Congressman Pete King


Elder Abuse

I have been a lead advocate in the House on the issue of elder abuse. My bill, the Elder Justice Act (H.R. 2006) is a comprehensive piece of legislation that would address the need for further vigilance against elder abuse.

H.R. 2006 includes many important measures to combat this tragedy, including:

  • Establishing an Elder Justice Coordinating Council to make recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the coordination of activities of the Federal, State, local and private agencies and entities relating to elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.
  • Improving the quality of information and research related to elder abuse.
  • Creating new forensic expertise in elder abuse (similar to that in child abuse) that will promote detection and increase the capacity to prosecute offenders. New programs will train health professionals in both forensic pathology and geriatrics.
  • Establishing penalties and prosecution for failure to promptly report crimes in long-term care facilities. The act will require reporting of crimes in nursing homes on an official federal website.
  • Providing a first-time direct funding stream for Adult Protective Services (APS) - $100 million a year for four years.
  • Establishing an advisory board to create a short- and long-term multidisciplinary strategic plan for the developing field of elder justice.
  • Authorizing $72.5 million over four years for national organizations or states that represent or train long-term care ombudsman representatives to provide training, technical assistance, demonstration programs and research to improve ombudsman effectiveness in addressing abuse and neglect in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
  • Authorizing $67.5 million over four years in grants to enhance long-term care staffing through training and recruitment to establish employee incentives including career and wage benefit ladders and programs to improve management practices.

This Congress, I am also an original cosponsor of the Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2009 (H.R. 448), which would require the Department of Justice to hire staff to work on elder justice issues and would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to hire personnel to investigate cases of elder care neglect. The bill would also establish Department of Justice grant programs to assist state and local prosecutors, law enforcement, and victim advocacy groups which deal with elder abuse issues. I am pleased that this bill passed the House on February 11, 2009.

For the 2010 fiscal year, I requested a 12% increase in funding for all Older Americans Act (OAA) programs. The OAA is the major federal vehicle for the delivery of social and nutrition services for older persons. The Act established the Administration on Aging (AoA) in the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the AoA, there is a National Center on Elder Abuse, which provides information to the public and professionals, and provides training and technical assistance to state elder abuse agencies and to community-based organizations.

Also established by the Act is a long-term care ombudsman program as well as elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation prevention programs, all of which are dedicated to vulnerable elder rights protection activities. In the 2009 fiscal year, the federal government will spend over $21 million in pursuit of these programs.