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H.R. 448 (111th): Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2009
- Introduced:
- Jan 09, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
- Sponsor:
- Rep. Joe Sestak [D-PA7]
- Status:
- Died (Passed House)
- See Instead:
-
S. 1821 (same title)
Referred to Committee — Oct 21, 2009
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
2/11/2009.
Title
I
-
Elder Abuse Victims
Section
101
-
Directs the Attorney General to:
(1) study and report to Congress on state laws and practices relating to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and
(2) develop objectives, priorities, policies, and a long-term plan for elder justice programs and activities.
Directs the Comptroller General to review programs and initiatives in the federal criminal justice system relevant to elder justice and report to Congress on such programs and initiatives with recommendations to improve elder justice in the United States.
Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2015.
Section
102
-
Authorizes the Attorney General to award victim advocacy grants for study of the special needs of victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including related pilot programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2015.
Section
103
-
Directs the Attorney General to award grants to eligible entities to provide training, technical assistance, policy development, multidisciplinary coordination, and other types of support to local prosecutors and courts handling elder justice-related cases, funding in particular:
(1) specially designated elder justice positions or units in local prosecutors' offices and local courts; and
(2) the creation of a Center for the Prosecution of Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation to advise and support local prosecutors and courts nationwide in the pursuit of such cases.
Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2015.
Section
104
-
Directs the Attorney General to award similar grants to eligible entities to provide support to state prosecutors and courts, employees of state Attorneys General, and Medicaid Fraud Control Units handling elder justice-related matters.
Authorizes use of such grants to: (1) establish specially designated elder justice positions or units in state prosecutors' offices and state courts; and (2) create a position to coordinate elder justice-related cases, training, technical assistance, and policy development for state prosecutors and courts.
Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2015.
Section
105
-
Directs the Attorney General to award similar grants to eligible entities to provide support to police, sheriffs, detectives, public safety officers, corrections personnel, and other first responders who handle elder justice-related matters to fund specially designated elder justice positions or units designed to support first responders in elder justice matters.
Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2015.
Section
106
-
Directs the Attorney General to: (1) require each recipient to use a portion of grant funds to conduct a validated evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities carried out through the grant; or (2) use a portion of funds under this title to assist an eligible entity to conduct such an evaluation.
Prescribes general requirements for grant applications and their review and selection.
Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2015.
Section
107
-
Defines "eligible entity" as a state or local government agency, Indian tribe or tribal organization, or any other public or nonprofit private entity that is engaged in and has expertise in issues relating to elder justice or a field necessary to promote elder justice efforts.
Title
II
-
Elder Serve Victim Grant Programs
Section
201
-
Directs the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime of the Department of Justice (DOJ), to carry out a three-year Elder Serve Victim program to provide grants to eligible entities (crime victim assistance programs receiving grants under the Victims of Crime Act of 1984) to establish programs to facilitate and coordinate programs for victims of elder abuse.
Requires a recipient to use its grant to establish an Emergency Crisis Response Team program, which shall: (1) include immediate, short-term emergency services, including shelter, care services, food, clothing, transportation to medical or legal appointments; and (2) provide other appropriate services to victims of elder abuse.
Limits short-term housing for such victims to 30 days.
Requires a grant recipient also to establish counseling, mental health screening, emergency legal advocacy, job placement assistance, bereavement counseling, and other appropriate service programs.
Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2011.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/1/hr448.
Background
The Department of Health and Human Services operates a National Center of Elder Abuse, which coordinates efforts to combat elder abuse, exploitation, and neglect. This center was created by the Older Americans Amendments Act in 1992. National Center of Elder Abuse awards grants to carry out its goals and recent grant recipients include the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the University of Delaware.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, between 1-2 million Americans over the age of 65 have been injured, mistreated, or exploited by a caregiver. Data suggest that only 1 in 14 incidents are brought to the attention of authorities. The elderly are also vulnerable to financial exploitation and estimates indicate there are around five million elderly victims of financial abuse each year.
On September 23, 2008, the House passed similar legislation, H.R. 5352, under suspension of the rules by a vote of 387-28.
Summary
H.R. 448 requires the Department of Justice to hire staff to work on elder justice issues and directs the Department of Health and Human Services to hire personnel to investigate cases of elder care neglect. The bill authorizes $3 million for fiscal years 2009 through 2011.
The bill also establishes Department of Justice grant programs to assist state and local prosecutors, law enforcement, and victim advocacy groups which deal with elder abuse issues. The victims advocacy grants are authorized at $3 million per year from 2009-2015. The bill authorizes $6 million annually from 2009-2015 for local prosecutor grants and $6 million per year between 2009-2015 for state prosecutor grants. The bill authorizes $8 million per year from 2009-2015 for local law enforcement grants, and $7 million per year from 2009-2015 for grants for organizations who evaluate the programs funded under the bill. Finally, the bill also authorizes $6 million for analysis, reports and recommendations related to Elder Justice Programs.
Cost
While no Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate is available for H.R. 448, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5352, a similar bill from the 110th Congress, "would cost $173 million over the 2009-2013 period, with remaining amounts spent in subsequent years."
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:
United States Code
The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)
- Other Citations
- 42 U.S.C. 1401et seq.