November 29, 2016
DENVER — The Strategic Action Planning Group on Aging issued its first series of recommendations today to the Colorado General Assembly and Governor’s Office. The Planning Group, created in 2015, urged policymakers to take a series of concrete steps to help the state prepare for its growing aging population — which is expected to grow by more than half a million people between now and 2030.
The Planning Group recommended that state leaders:
- Create a permanent, office or high-level position within the executive branch to coordinate and oversee the Colorado’s work on aging issues.
- Develop a comprehensive accounting of all state expenditures related to aging as a tool to help policymakers plan and prioritize at the state level.
- Commit, through existing state programs, partnerships, and resources, to protect older Coloradans from abuse, fraud, neglect, and exploitation — and ensure all can age with dignity in the Centennial State.
- Empower and support caregivers as they work to assist aging parents, family, friends, and neighbors.
- Bolstering Coloradans abilities to save for retirement and support themselves after stepping back from the workforce or full-time employment.
- Implement strategies to ensure Colorado has a workforce to support the comprehensive needs of aging Coloradans; and,
- Support local communities’ efforts to adapt to aging Coloradans’ needs, including transportation networks and building design.
“Aging will present expansive, cross-cutting challenges for Colorado. To address these big issues and to capitalize on the opportunities it presents, Colorado will need to undertake equally big solutions,” the Planning Group said in its first strategic plan. “The first recommendation, the creation of an executive branch office or position to oversee the state’s work on aging issues, is the most critical of these recommendations and the type of big step Colorado needs to take. This office or position will ensure the state is acting in concert on aging-related issues, is accountable to Coloradans and its commitments to its seniors, and can advocate for these and future recommendations.”
The Planning Group’s recommendations build on more than a year’s worth of research, debate, and committee work. Its membership, appointed by the governor, hail from communities across Colorado and a diverse array of businesses, agencies, and organizations supporting and working with aging Coloradans.
The Planning Group, created through House Bill 15-1033, is charged with continuing to study strategies the state, local communities, and other key stakeholders can take to help Colorado prepare for its aging population. The Planning Group will continue its work, per its legislative charge, and update its strategic plan in 2018 and 2020.
To learn more about the Planning Group, to read research it conducted, or to attend upcoming meetings, visit www.colorado.gov/agingstrategy.