Judiciary Committee Advances Grassley-Blumenthal Bill to Curb Crimes Targeting Seniors

PoliticalNews.me - Sep 17,2016 - Judiciary Committee Advances Grassley-Blumenthal Bill to Curb Crimes Targeting Seniors

WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee passed legislation to help reduce crimes against America’s seniors through expanded education, prevention and prosecution tools. The Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act, which was introduced by Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, passed the committee by a voice vote without objection.

“Crimes targeting America’s senior citizens are widespread and have impacted families across the country including Iowa. As more and more Americans age and become targets of these crimes, law enforcement, seniors and their caregivers must be better equipped to prevent and respond. The Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act takes meaningful steps to deter criminals seeking to exploit seniors and hold accountable those who do,” Grassley said.

“The unconscionable scourge of elder abuse is all too common in our country. It’s an issue that notably hit home in Connecticut with the tragic case of Purple Heart recipient Robert Matava. This national hero deserved the utmost care during his senior years, but instead he was defrauded by those he trusted most. Our bipartisan legislation, a portion of which is named in Matava’s honor, is now one step closer to raising awareness, improving prevention, and increasing prosecution in order to combat this shameless crime,” Blumenthal said.

The bill (S. 3270) expands data collection and information sharing to better prevent and respond to all forms of elder abuse and exploitation, including financial crimes against seniors.  Specifically, the bill increases training for federal investigators and prosecutors and calls for the designation of at least one prosecutor in each judicial district who will be tasked with handling cases of elder abuse.  It also ensures that the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Justice Department will both have an elder justice coordinator.  Further, the bill improves information sharing among government agencies and between federal, state and local authorities to develop best practices in the fight against elder financial exploitation.  Finally, the bill increases penalties for perpetrators of such crimes – including mandatory forfeiture – to deter future offences.

The bipartisan 3,000-member Elder Justice Coalition called the bill, “one of the most comprehensive and meaningful bills ever developed to address the rapidly increasing problem of elder financial abuse in America.” The bill also has the support of the Alzheimer’s Association, the National District Attorneys Association,  Consumers Union, SIFMA, the 60 Plus Association, Leading Age, and the National Center for Victims of Crime, as well as the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators.

Along with Grassley and Blumenthal, the bill is cosponsored by Senators, John Cornyn (R-Texas), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

Earlier this year, Grassley chaired a Judiciary Committee hearing to examine how best to protect older Americans from financial abuse. Grassley also launched several inquiries to combat crimes against seniors and worked to raise greater aware for such issues facing seniors. (Click to continue)

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Judiciary Committee Advances Grassley-Blumenthal Bill to Curb Crimes Targeting Seniors

Senate Judiciary Chair Charges Federal Shortcomings On Elder Financial Abuse

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley charged Wednesday there are shortcomings in what the federal government does to protect seniors from financial abuse.

“(Victims) have not received all the help they need,” said the Senator.

As one example of a void, he noted the Justice Department does not collect data on elder financial fraud.

At the start of a hearing on what he called “the crime of the 21st century,” Iowa Republican Grassley announced he and the Judiciary Committee’s lead Democrat, Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, soon will introduce a bill to beef up protection.

The legislation would provide for more effective interagency coordination, training to improve the investigation and prosecution of elder abuse, victim assistance to elder abuse survivors, improved data collection, and tougher penalties for senior scamsters.

“We need to make sure that government at all levels is working to spread the word on financial exploitation, that individuals on the front lines receive proper training, and that those in the position to combat these crimes have the necessary tools and authority to do so,” the Senator said.

If the legislation is not made into law in the limited time Congress has left this year, Grassley said, he and Blumenthal will reintroduce the measure when Congress reconvenes next year.

He said he is hopeful he and his Democratic colleague can write a non-controversial bill that would be passed in September.

At the same time, he cautioned one bill could not solve all of the elder abuse problems.

Grassley said a big part of the problem is that crooks have found ways of victimizing individual seniors time and time again.

John Horn, chair of the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee’s Elder Justice Working Group, said the Justice Department is actively prosecuting a wide array of large international and domestic schemes targeting the elderly.

He added the DOJ is enhancing the capacity of state and local prosecutors, other law enforcement agencies and civil legal aid programs to also identify, combat and prosecute elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.

DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women was attacked for spending only one-half of 1 percent of its budget on senior abuse by the Elder Justice Coalition in a statement released at the hearing.
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Despite the increased clamor in Congress and among financial regulators with the surge of baby boomers entering retirement, older Americans are not necessarily defrauded at higher rates than younger consumers, Federal Trade Commission official Lois Greisman told the panel.

She said the FTC is focusing its senior protection efforts towards online and impostor scams. 

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Senate Judiciary Chair Charges Federal Shortcomings On Elder Financial Abuse

Effort to Curb Abuse by Legal Guardians Advances in Senate

The Senate Judiciary Committee backed a measure designed to help state courts improve their handling of adult guardianship cases in an effort to prevent exploitation of seniors and the disabled.

The amended bill (S 1744) would authorize grants for the courts to update their practices on guardians overseeing adults who are unable to manage property and accounts, as well as conservators tasked with managing adults’ estates.

The Judiciary panel approved the measure in a 15-3 vote, with Republicans Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mike Lee of Utah opposing it.

“I know every state has incidences of people getting ripped off millions of dollars when their loved one is supposed to be under the care of a guardian,” said Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar , the bill’s sponsor. “Most guardians do amazing work, good work, but . . . [some] are causing a lot of harm.”

Klobuchar is the chairwoman of the Judiciary panel’s Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, which held a hearing last year to examine court-appointed guardians for seniors and the disabled.

“It is a moral imperative that we take action,” Klobuchar said at the Sept. 22 hearing, citing a Government Accountability Office report on wrongdoing by guardians.

The 2010 report identified hundreds of allegations of physical abuse, neglect and financial exploitation by guardians. In 20 selected cases, the GAO found “guardians stole or otherwise improperly obtained $5.4 million in assets from 158 incapacitated victims, many of whom were seniors” and in some instances “also physically neglected and abused their victims.”

The report also revealed instances in which courts failed to adequately screen potential guardians or oversee guardians once they were appointed.

Under Klobuchar’s bill, the Health and Human Services Department could award grants to state courts to be used for assessing how they appoint and monitor guardians and conservators, as well as for making any needed changes to their practices. Recipient courts would be directed to work with their state’s aging and adult protective service agencies.

The bill also would require HHS to give the State Justice Institute (SJI) an opportunity to weigh in on how the grants are awarded, and HHS may also consult with the Justice Department.

Established in 1984, the SJI is a nonprofit corporation governed by an 11-member board composed of state court judges, members of the public and a state court administrator. It is tasked with promoting greater coordination between state and federal courts.

The bill would include no new funding. Rather it would tap into existing grant funds. It has the backing of groups such as the AARP, the American Bar Association, The National Center for State Courts and The National Guardianship Association, Klobuchar said Thursday.

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New Effort to Curb Abuse by Legal Guardians Advances in Senate

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Guardian Accountabilty and Senior Protection Act Passes Senate Today