Title V — Miscellaneous

115th Congress · Approved Oct 18, 2017 · 131 Stat. 1208

TITLE V Miscellaneous

SEC. 501. Court-Appointed Guardianship Oversight Activities under the Elder Justice Act of 2009.

Section 2042(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397m–1(c)) is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (1), by inserting “ (and, in the case of demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), to the highest courts of States)” after “ States”;

(2)

in paragraph (2)—

(A)

in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting “ (and the highest courts of States, in the case of demonstration programs described in subparagraph (E))” after “ local units of government”;

(B)

in subparagraph (D), by striking “ or” after the semicolon;

(C)

by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F); and

(D)

by inserting after subparagraph (D), the following new subparagraph:

“(E) subject to paragraph (3), programs to assess the fairness, effectiveness, timeliness, safety, integrity, and accessibility of adult guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, including the appointment and the monitoring of the performance of court-appointed guardians and conservators, and to implement changes deemed necessary as a result of the assessments such as mandating background checks for all potential guardians and conservators, and implementing systems to enable the annual accountings and other required conservatorship and guardianship filings to be completed, filed, and reviewed electronically in order to simplify the filing process for conservators and guardians and better enable courts to identify discrepancies and detect fraud and the exploitation of protected persons; or”

(3)

by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively;

(4)

by inserting after paragraph (2), the following new paragraph:

“(3) Requirements for court-appointed guardianship oversight demonstration programs.—

“(A) Award of grants.—In awarding grants to the highest courts of States for demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), the Secretary shall consider the recommendations of the Attorney General and the State Justice Institute, as established by section 203 of the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10702).

“(B) Collaboration.—The highest court of a State awarded a grant to conduct a demonstration program described in paragraph (2)(E) shall collaborate with the State Unit on Aging for the State and the Adult Protective Services agency for the State in conducting the demonstration program.”

(5)

in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by paragraph (3) of this section), by inserting “ (and, in the case of demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), the highest court of a State)” after “ a State”; and

(6)

in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated), by inserting “ (or, in the case of demonstration programs described in paragraph (2)(E), the highest court of a State)” after “ State” each place it appears.

SEC. 502. Gao Reports.

(a)

Elder Justice Recommendations.— Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall review existing Federal programs and initiatives in the Federal criminal justice system relevant to elder justice and shall submit to Congress—

(1)

a report on such programs and initiatives; and

(2)

any recommendations the Comptroller General determines are appropriate to improve elder justice in the United States.

(b)

Report on Elder Abuse and International Criminal Enterprises.— Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on—

(1)

Federal Government efforts to monitor—

(A)

the exploitation of older adults of the United States in global drug trafficking schemes and other international criminal enterprises;

(B)

the extent to which exploitation of older adults of the United States by international criminal enterprises has resulted in the incarceration of these citizens of the United States in foreign countries; and

(C)

the total annual number of elder abuse cases pending in the United States; and

(2)

the results of intervention by the United States with foreign officials on behalf of citizens of the United States who are elder abuse victims in international criminal enterprises.

SEC. 503. Outreach to State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies.

The Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report on efforts by the Department of Justice to conduct outreach to State and local law enforcement agencies on the process for collaborating with the Federal Government for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting interstate and international elder financial exploitation cases.

SEC. 504. Model Power of Attorney Legislation.

The Attorney General shall publish model power of attorney legislation for the purpose of preventing elder abuse.

SEC. 505. Best Practices and Model Legislation for Guardianship Proceedings.

The Attorney General shall publish best practices for improving guardianship proceedings and model legislation relating to guardianship proceedings for the purpose of preventing elder abuse.

Title V — Miscellaneous