[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 549 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 549

   Designating June 15, 2018, as ``World Elder Abuse Awareness Day''.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 14, 2018

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Casey, Mr. Murphy, and 
Mrs. McCaskill) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Designating June 15, 2018, as ``World Elder Abuse Awareness Day''.

Whereas the Federal Government estimates that more than 1 in 10 persons over the 
        age of 60 are victims of elder abuse each year;
Whereas abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults in the United States 
        are unidentified and unreported because of an inability to report or a 
        fear of reporting;
Whereas only 1 in 14 cases of financial abuse of older adults is reported;
Whereas at least $2,900,000,000 is taken from older adults each year due to 
        financial abuse and exploitation;
Whereas elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation have no boundaries and cross all 
        racial, social, class, gender, and geographic lines;
Whereas older adults who are abused are 3 times more likely to die earlier than 
        older adults of the same age who are not abused;
Whereas \1/2\ of all older adults with dementia will experience abuse;
Whereas providing unwanted medical treatment can be a form of elder abuse and 
        exploitation;
Whereas there is evidence of an increase in elder abuse, neglect, and financial 
        exploitation linked to individuals with opioid addiction;
Whereas the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (34 U.S.C. 21701 et seq.) 
        was signed into law on October 18, 2017, but there is still more that 
        can be done to stop elder abuse;
Whereas financial abuse of older adults has consistently been one of the top 10 
        complaints made each year to the fraud hotline of the Special Committee 
        on Aging of the Senate;
Whereas public awareness has the potential to increase the identification and 
        reporting of elder abuse by the public, professionals, and victims, and 
        can act as a catalyst to promote issue-based education and long-term 
        prevention;
Whereas private individuals and public agencies must work together on the 
        Federal, State, and local levels to combat increasing occurrences of 
        abuse, neglect, exploitation, crime, and violence against vulnerable 
        older adults and vulnerable adults, particularly in light of limited 
        resources for vital protective services; and
Whereas 2018 is the 13th anniversary of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates June 15, 2018, as ``World Elder Abuse 
        Awareness Day'';
            (2) recognizes judges, lawyers, adult protective services 
        professionals, law enforcement officers, long-term care 
        ombudsmen, social workers, health care providers, professional 
        guardians, advocates for victims, and other professionals and 
        agencies for efforts to advance awareness of elder abuse; and
            (3) encourages members of the public and professionals who 
        work with older adults to act as catalysts to promote awareness 
        and long-term prevention of elder abuse by reaching out to 
        local adult protective services agencies, long-term care 
        ombudsman programs, and the National Center on Elder Abuse, and 
        by learning to recognize, detect, report, and respond to elder 
        abuse.
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