I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1161

To establish research, development, and dissemination programs to assist

in collaborative efforts to prevent crime against senior citizens, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 1, 1993

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. HAYES, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr.

BAKER of Louisiana, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BLACKWELL,

Mr. COBLE, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. EVANS,

Mr. PETE GEREN of Texas, Mr. GINGRICH, Mr. GOSS, Mr. GUTIERREZ,

Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. HYDE, Mr. KING, Mr. LANCASTER, Mr. LEVY, Mr.

KNOLLENBERG, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. MCNULTY, Mrs.

MALONEY, Mr. MAZZOLI, Mrs. MEEK, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Mrs.

MORELLA, Mr. PETRI, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr.

SCOTT, Mr. SISISKY, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. WELDON, and Mr. WISE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the

Judiciary

A BILL

To establish research, development, and dissemination programs to assist in collaborative efforts to prevent crime

against senior citizens, 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 ‘‘National Triad Pro5 gram Act’’.
2

•HR 1161 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) senior citizens are among the most rapidly

4 growing segments of our society;

5 (2) currently, senior citizens comprise 15 per6 cent of our society, and predictions are that by the

7 turn of the century they will constitute 18 percent

8 of our Nation’s population;

9 (3) senior citizens find themselves uniquely situ10 ated in our society, environmentally and physically;

11 (4) many senior citizens are experiencing in12 creased social isolation due to fragmented and dis13 tant familial relations, scattered associations, limited

14 access to transportation, and other insulating fac15 tors;

16 (5) physical conditions such as hearing loss,

17 poor eyesight, lessened agility, and chronic and de18 bilitating illnesses often contribute to a senior citi19 zen’s susceptibility to criminal victimization;

20 (6) senior citizens are too frequently the victims

21 of abuse and neglect, violent crime, property crime,

22 consumer fraud, medical quackery, and confidence

23 games;

24 (7) studies have found that senior citizens that

25 are victims of violent crime are more likely to be
3

•HR 1161 IH

1 injured and require medical attention than are

2 younger victims;

3 (8) victimization data on crimes against senior

4 citizens are incomplete and out of date, and data

5 sources are partial, scattered, and not easily

6 obtained;

7 (9) although a few studies have attempted to

8 define and estimate the extent of abuse and neglect

9 of senior citizens, both in their homes and in institu10 tional settings, many experts believe that abuse and

11 neglect crimes are substantially underreported and

12 undetected;

13 (10) similarly, while some evidence suggests

14 that senior citizens may be targeted in a range of

15 fraudulent schemes, neither the Uniform Crime Re16 port nor the National Crime Survey collects data on

17 individual- or household-level fraud;

18 (11) many law enforcement agencies do not

19 have model practices for responding to the criminal

20 abuse of senior citizens;

21 (12) law enforcement officers and social service

22 providers come from different disciplines and fre23 quently bring different perspectives to the problem

24 of crimes against senior citizens;
4

•HR 1161 IH

1 (13) the differences in approaches can inhibit a

2 genuinely effective response;

3 (14) there are, however, a few efforts currently

4 under way that seek to forge partnerships to coordi5 nate criminal justice and social service approaches to

6 victimization of senior citizens;

7 (15) the Triad program, sponsored by the Na8 tional Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), the International

9 Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and the

10 American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), is

11 one such effort; and

12 (16) recognizing that senior citizens have the

13 same fundamental desire as other members of our

14 society to live freely, without fear or restriction due

15 to the criminal element, the Federal Government

16 should seek to expand efforts to reduce crime

17 against this growing and uniquely vulnerable seg18 ment of our population.

19 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

20 The purposes of this Act are—

21 (1) to support a coordinated effort among law

22 enforcement and social service agencies to stem the

23 tide of violence against senior citizens and support

24 media and nonmedia strategies aimed at increasing

25 both public understanding of the problem and the
5

•HR 1161 IH

1 senior citizens’ skills in preventing crime against

2 themselves and their property; and

3 (2) to address the problem of crime against

4 senior citizens in a systematic and effective manner

5 by promoting and expanding collaborative crime pre6 vention programs, such as the Triad model, that as7 sist law enforcement agencies and senior citizens in

8 implementing specific strategies for crime preven9 tion, victim assistance, citizen involvement, and pub10 lic education.

11 SEC. 4. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND DISSEMINATION.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National In13 stitute of Justice shall conduct a qualitative and quan14 titative national assessment of—

15 (1) the nature and extent of crimes committed

16 against senior citizens and the effect of such crimes

17 on the victims;

18 (2) the numbers, extent, and impact of violent

19 crimes and nonviolent crimes (such as frauds and

20 ‘‘scams’’) against senior citizens and the extent of

21 unreported crime;

22 (3) the collaborative needs of law enforcement,

23 health, and social service organizations, focusing on

24 prevention of crimes against senior citizens, to iden-
6

•HR 1161 IH

1 tify, investigate, and provide assistance to victims of

2 those crimes; and

3 (4) the development and growth of strategies to

4 respond effectively to the matters described in para5 graphs (1), (2), and (3).

6 (b) MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—The national as7 sessment made pursuant to subsection (a) shall address—

8 (1) the analysis and synthesis of data from a

9 broad range of sources in order to develop accurate

10 information on the nature and extent of crimes

11 against senior citizens, including identifying and

12 conducting such survey and other data collection ef13 forts as are needed and designing a strategy to keep

14 such information current over time;

15 (2) institutional and community responses to el16 derly victims of crime, focusing on the problems as17 sociated with fear of victimization, abuse of senior

18 citizens, and hard-to-reach senior citizens who are in

19 poor health, are living alone or without family near20 by, or living in high crime areas;

21 (3) special services and responses required by

22 elderly victims;

23 (4) whether the experience of senior citizens

24 with some service organizations differs markedly

25 from that of younger populations;
7

•HR 1161 IH

1 (5) the kinds of programs that have proven use2 ful in reducing victimization of senior citizens

3 through crime prevention activities and programs;

4 (6) the kinds of programs that contribute to

5 successful coordination among public sector agencies

6 and community organizations in reducing victimiza7 tion of senior citizens; and

8 (7) the research agenda needed to develop a

9 comprehensive understanding of the problems of

10 crimes against senior citizens, including the changes

11 that can be anticipated in the crimes themselves and

12 appropriate responses as the society increasingly

13 ages.

14 (c) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.—In conducting

15 the assessment under subsection (a), the Director of the

16 National Institute of Justice shall draw upon the findings

17 of existing studies and avoid duplication of efforts that

18 have previously been made.

19 (d) DISSEMINATION.—Based on the results of the na20 tional assessment and analysis of successful or promising

21 strategies in dealing with the problems described in sub22 section (b) and other problems, including coalition efforts

23 such as the Triad programs described in sections 2 and

24 3, the Director of the National Institute of Justice shall

25 disseminate the results through reports, publications,
8

•HR 1161 IH

1 clearinghouse services, public service announcements, and

2 programs of evaluation, demonstration, training, and tech3 nical assistance.

4 SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAMS.

5 (a) AWARDS.—The Director of the Bureau of Justice

6 Assistance shall make grants to coalitions of local law en7 forcement agencies and senior citizens to assist in the de8 velopment of programs and execute field tests of particu9 larly promising strategies for crime prevention services

10 and related services based on the concepts of the Triad

11 model, which can then be evaluated and serve as the basis

12 for further demonstration and education programs.

13 (b) TRIAD COOPERATIVE MODEL.—(1) Subject to

14 paragraph (2), a pilot program funded under this section

15 shall consist of the Triad cooperative model developed by

16 the organizations described in section 2(15), which calls

17 for the participation of the sheriff, at least 1 police chief,

18 and a representative of at least 1 senior citizens’ organiza19 tion within a county and may include participation by gen20 eral service coalitions of law enforcement, victim service,

21 and senior citizen advocate organizations.

22 (2) If there is not both a sheriff and a police chief

23 in a county or if the sheriff or a police chief do not partici24 pate, a pilot program funded under this section shall in25 clude in the place of the sheriff or police chief another
9

•HR 1161 IH

1 key law enforcement official in the county such as a local

2 prosecutor.

3 (c) APPLICATION.—A coalition or Triad program that

4 desires to establish a pilot program under this section

5 shall submit to the Director of the Bureau of Justice As6 sistance an application that includes—

7 (1) a description of the community and its sen8 ior citizen population;

9 (2) assurances that Federal funds received

10 under this part shall be used to provide additional

11 and appropriate education and services to the com12 munity’s senior citizens;

13 (3) a description of the extent of involvement of

14 each organizational component (chief, sheriff (or

15 other law enforcement official), and senior organiza16 tion representative) and focus of the Triad program;

17 (4) a comprehensive plan including—

18 (A) a description of the crime problems

19 facing senior citizens and need for expanded

20 law enforcement and victim assistance services;

21 (B) a description of the types of projects

22 to be developed or expanded;

23 (C) a plan for an evaluation of the results

24 of Triad endeavors;
10

•HR 1161 IH

1 (D) a description of the resources (includ2 ing matching funds, in-kind services, and other

3 resources) available in the community to imple4 ment the Triad development or expansion;

5 (E) a description of the gaps that cannot

6 be filled with existing resources;

7 (F) an explanation of how the requested

8 grant will be used to fill those gaps; and

9 (G) a description of the means and meth10 ods the applicant will use to reduce criminal

11 victimization of older persons; and

12 (5) funding requirements for implementing a

13 comprehensive plan.

14 (d) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANT AWARDS.—The Direc15 tor of the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall attempt, to

16 the extent practicable, to achieve an equitable geographic

17 distribution of grant awards for pilot programs authorized

18 under this Act.

19 (e) POST-GRANT PERIOD REPORT.—A grant recipi20 ent under this section shall, not later than 6 months after

21 the conclusion of the grant period, submit to the Director

22 of the Bureau of Justice Assistance a report that—

23 (1) describes the composition of organizations

24 that participated in the pilot program;
11

•HR 1161 IH

1 (2) identifies problem areas encountered during

2 the course of the pilot program;

3 (3) provides data comparing the types and fre4 quency of criminal activity before and after the

5 grant period and the effect of such criminal activity

6 on senior citizens in the community; and

7 (4) describes the grant recipient’s plans and

8 goals for continuance of the Triad program after the

9 grant period.

10 SEC. 6. TRAINING ASSISTANCE, EVALUATION, AND DISSEMI11 NATION AWARDS.

12 In conjunction with the national assessment under

13 section 4—

14 (1) the Director of the Bureau of Justice As15 sistance shall make awards to organizations with

16 demonstrated ability to provide training and tech17 nical assistance in establishing crime prevention pro18 grams based on the Triad model, for purposes of

19 aiding in the establishment and expansion of pilot

20 programs under this section; and

21 (2) the Director of the National Institute of

22 Justice shall make awards to research organizations,

23 for the purposes of—

24 (A) evaluating the effectiveness of selected

25 pilot programs; and
12

•HR 1161 IH

1 (B) conducting the research and develop2 ment identified through the national assessment

3 as being critical; and

4 (3) the Director of the Bureau of Justice As5 sistance shall make awards to public service adver6 tising coalitions, for the purposes of mounting a pro7 gram of public service advertisements to increase

8 public awareness and understanding of the issues

9 surrounding crimes against senior citizens and pro10 moting ideas or programs to prevent them.

11 SEC. 7. REPORT.

12 The Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance and

13 the Director of the National Institute of Justice shall sub14 mit to Congress an annual report (which may be included

15 with the report submitted under section 102(b) of title I

16 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

17 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3712(b)) describing the results of the

18 pilot programs conducted under section 5.

19 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

20 There are authorized to be appropriated—

21 (1) $2,000,000 to the Bureau of Justice Assist22 ance for the purpose of making Triad pilot program

23 awards in that amount under section 5;

24 (2) $1,000,000 to the Bureau of Justice Assist25 ance for the purpose of funding the national training
13

•HR 1161 IH

1 and technical assistance effort under sections 4 and

2 6;

3 (3) $1,000,000 to the Bureau of Justice Assist4 ance for the purpose of developing public service an5 nouncements under sections 4 and 6;

6 (4) $2,000,000 to the National Institute of Jus7 tice for the purposes of conducting the national as8 sessment, evaluating pilot programs, and carrying

9 out the research agenda under sections 4 and 6; and

10 (5) to the extent that funds are not otherwise

11 available for the purpose, such sums as are nec12 essary to pay the administrative costs of carrying

13 out this Act.

Æ