to the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), and fi17 nancial exploitation of vulnerable adults, including 

18 home care consumers and residents of long-term 

19 care facilities; 

20 ‘‘(D) compile and disseminate reports on re21 search and best practices for adult protective serv22 ices programs and other programs on effective re23 sponses to the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), 

24 and exploitation of vulnerable adults, including home 


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1 care consumers and residents of long-term care fa2 cilities; 

3 ‘‘(E) work with the National Ombudsman Re4 source Center and long-term care ombudsman pro5 grams to develop and disseminate training, practice 

6 standards, and policies regarding— 

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

8 protective services and ombudsman programs; 

9 ‘‘(ii) confidentiality and abuse reporting 

10 issues and protocols; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) effective ways to maximize the re12 sources of adult protective services programs 

13 for the benefit of home care consumers and 

14 residents of long-term care facilities; and 

15 ‘‘(F) establish a data system to collect informa16 tion on the abuse, neglect (including self-neglect), 

17 and exploitation of home care consumers and resi18 dents of long-term care facilities and to measure the 

19 effectiveness of the activities carried out by the Cen20 ter. 

21 ‘‘(4) Not later than 18 months after the date of en22 actment of the Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention 

23 Act, the Director shall— 


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

2 and State experts, the best practices related to 

3 screening for elder abuse; 

4 ‘‘(B) publish a report that describes rec5 ommendations regarding such best practices and dis6 seminate such report to all grantees under programs 

7 established under this Act and described under this 

8 section; and 

9 ‘‘(C) submit to Congress such report and a de10 scription of the dissemination activities under sub11 paragraph (B). 

12 ‘‘(5) In this subsection, the term ‘home care con13 sumer’ means a person who receives services in the per14 son’s home or community to promote independence and 

15 reduce the necessity for residence in a long-term care facil16 ity, which may include home care services provided 

17 through this Act, the Medicare program under title XVIII 

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

19 Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security 

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

21 funding source.’’. 

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

23 216 of the Older Americans Act is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES RE2 SOURCE CENTER.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated to carry out section 201(h) (relating to the Na4 tional Adult Protective Services Resource Center), such 

5 sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2014, 2015, 

6 2016, 2017, and 2018.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. INCLUSION OF ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES PRO8 GRAMS IN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS. 

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

10 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3018(b)(1)(C)) is amended by inserting 

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

12 after ‘‘of the States’’. 

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

14 ELDER ABUSE. 

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

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

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

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

19 after ‘‘proficiency,’’. 

20 (b) AREA PLANS.—Section 306 of the Older Ameri21 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3026) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)(6)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (G), by inserting 

24 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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

2 agency and with the State agency responsible 

3 for elder abuse prevention services, increase 

4 public awareness of elder abuse and financial 

5 exploitation, remove barriers to elder abuse edu6 cation, prevention, investigation, and treatment; 

7 ‘‘(ii) coordinate elder justice activities (in8 cluding screenings) provided by the area agency 

9 on aging, community health centers, other pub10 lic agencies, and nonprofit private organiza11 tions; 

12 ‘‘(iii) develop standardized, coordinated, 

13 and reporting protocols with respect to elder 

14 abuse; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) report any instances of elder abuse in 

16 accordance with State law.’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (b)(3)— 

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

19 ‘‘and’’; 

20 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (K) as 

21 subparagraph (L); and 

22 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (J) 

23 the following: 

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

25 and financial exploitation; and’’. 


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1 (c) STATE PLANS.—Section 307(a)(12) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 

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

5 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(B) that the State will develop and imple8 ment standardized protocols for screening and 

9 reporting with respect to elder abuse;’’. 

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

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

12 amended— 

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

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

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

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

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

18 abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation’’ after 

19 ‘‘mental health’’. 

20 (e) NUTRITION.—Section 339(2) of the Older Ameri21 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030g–21(2)) is amended— 

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

23 and inserting a comma; 

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

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


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

2 ‘‘(L) encourages individuals who distribute 

3 nutrition services under subpart 2 to distribute 

4 information on diabetes, elder abuse, neglect, fi5 nancial exploitation, and the annual Medicare 

6 wellness exam.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. ABUSE PREVENTION EDUCATION AND TRAINING. 

8 (a) ACTIVITIES FOR HEALTH, INDEPENDENCE, AND

9 LONGEVITY.— 

10 (1) OLDER INDIVIDUALS’ PROTECTION FROM

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

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

13 amended— 

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

15 after the semicolon at the end; 

16 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe17 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

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

20 elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation prevention and 

21 training.’’. 

22 (2) DEMONSTRATION, SUPPORT, AND RE23 SEARCH PROJECTS.—Section 417(a)(1) of the Older 

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

25 amended— 


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

2 after the semicolon; 

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

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

5 and 

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

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

8 50 years of age in providing support and infor9 mation to older adults (and their families or 

10 caretakers) who have experienced or are at risk 

11 of elder abuse, including physical, emotional, or 

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

13 (b) COMMUNITY SERVICE SENIOR OPPORTUNI14 TIES.—Section 502(b)(1)(E) of the Older Americans Act 

15 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3056(b)(1)(E)) is amended by insert16 ing ‘‘, and for the health and safety of, and prevention 

17 and detection of elder abuse for, older adults’’ after ‘‘fami18 lies’’. 

19 (c) ALLOTMENTS FOR VULNERABLE ELDER RIGHTS

20 PROTECTION ACTIVITIES.— 

21 (1) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

22 705(a)(2) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

23 U.S.C. 3058d(a)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘fam24 ily caregivers,’’ after ‘‘title VI,’’. 


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1 (2) STATE LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PRO2 GRAM.— 

3 (A) SUPPORT OF OFFICE UNDER THE NA4 TIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVER SUPPORT PRO5 GRAM.—Section 373(g) of the Older Americans 

6 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030s–1(g)) is amend7 ed by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS FOR OMBUDSMAN PRO9 GRAM.—Amounts made available to a State to carry 

10 out the State program under this subpart may be 

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

12 Care Ombudsman, including supporting the develop13 ment of resident and family councils.’’. 

14 (B) ENSURING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND

15 RESIDENTS’ RIGHTS.—Section 712 of the Older 

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

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(k) ENSURING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND RESI19 DENTS’ RIGHTS.—The State agency shall ensure the Of20 fice— 

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

22 unimpeded access to the Office, including access to 

23 all records concerning the resident; and 

24 ‘‘(2) allows all facility residents to receive serv25 ices from the Office.’’. 


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1 (3) PREVENTION OF ELDER ABUSE, NEGLECT, 

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

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

4 amended— 

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

6 (9), (10), (11), and (12), as paragraphs (8), 

7 (10), (11), (12), (13), and (14), respectively; 

8 (B) by striking paragraph (6) and insert9 ing the following: 

10 ‘‘(6) conducting specialized abuse sensitivity 

11 training for caregivers described in part E of title 

12 III; 

13 ‘‘(7) conducting training for professionals and 

14 paraprofessionals in relevant fields on the identifica15 tion, prevention, and treatment of elder abuse, ne16 glect, and exploitation, with particular focus on pre17 vention and enhancement of self-determination and 

18 autonomy;’’; and 

19 (C) by inserting after paragraph (8), as re20 designated by subparagraph (B), the following: 

21 ‘‘(9) conducting appropriate training to ensure 

22 cultural sensitivity in the provision of elder rights 

23 services, including training in cultural issues associ24 ated with abuse;’’. 

Æ 


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