III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 295 

Designating June 15, 2021, as ‘‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day’’ and 

the month of June as ‘‘Elder Abuse Awareness Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Designating June 15, 2021, as ‘‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day’’ and the month of June as ‘‘Elder Abuse 

Awareness Month’’. 

Whereas, in 2021, approximately 55,000,000 residents of the 

United States, or about 1 in every 6 individuals, have attained the age of 65; 

Whereas elder abuse remains a challenging problem and can 

come in many different forms, often manifesting as physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, financial exploitation, 

neglect, and social media abuse; 

Whereas elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation have no 

boundaries and cross all racial, social, class, gender, and 

geographic lines, according to the Elder Justice Coalition; 


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Whereas more than 1 in 10 individuals in the United States 

over the age of 60 have been subjected to abuse each 

year, with many such victims enduring abuse in multiple 

forms, according to the American Journal of Public 

Health; 

Whereas most reported cases of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults take place within private homes, 

and approximately 90 percent of the perpetrators in elder 

financial exploitation cases are family members or other 

trusted individuals, according to the National Adult Protective Services Association; 

Whereas research suggests that elderly individuals in the 

United States who experience cognitive impairment, physical disabilities, or isolation are more likely to become the 

victims of abuse than those who do not experience cognitive impairment, physical disabilities, or isolation; 

Whereas other risk factors for elder abuse can include low social support, poor physical health, and experience of previous traumatic events, according to the National Center 

on Elder Abuse; 

Whereas close to half of elderly individuals who suffer from 

dementia will experience abuse during their lifetime, according to the Department of Justice; 

Whereas only a small fraction of elder abuse cases are reported to the authorities; 

Whereas, on June 15, 2021, which was World Elder Abuse 

Awareness Day, the United States mourned the loss of 

a disturbing number of older people in the United States, 

who perished in nursing homes and other long-term care 

facilities during the COVID–19 pandemic; 


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Whereas, the COVID–19 pandemic also has led to the emergence of new scams against older adults, including those 

related to vaccines; 

Whereas, there has been an increase in hate crimes committed against older, Asian Americans during the 

COVID–19 pandemic; 

Whereas, Congress recently passed and the President signed 

2 measures that make nearly $400,000,000 available for 

implementation of Elder Justice Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i– 

3a et seq.) initiatives, the largest funding stream related 

to such initiatives in the history of the Act; and 

Whereas Congress, in passing the Elder Justice Act of 2009 

(42 U.S.C. 1395i–3a et seq.), the Older Americans Act 

of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (34 U.S.C. 21701 et seq.), 

the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117– 

2), and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260), recognized the importance of protecting older people of the United States against abuse 

and exploitation: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates June 15, 2021, as ‘‘World Elder 

3 Abuse Awareness Day’’ and the month of June as 

4 ‘‘Elder Abuse Awareness Month’’; 

5 (2) recognizes— 

6 (A) judges, lawyers, adult protective serv7 ices professionals, law enforcement officers, so8 cial workers, health care providers, advocates 

9 for victims, and other professionals and agenVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:35 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR295.IS SR295

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1 cies for their efforts to advance awareness of 

2 elder abuse; 

3 (B) the important work of the Elder Jus4 tice Coordinating Council, which has continued 

5 through the previous 2 Administrations and in6 volves 14 different Federal agencies; 

7 (C) the essential work done by adult pro8 tective services personnel, who regularly came 

9 to the assistance of victims, investigated reports 

10 of abuse, and actively prevented future victim11 ization of older people in the United States, es12 pecially during the ongoing COVID–19 pan13 demic as the social isolation of elderly individ14 uals due to stay-at-home orders only increased 

15 the risk of abuse and neglect; and 

16 (D) the importance of supporting State 

17 long-term care ombudsman programs, which 

18 help prevent elder abuse and neglect in nursing 

19 homes and other long-term care facilities, where 

20 infection prevention and control deficiencies 

21 pose persistent challenges; 

22 (3) applauds the work of the Elder Justice Coa23 lition, and its members, whose efforts to increase 

24 public awareness of elder abuse have the potential to 

25 increase the identification and reporting of this 


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1 crime by the public, professionals, and victims, and 

2 can act as a catalyst to promote issue-based edu3 cation and long-term prevention; and 

4 (4) encourages— 

5 (A) members of the public and profes6 sionals who work with older adults to act as 

7 catalysts to promote awareness and long-term 

8 prevention of elder abuse— 

9 (i) by reaching out to local adult pro10 tective services agencies, State long-term 

11 care ombudsman programs, and the Na12 tional Center on Elder Abuse; and 

13 (ii) by learning to recognize, detect, 

14 report, and respond to elder abuse; 

15 (B) private individuals and public agencies 

16 in the United States to continue work together 

17 at the Federal, State, and local levels to combat 

18 abuse, neglect, exploitation, crime, and violence 

19 against vulnerable adults, including vulnerable 

20 older adults, particularly in light of limited re21 sources for vital protective services; and 

22 (C) those Federal agencies with responsi23 bility for preventing elder abuse to fully exercise 

24 such responsibilities to protect older adults, 


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1 whether living in the community or in long-term 

2 care facilities. 

Æ 


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