AgeGuide spotlights Older Americans Act priorities

AgeGuide’s 2026 Advocacy Breakfast Collaboratives are pitching one message to lawmakers in northeastern Illinois: aging services need money, and they need it before budgets are written. (ageguide.org) The series began Monday, April 27, at York Township Senior Center in Lombard, with additional sessions set for May 1 in Aurora and May 4 online. AgeGuide said the events bring together older adults, caregivers, community partners and elected officials. (ageguide.org) The immediate federal ask is to protect and increase Older Americans Act funding in fiscal 2027. AgeGuide’s action alert says those dollars pay for home-delivered meals, transportation, caregiver support and in-home services. (ageguide.org) (congress.gov) The Older Americans Act is the main federal law behind community aging services, run through state units on aging, area agencies on aging and local providers. Congress last reauthorized the law in 2020, and KFF says that authorization ran through fiscal 2024. (congress.gov) (kff.org) That reauthorization gap has turned annual spending fights into the real pressure point. KFF also says the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services restructuring created uncertainty around the Administration for Community Living, which has administered most Older Americans Act programs. (kff.org) AgeGuide has paired that federal push with state budget asks in Illinois. Its advocacy materials call for raising Illinois Family Caregiver Act funding from $5 million to $6 million. (ageguide.org 1) (ageguide.org 2) The numbers behind that request are large: AgeGuide says Illinois has more than 1.3 million unpaid family caregivers providing 1.21 billion hours of care each year, valued at $21 billion. (ageguide.org) Meals are another live issue because Illinois’ fiscal 2026 enacted aging budget includes an $8 million increase for home-delivered meals to maintain the number of meals served. The same budget document shows $5.3 million to maintain caregiver programs. (ilaging.illinois.gov) AgeGuide has also kept elder financial exploitation on its agenda. In its legislative priorities, the group cited FBI scam data showing adults 60 and older lost $1.54 billion in 2022, up 66% from 2021. (ageguide.org) Illinois routes abuse, neglect and exploitation cases through its Adult Protective Services system, which investigates reports involving adults 60 and older and adults 18 to 59 with disabilities living in the community. The state says the program is locally coordinated through 36 provider agencies. (ilaging.illinois.gov) AgeGuide’s pitch at these breakfasts is that budgets are not abstract. The money under debate pays for rides, meals, respite care and the staff who help older adults stay at home instead of moving into costlier care. (ageguide.org) (congress.gov) The schedule itself reflects that strategy: one stop in DuPage County, one in Kane County and one virtual session for the wider region. AgeGuide is asking residents to show up now, while Congress starts fiscal 2027 work and Illinois lawmakers decide what aging services look like in the next budget cycle. (ageguide.org 1) (ageguide.org 2)