Cutting senior services

Friday, July 11, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

Several states are trying to address the current economic slowdown by trimming “nonessentials” from their budgets. Among the cuts are services for senior citizens.

USA Today reported Monday that senior centers, home-delivered meals and personal care programs are facing cuts. More than half of the states are either not increasing or are reducing their budgets for senior services. The states that plan to increase their budgets are seeing those increases eaten up by the higher cost of living.

This is an ominous sign for the aging Baby Boomers, the first of whom turn 65 in 2011. Over the next decade, a huge wave of Boomers is expected to retire.

The increased need for services will be driven not just by the number of retirees but also because Americans’ transience has left many people separated from family support networks.

For example, Cranston, R.I., resident Dorothy Bailey is 80 years old and her closest family lives in Arizona. Her mobility is limited, and she receives weekly visits from a senior center worker who helps her clean and do other chores. Those visits will end due to budget cuts.

“There are people who are even worse off than I am,” she said. “Poor seniors have nowhere to go.”

That is a sobering thought considering the rate at which America is graying. The Census Bureau figures that by 2030, one in five people will be 65 or older.

Cutting budgets may be the order of the day, but doing so will take a toll. It typically takes several years for cut budgets to be restored to what they once were. By then, the need for senior services will be overwhelming.

Instead of slashing budgets, lawmakers should be planning for this wave of retirees and preparing to provide them with the services they’ll need.