---
kind: "section"
citation: "34 U.S.C. § 21742"
title: "34"
title_heading: "Crime Control and Law Enforcement"
number: "21742"
heading: "Interstate initiatives"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/34/21742"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Protection of Children and Other Persons"
  - "Chapter 217 — Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution"
  - "Subchapter IV — Robert Matava Elder Abuse Prosecution Act of 2017"
---

# §21742. Interstate initiatives

- (a) **Interstate agreements and compacts—** The consent of Congress is given to any two or more [States](/usc/34/21701.md?p=3) (acting through [State](/usc/34/21701.md?p=3) agencies with [jurisdiction](/usc/34/21502.md?p=6) over [adult protective services](/usc/34/21701.md?p=1)) to enter into agreements or compacts for cooperative effort and mutual assistance—
  - (1) in promoting the safety and well-being of [elders](/usc/34/21701.md?p=1); and
  - (2) in enforcing their respective laws and policies to promote such safety and well-being.
- (b) **Recommendations on interstate communication—** The Executive Director of the [State](/usc/34/21701.md?p=3) Justice Institute, in consultation with [State](/usc/34/21701.md?p=3) or local [adult protective services](/usc/34/21701.md?p=1), aging, social, and human services and [law enforcement](/usc/34/21701.md?p=1) agencies, nationally recognized nonprofit associations with expertise in data sharing among criminal justice agencies and familiarity with the issues raised in [elder abuse](/usc/34/21701.md?p=2) cases, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall submit to Congress legislative proposals relating to the facilitation of interstate agreements and compacts.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 115–70, title IV, § 404, Oct. 18, 2017, 131 Stat. 1215.)