SBSS is extremely pleased to announce that California's first Master Plan for Aging has been released . SBSS President and CEO Rigo Saborio served as a member of Governor Gavin Newsom's Stakeholder Advisory Committee, to represent our most vulnerable, highly diverse older adults at the highest state level.

California's Master Plan on Aging is a 10-year blueprint for system-wide change that uplifts older adults, people with disabilities, and family caregivers in a compassionate, inclusive, and equitable way. As the older population of California is predicted to double by 2030, the Plan addresses the most pressing issues older adults face - now and over the next ten years - as well as the tremendous challenges we face across health care, social supports, housing, transportation, technology, and our workforce.

Today, the old specters of ageism, ableism, and systemic racism are exacerbated by COVID-19 and its impact on older adults, particularly those in Latino, Asian, Black, and Native American communities. The Master Plan will help reframe our collective current thinking, and improve the health and wellness of all Californians.

The completion of this Plan is a major milestone, yet it will take ongoing commitment from local and state leaders, public-private partnerships, and strong investment to realize a truly golden age for California's older adults.

We will continue to work with Governor Newsom, legislature, local leaders, and private partners, and we look forward to keeping you updated on the Plan's progress. Follow the Plan's conversation on social media at #MasterPlanForAging, and on the SBSS Facebook and Instagram.

Statements from the Master Plan for Aging Stakeholder Advisory Committee:

Equity
“California is one of the most racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse states in the nation. Equity issues impact access to services across the state for under-represented, under-served and under-recognized communities. The Stakeholder Advisory Committee affirms the importance of equity in addressing the needs of older adults and people with disabilities, including the workforce, thereby eliminating disparities caused by systemic barriers. It is critical that the Master Plan for Aging include programs that advance equity and that meet the needs of specific populations within the aging community experiencing disparate outcomes in aging due to systemic inequities they have faced throughout their lives. This includes: Black, Latino, Native American, and Asian Pacific Islander , those with limited English proficiency, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and women.”

Long-Term Services and Supports: Affordability and Access
“California’s long-term services and supports (LTSS) system is unaffordable, difficult to navigate, and lacks the capacity to meet population needs, including significant workforce challenges. Instead, we need an adequately-financed system with universal access to LTSS that ensures that all individuals can live where they choose with the services and supports they need to honor their values and preferences.”

Building Age- and Disability-Friendly Communities
“Every Californian should live in and be engaged in communities that are age-friendly, dementia-friendly, disability-friendly, and equitable for all. A livable community is one that is safe and secure, has affordable and appropriate housing and transportation options, and offers supportive community features and services that can serve all residents—regardless of age or ability. Once in place, those resources enhance personal independence, allow residents to age in place, and foster residents’ engagement in the community’s civic, economic, and social life.”

Skilled Nursing Facilities
“The COVID-19 crisis has had a devastating impact on nursing home residents and staff. We need to re-imagine nursing home care in California by developing a strategy for ensuring quality services through a combination of leadership, workforce development, appropriate payment incentives and regulatory oversight.”

Health Care
“Older adults and people with disabilities should have access to an affordable and integrated health, behavioral health, and an LTSS system that is responsive to the individual as a whole—not idiosyncratic silos based on funding source, administering agency, or local oversight entity. A successful Master Plan will outline an approach that ensures individuals can readily access the information and services they need, when they need it, and where they need it —regardless of eligibility distinction, income level, or place of residence. As such, affordability and access are critical elements to address in the Master Plan.”

Economic Security and Safety
“As we age, we all deserve to be economically secure and to be safe from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and the harms of natural disasters and other emergencies. If our basic security and safety needs are not met—in a way that also ensures our dignity and self-determination—we will not be able to achieve the other, laudable and important goals of the Master Plan for Aging.”

Alzheimer’s Task Force and the Master Plan for Aging
From former First Lady Maria Shriver, Chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness, “…it has never been more important to stay the course in preparing and implementing a set of big, bold, and brave recommendations we believe are key components of California’s Master Plan for Aging. Families in every corner of our state are counting on us to take action.”

Members of the Master Plan for Aging Stakeholder Advisory Committee

Maya Altman, MPP, Health Plan of San Mateo; Jan Arbuckle, City of Grass Valley; Donna Benton, Ph.D., USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology; Hon. Cheryl Brown, California Commission on Aging; Former Assembly Member; Laura Carstensen, Ph.D., Stanford Center on Longevity; Janny Castillo, St. Mary’s Center; Bruce Chernof, MD, FACP, The SCAN Foundation (retired); Jennie Chin Hansen, RN, MSN, FAAN, Former CEO of the American Geriatrics Society; Le Ondra Clark Harvey, Ph.D., California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies; Craig Cornett, California Association of Health Facilities; Susan DeMarois, Alzheimer’s Association; Peter Hansel, CalPACE; Andy Imparato, Disability Rights California; Clay Kempf, Seniors Council of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties; Mercedes Kerr, Belmont Village Senior Living; Darrick Lam, MBA, MSW, ACC Senior Services; David Lindeman, Ph.D., Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society; Shelley Lyford, MA, Gary and Mary West Foundation; Marty Lynch, Ph.D., LifeLong Medical Care; Shireen McSpadden, California Association of Area Agencies on Aging; Christina Mills, California Foundation for Independent Living Centers; Berenice Nunez Constant, MPH, AltaMed Health Services; Jeannee Parker Martin RN MPH, LeadingAge California; Kevin Prindiville, J.D., Justice in Aging; Jodi Reid, BA, California Alliance for Retired Americans; Rigo Saborio, MSG, St. Barnabas Senior Services; Judy Thomas, J.D., Coalition for Compassionate Care; Fernando Torres-Gil, M.S.W., Ph.D., UCLA; Debbie Toth, Choice in Aging; Nina Weiler-Harwell, Ph.D., AARP California; Brandi Wolf, Service Employees International Union local 2015; Heather M. Young, PhD, RN, FAAN, UC Davis; and Beverly Yu, United Domestic Workers of America/AFSCME local 3930.