Title 42 › Chapter 35— PROGRAMS FOR OLDER AMERICANS › Subchapter I— DECLARATION OF OBJECTIVES AND DEFINITIONS › § 3002
Defines the key words used in the chapter so people know what they mean. Abuse = knowingly causing physical or mental harm or knowingly withholding things someone needs. Administration = the Administration on Aging. Adult protective services = services the Secretary sets out for adults, including taking reports, investigating, planning and monitoring cases, and arranging medical, social, legal, housing, law enforcement, emergency, or other protective help. Aging and Disability Resource Center = a State-run place or network that gives community information, one-on-one counseling, entry to public long-term care programs, and referrals to help people stay in or return to the community instead of institutions. Aging network = the group of State agencies, area agencies on aging, title VI grantees, the Administration, and funded organizations that provide services or are colleges. Area agency on aging = the local agency named under section 3025 or a State agency doing those jobs. Assistant Secretary = the Assistant Secretary for Aging. Assistive device = includes assistive technology devices; related terms follow the meanings in section 3002 of title 29, and the State assistive technology entity is the agency named under subsection (c)(1) of section 3003 of title 29. At risk for institutional placement = an older person who cannot do at least 2 activities of daily living without major help (including verbal reminders, physical cues, or supervision) and whom the State finds needs placement in a long-term care facility. Board and care facility = an institution regulated by a State under section 1382e(e). Case management service = a service, at the request of an older person or family, given by someone trained to assess needs and arrange, coordinate, and watch over the best mix of services; it includes full assessment, a service plan, coordination with other plans and with information services, monitoring, reassessment, and advocacy if wanted. Civic engagement = individual or group action to address public problems or unmet human, educational, health, environmental, or public safety needs. Disability = a mental or physical impairment that causes substantial limits in one or more major life activities such as self-care, language, learning, mobility, self-direction, independent living, economic self-sufficiency, thinking, or emotional adjustment. Disease prevention and health promotion services = health risk checks and many preventive services and programs, like routine screenings (blood pressure, vision, diabetes, etc.), nutrition counseling, evidence-based programs to prevent or manage chronic and infectious disease, fitness and therapeutic programs, home injury and fall prevention, mental health screening and referral, medication management education, information on age-related diseases and Medicare preventive services, response to public health emergencies, gerontological counseling, and follow-up counseling and referrals. Elder abuse = abuse of an older person. Elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation = abuse, neglect, and exploitation of an older person. Elder justice = efforts to prevent, detect, treat, intervene in, and prosecute elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation and to protect older people with diminished capacity while supporting their autonomy; it also means recognizing an older person’s right to be free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Exploitation / financial exploitation = fraudulent, illegal, unauthorized, or improper acts that use an older person’s money, property, or benefits for someone else’s gain or that stop the older person from getting their resources; caregiver means anyone responsible for the older person’s care, paid or unpaid. Family violence = has the meaning used in the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Fiduciary = a person or entity legally responsible to act for another’s benefit and in good faith; this includes trustees, guardians, conservators, executors, agents under powers of attorney, and representative payees. Focal point = a place set up to bring together and coordinate services for older people. Frail = an older person a State finds functionally impaired because they cannot do at least two activities of daily living without major human help (or three if the State chooses), or because a cognitive or mental problem means they need supervision due to serious safety risk. Greatest economic need = having income at or below the poverty line. Greatest social need = need from noneconomic causes like physical or mental disabilities, language barriers, or cultural, social, or geographic isolation that limit daily tasks or threaten independent living. Hispanic-serving institution = has the meaning in section 1101a of title 20. Indian = a member of an Indian tribe. Indian tribe = except for subchapter X, any tribe, band, nation, or organized Indian group (including certain Alaska Native villages or corporations) that is recognized as eligible for special programs or that is on or near a Federal or State reservation or rancheria. Information and assistance service = a service that gives current community information (including about assistive tech), assesses problems and abilities, connects people to services, follows up as needed, and serves all older people especially those with greatest social or economic need or at risk for institutional placement. Information and referral = includes help about assistive technology. In-home services = services like homemakers and home health aides, visiting and telephone reassurance, chores, in-home respite and adult day care used as respite, minor home modifications needed to stay at home not available elsewhere, personal care, and other in-home services the State and area agency define. Institution of higher education = has the meaning in section 1001 of title 20. Integrated long-term care = a mix of long-term care items and services under Medicaid and other federally funded programs plus other health care items under Medicare, Medicaid, or other federal health programs, including services provided through managed care. Legal assistance = legal advice and representation by an attorney for older people with economic or social needs, including supervised paralegal or law student help and nonlawyer assistance where allowed. Long-term care = services, care, or items (including assistive devices) meant to help with daily living and to make up for functional impairment; they can be provided at home, in community care settings, or in long-term care facilities, and are not for diagnosing, treating, or curing medical disease. Long-term care facility = skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, board and care facilities, and other adult care homes including assisted living. Multipurpose senior center = a community place offering health (including mental), social, nutritional, educational, and recreational services for older people. Native American = an Indian (as defined above) and a Native Hawaiian (as defined in section 3057k). Neglect = a caregiver’s or fiduciary’s failure to provide needed goods or services to keep an older person safe and healthy, or self-neglect. Nonprofit = an agency or organization whose net earnings do not go to private shareholders or individuals. Older individual = a person age 60 or older. Person-centered, trauma-informed = services that look at the whole person, respect dignity and strength, empower trauma victims, and use evidence-based trauma knowledge. Physical harm = bodily injury, impairment, or disease. Planning and service area = an area a State agency designates under section 3025. Poverty line = the official poverty line defined by the Office of Management and Budget and adjusted by the Secretary under section 9902(2). Representative payee = a person appointed by the government to receive funds for an older person who cannot manage money because of physical or mental incapacity. Secretary = the Secretary of Health and Human Services, except for subchapter IX where it means the Secretary of Labor. Self-directed care = a way of giving services where the older person plans, budgets, and controls their services with help and assessment by the area agency on aging, creates a service plan and budget with family or representatives if needed, and is overseen by the area agency or State to ensure quality and proper use of funds. Self-neglect = an adult’s inability, because of physical or mental impairment or reduced capacity, to do essential self-care tasks like getting food, clothing, shelter, medical care, goods and services for safety or health, or managing money. Severe disability = a severe, chronic disability that will likely continue and that causes major limits in three or more of the life activities listed earlier. Sexual assault = has the meaning in section 10447 of title 34. State = any State, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. State agency = the agency named under section 3025(a)(1). State system of long-term care = the Federal, State, and local programs and activities a State runs to provide or help people get long-term care. Supportive service = the service described in section 3030d(a). Traumatic brain injury = has the meaning in section 280b–1c(d). Tribal organization = the recognized governing body of an Indian tribe or an organization controlled by that body; if a contract or grant benefits more than one tribe, each tribe’s approval is required.
Full Legal Text
The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 3002
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60