I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4963 
To better protect, serve, and advance the rights of victims of elder abuse 
and exploitation by establishing a program to encourage States and 
other qualified entities to create jobs designed to hold offenders account-
able, enhance the capacity of the justice system to investigate, pursue, 
and prosecute elder abuse cases, identify existing resources to leverage 
to the extent possible, and assure data collection, research, and evaluation 
to promote the efficacy and efficiency of the activities described in this 
Act. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 15, 2016 
Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. BONAMICI, and 
Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To better protect, serve, and advance the rights of victims 
of elder abuse and exploitation by establishing a program 
to encourage States and other qualified entities to create 
jobs designed to hold offenders accountable, enhance the 
capacity of the justice system to investigate, pursue, 
and prosecute elder abuse cases, identify existing re-
sources to leverage to the extent possible, and assure 
data collection, research, and evaluation to promote the 
efficacy and efficiency of the activities described in this 
Act. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Elder Abuse Victims 
Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the terms ‘‘abuse’’, ‘‘elder’’, ‘‘elder justice’’, 
‘‘exploitation’’, and ‘‘neglect’’ have the meanings 
given those terms in section 2011 of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1397j); 
(2) the term ‘‘elder abuse’’ includes neglect and 
exploitation; 
(3) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 
the Office appointed under section 3(b); 
(4) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of Elder 
Justice established under section 3(a); 
(5) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 
States of the United States, the District of Colum-
bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any 
other territory of possession of the United States; 
and 
(6) the term ‘‘task force’’ means a multidisci-
plinary task force on elder justice established or des-
ignated under section 5(c)(1). 
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SEC. 3. OFFICE OF ELDER JUSTICE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 
Department of Justice an office to be known as the Office 
of Elder Justice, which shall address issues relating to 
elder abuse. 
(b) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by a Di-
rector who shall— 
(1) be appointed by the President, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, from among 
individuals with experience and expertise in elder 
abuse; and 
(2) serve as counsel to the Attorney General on 
elder justice and elder abuse. 
(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Director shall— 
(1) create, compile, evaluate, and disseminate 
materials and information, and provide the nec-
essary training and technical assistance, to assist 
States and units of local government in— 
(A) investigating, prosecuting, pursuing, 
preventing, understanding, and mitigating the 
impact of— 
(i) physical, sexual, and psychological 
abuse of elders; 
(ii) exploitation of elders, including fi-
nancial abuse and scams targeting elders; 
and 
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(iii) neglect of elders; and 
(B) assessing, addressing, and mitigating 
the physical and psychological trauma to vic-
tims of elder abuse; 
(2) collect data and perform an evidence-based 
evaluation to— 
(A) assure the efficacy of measures and 
methods intended to prevent, detect, respond to, 
or redress elder abuse; and 
(B) evaluate the number of victims of elder 
abuse in each State and the extent to which the 
needs of the victims are served by crime victim 
services, programs, and sources of funding; 
(3) publish a report, on an annual basis, that 
describes the results of the evaluations conducted 
under paragraphs (1) and (2), and submit the report 
to each Federal agency, each State, and the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary and the Special Committee 
on Aging of the Senate and the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives; 
(4) evaluate training models to determine best 
practices, create replication guides, create training 
materials for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, 
judges, emergency responders, individuals working in 
victim services, adult protective services, social serv-
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ices, and public safety, medical personnel, mental 
health personnel, financial services personnel, and 
any other individuals whose work may bring them in 
contact with elder abuse regarding how to— 
(A) conduct investigations in elder abuse 
cases; 
(B) address evidentiary issues and other 
legal issues; and 
(C) appropriately assess, respond to, and 
interact with victims and witnesses in elder 
abuse cases, including in administrative, civil, 
and criminal judicial proceedings; 
(5) conduct, and update on a regular basis, a 
study of laws and practices relating to elder abuse, 
including— 
(A) a comprehensive description of State 
laws and practices; 
(B) an analysis of the effectiveness of 
State laws and practices, including— 
(i) whether the State laws are en-
forced; and 
(ii) if enforced— 
(I) how the State laws are en-
forced; and 
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(II) how enforcement of the State 
laws has effected elder abuse within 
the State; 
(C) a review of State definitions of the 
terms ‘‘abuse’’, ‘‘neglect’’, and ‘‘exploitation’’ in 
the context of elder abuse cases; 
(D) a review of State laws that mandate 
reporting of elder abuse, including adult protec-
tive services laws, laws that require the report-
ing of nursing home deaths or suspicious deaths 
of elders to coroners or medical examiners, and 
other pertinent reporting laws, that analyzes— 
(i) the impact and efficacy of the 
State laws; 
(ii) whether the State laws are en-
forced; 
(iii) the levels of compliance with the 
State laws; and 
(iv) the response to, and actions taken 
as a result of, reports made under the 
State laws; 
(E) a review of State evidentiary, proce-
dural, sentencing, choice of remedies, and data 
retention issues relating to elder abuse; 
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