Torres-Gil on Building a California for All Ages
Professor of Social Welfare and Public Policy Fernando Torres-Gil was featured in a Forbes article about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Master Plan for Aging. The number of Californians age 60 and older is expected to nearly double from 6 million in 2010 to 11 million in 2030. One in five older adults in the state is living in poverty and older adults comprise the fastest-growing group of homeless individuals in California, Torres-Gil said. The Master Plan was also shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, including recommendations to avoid prioritizing younger people with COVID-19 over older ones and acknowledging the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on older adults. “The pandemic really dramatized that certain populations were at terrible risk, especially Black and brown communities, low-income communities, older adults, nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities, and persons with disabilities and chronic conditions,” Torres-Gil said.