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Title II — Coordination of Civil Protections and Criminal Prosecution as it relates to Elder Justice

S. 1663 · 114th Congress · Jun 24, 2015 · Lineage

II Coordination of Civil Protections and Criminal Prosecution as it relates to Elder Justice

201. Model States laws and practices

The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Elder Justice Coordinating Council (established under section 2021 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397k)), shall—
(1)
create, compile, evaluate, and disseminate materials and information, and provide the necessary 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 financial abuse and scams targeting elders; and
(iii)
neglect of elders; and
(B)
assessing, addressing, and mitigating the physical and psychological trauma to victims 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 Committee 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, if necessary, for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, guardians, emergency responders, individuals working in victim services, adult protective services, social services, 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, neglect, and exploitation, 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 enforced; and
(ii)
if enforced—
(I)
how the State laws are enforced; and
(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 protective services laws, laws that require the reporting 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 enforced;
(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, procedural, sentencing, choice of remedies, and data retention issues relating to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
(F)
a review of State fiduciary laws, including law relating to guardianship, conservatorship, and power of attorney;
(G)
a review of State laws that permit or encourage employees of depository institutions (as defined in section 3(c)(1) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c)(1)) and State credit unions (as defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752)) to prevent and report suspected elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
(H)
a review of State laws used in civil court proceedings to prevent and address elder abuse;
(I)
a review of State laws relating to fraud and related activities in connection with mail, telemarketing, the Internet, or health care;
(J)
a review of State laws that create programs, offices, entities, or other programs that address or respond to elder abuse; and
(K)
an analysis of any other State laws relating to elder abuse; and
(6)
carry out such other duties as the Attorney General determines necessary in connection with enhancing the understanding, prevention, detection, and response to elder abuse.

202. Grant program

(a)
Establishment—
(1)
In general— The Attorney General shall establish a grant program to—
(A)
award grants and provide technical assistance to not more than 10 States to assist the States in developing, establishing, and operating programs designed to improve—
(i)
the response to cases of elder abuse in a manner that limits additional trauma to the elder victims; and
(ii)
the investigation and prosecution of cases of elder abuse; and
(B)
in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Legal Services Corporation, award grants to not more than 6 civil legal services entities that could prevent or provide remedies for abuse, neglect, and exploitation and collaborate with other organizations seeking to prevent, detect, and respond to elder abuse.
(2)
Eligibility—
(A)
States—
(i)
In general— A State is eligible to receive a grant or technical assistance under paragraph (1)(A) if the State—
(I)
has a crime victims compensation program that meets the criteria described in section 1403(b) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10602(b)); and
(II)
is in compliance with clause (ii).
(ii)
Establishment of task force—
(I)
In general— In order to be eligible to receive a grant under paragraph (1)(A), a State shall establish or, subject to subclause (V), designate a multidisciplinary task force on elder justice that is composed of professionals with knowledge and experience relating to the criminal justice system and issues of elder abuse.
(II)
Membership requirement— Except as provided in subclause (VI), a task force shall include not less than 1 representative from—
(aa)
law enforcement agencies, such as police officers, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, detectives, public safety officers, corrections officers, investigators, and victims’ service personnel;
(bb)
the crime victim compensation program of the State;
(cc)
judicial and legal officers, including individuals who work on cases of elder abuse and guardianship experts;
(dd)
elder justice and elder law advocates, including local agencies on aging and local public and private agencies and entities relating to elder abuse and other crimes against elders;
(ee)
the financial services industry;
(ff)
health and mental health professionals;
(gg)
social services agencies in the State;
(hh)
State and local adult protective services offices; and
(ii)
family members of victims of elder abuse.
(III)
Review and evaluation— A task force shall—
(aa)
review and evaluate the investigative, administrative, and judicial (including civil and criminal) responses to cases of elder abuse in the State;
(bb)
make recommendations to the State based on the review and evaluation conducted under item (aa), including recommendations relating to—
(AA)
modifying the investigative, administrative, and judicial response to cases of elder abuse, in a manner that—
(BB)
reduces the additional trauma to the elder victim;
(CC)
ensures procedural fairness to the individual accused of elder abuse; and
(DD)
experimental, model, and demonstration programs for testing innovative approaches and techniques that may improve the rate of successful prosecution or enhance the effectiveness of judicial and administrative action in elder abuse cases, and which ensure procedural fairness to the accused, including a determination of which programs are most effective; and
(cc)
submit the recommendations described in item (bb) to the Attorney General.
(IV)
Interim report— Not later than 1 year after the end of the grant period under this section, each State that receives a grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney General a report that includes—
(aa)
an evaluation of the effectiveness of the grant program;
(bb)
a list of all laws of the State relating to elder abuse; and
(cc)
any other information the Attorney General may require.
(V)
Task force alternative— If determined appropriate by the Attorney General, a State may designate a commission or task force established by a State before January 1, 2012, with membership and functions comparable to those described in subclauses (II) and (III), as a task force for the purposes of this clause.
(VI)
Task force membership waiver— The Attorney General may waive, in part, the task force membership requirements under subclause (II) for a State that demonstrates a need for the waiver.
(B)
Legal service entities—
(i)
In general— A legal service entity is eligible to receive a grant under paragraph (1)(B) if the entity can demonstrate a commitment to representation of elder abuse victims or potential victims and participating in multidisciplinary and interagency efforts to combat elder abuse.
(ii)
Requirements— To receive a grant under paragraph (1)(B) an entity shall—
(I)
be an experienced nonprofit legal services provider; and
(II)
propose or demonstrate—
(aa)
collaboration with State or local aging, social, and human services and law enforcement agencies;
(bb)
partnership with professionals with knowledge and experience relating to the criminal justice system; and
(cc)
methodology for timely evidenced-based evaluation.
(3)
Geographic diversity— The Attorney General shall make every effort to ensure equitable geographic distribution of grants under this section and take into consideration the needs of underserved populations, including rural and tribal communities.
(b)
Use of funds—
(1)
In general— Grant funds awarded under this section may be used to support—
(A)
State, county, and local prosecutor offices and courts in elder abuse matters, including—
(i)
hiring or paying salary and benefits for employees and establishing or implementing units designated to work on elder justice issues in State prosecutors’ offices and State courts; and
(ii)
hiring or paying salary and benefits for an employee to coordinate elder justice-related cases, training, technical assistance, and policy development for State, county, and local prosecutors and courts;
(B)
State and local law enforcement agencies investigating cases of elder abuse; and
(C)
adult protective services.
(2)
Limitation— A State or legal services entity that receives a grant under this section may not use more than 8 percent of the amount of the grant for administrative or personnel costs.
(3)
Supplemental funding— Any grant funds awarded under this section that are used as described in paragraph (1)(C) shall be used to supplement, not supplant, other Federal, State, or local government funding.
(c)
Duration of grant— A grant awarded under this section shall be for a period of not more than 3 years.
(d)
Report— Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Attorney General awards grants under subsection (a)(1)(B), the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on the grant program that includes the results of the grant program and recommendations for such legislation and administrative action as the Attorney General determines to be appropriate.
(e)
Authorization of appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General such sums as are necessary for fiscal years 2016 through 2018 to carry out this section.