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Community groups and council back recommendations to strengthen protections for older adults
Summary
Presenters and multiple community representatives urged the Public Safety Committee to adopt CCR recommendations for elder protections, citing rising self-neglect and financial exploitation and asking for multilingual guides, expanded training and coordinated referrals.
City staff presented a Council consideration request (CCR) aimed at expanding protections for older adults and improving coordination among departments and community partners. The committee heard from several community representatives who urged the city to advance outreach, training and multilingual materials.
Jessica Dovalino, a department presenter, said the CCR—submitted at the request of Councilmember Castillo—summarizes risk and protective factors and recommends education, staff and volunteer training, expanded referrals, and materials in multiple languages with a May 2026 target to guide additional resources. She said county data show a high share of self-neglect cases: "92 por 100 fueron identificadas como autorechazo," she reported.
Community speakers included a longtime elder-protection employee who offered support for the measures and warned about the prevalence of isolation and neglect; an AARP representative who emphasized the need for both digital and physical protections; and local nonprofit leaders who asked for coordinated, multilingual outreach and better 311 access for older residents. One commenter said elder fraud and doorstep scams are a growing problem and urged targeted education to reduce exploitation.
Councilmembers praised the recommendations and asked staff to continue collaborating with AARP, Fundación Gonzava and other partners. Members asked for follow-up reports, metrics and examples of pilot outreach and encouraged staff to return with plans for distributing resource guides and training by the proposed timelines.
Next steps: Staff will continue coordination with community partners, prepare outreach materials in multiple languages and return to the committee with status updates and any recommended ordinance or program changes.
