,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fgbh  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,december #ae1       
#bjbe,mr4 ,vindman 7for himself and ,mr4
 ,garbarino7 introduced the following   
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,ways and ,means  ,a      
,,bill  ,to amend title ,,xx of the     
,social ,security ,act to provide grants
 to ,states to support linkages to legal
 services and medical legal             
partnerships4  #a4 ,short title ,this   
,act may be cited as the ,linking       
,seniors to ,needed ,legal ,services    
,act of #bjbe4  #b4 ,incentives for     
developing and sustaining structural    
competency in providing health and human
 services  7a7 ,in general ,part ,,ii of
 subtitle ,b of title ,,xx of the       
,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4   
#acigm-#e7 is amended by adding at the  
end the following3  #bjdg4 ,incentives  
for developing and sustaining structural
 competency in providing health and     
human services  7a7 ,grants to ,states  

,to support linkages to legal services  
and medical legal partnerships  7#a7 ,in
 general ,within #b years after the date
 of the enactment of this section1 the  
,secretary shall establish and          
administer a program of grants to       
,states to support the adoption of      
evidence-based approaches to            
establishing or improving and           
maintaining real-time linkages between  
health and social services and supports 
for vulnerable elders or in conjunction 
with authorized representatives of      
vulnerable elders1 including through the
 following3 7,a7 ,medical-legal         
partnerships ,the establishment and     
support of medical-legal partnerships1  
the incorporation of the partnerships in
 the elder justice framework and health 
and human services safety net1 and the  
implementation and operation of such a  
partnership by an eligible grantee--    
7i7 at the option of a ,state1 in       
conjunction with an area agency on      
aging2  7ii7 in a solo provider practice

 in a health professional shortage area 
7as defined in section #ccb7;a7 of the  
,public ,health ,service ,act71 a       
medically underserved community 7as     
defined in section #cii,v of such ,act71
 or a rural area 7as defined in section 
#ccj;,j of such ,act72  7iii7 in a      
minority-serving institution of higher  
learning with health1 law1 and social   
services professional programs2  7iv7 in
 a federally qualified health center1 as
 described in section #ccj of the       
,public ,health ,service ,act1 or       
look-alike1 as described in section     
#aije7l77#b77;,b7 of this ,act2 or  7v7 
in certain hospitals that are critical  
access hospitals1 ,medicare-dependent   
hospitals1 sole community hospitals1    
rural emergency hospitals1 or that serve
 a high proportion of ,medicare or      
,medicaid patients4  7,b7 ,legal        
hotlines development or expansion ,the  
provision of incentives to develop1     
enhance1 and integrate platforms1 such  
as legal assistance hotlines1 that help 

to facilitate the identification of     
older adults who could benefit from     
linkages to available legal services    
such as those described in subparagraph 
7,a74  7#b7 ,state reports ,each ,state 
to which a grant is made under this     
subsection shall submit to the          
,secretary biannual reports on the      
activities carried out by the ,state    
pursuant to this subsection1 which shall
 include assessments of the             
effectiveness of the activities with    
respect to-- 7,a7 the number of unique  
individuals identified through the      
mechanism outlined in paragraph         
7#a77;,b7 who are referred to services  
described in paragraph 7#a77;,a71 and   
the average time period associated with 
resolving issues2  7,b7 the success rate
 for referrals to community-based       
resources2 and  7,c7 other factors      
determined relevant by the ,secretary4  
7#c7 ,evaluation ,the ,secretary shall1 
by grant1 contract1 or interagency      
agreement1 evaluate the activities      

conducted pursuant to this subsection1  
which shall include a comparison among  
the ,states4  7#d7 ,report to the       
,congress ,every #d years1 the          
,secretary shall submit to the ,congress
 a written report on the activities     
conducted under this subsection4  7#e7  
,appropriation ,out of any money in the 
,treasury not otherwise appropriated1   
there are appropriated to the ,secretary
 #abe1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal years  
#bjbf through #bjbi to carry out this   
subsection4  7#f7 ,supplement not       
supplant ,support provided to area      
agencies on aging1 ,state units on      
aging1 eligible entities1 or other      
community-based organizations pursuant  
to this subsection shall be used to     
supplement and not supplant any other   
,federal1 ,state1 or local funds        
expended to provide the same or         
comparable services described in this   
subsection4  7b7 ,definitions ,in this  
section3 7#a7 ,area agency on aging ,the
 term area agency on aging means an area

 agency on aging designated under       
section #cje of the ,older ,americans   
,act of #aife4  7#b7 ,community-based   
organization ,the term community-based  
organization includes1 except as        
otherwise provided by the ,secretary1 a 
nonprofit community-based organization1 
a consortium of nonprofit               
community-based organizations1 a        
national nonprofit organization acting  
as an intermediary for a community-based
 organization1 or a community-based     
organization that has a fiscal sponsor  
that allows the organization to function
 as an organization described in section
 #eja7;c77#c7 of the ,internal ,revenue 
,code of #aihf and exempt from taxation 
under section #eja7;a7 of such ,code4  4
  7b7 ,clarification that medical-,legal
 partnerships are authorized adult      
protective services activities ,section 
#bjaa of such ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4       
#acig;j7 is amended--  7#a7 in paragraph
 7#b77;,d71 by inserting 1 including    
through a medical-legal partnership     

before the period2 and  7#b7 by         
redesignating paragraphs 7#af7 through  
7#bb7 as paragraphs 7#ag7 through 7#bc71
 respectively1 and inserting after      
paragraph 7#ae7 the following3  7#af7   
,medical-legal partnership ,the term    
medical-legal partnership means an      
arrangement in a health care or social  
services setting which integrates       
lawyers and social workers to address   
the needs of an individual patient      
related to social determinants of       
health1 and to help clinicians1 case    
managers1 and social workers address    
structural problems at the root of many 
health inequities1 including a          
multidisciplinary team integrated into  
such a setting to address the needs and 
establish and maintain structural       
competence within clinicians1 case      
managers1 and social workers to best    
address structural problems at the root 
of many health inequities4  4