Budget Cuts Limit Senior Escort Programs
Have you ever needed to go somewhere but hesitated out of concern for your safety? If so, you should know about the
San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services' Senior Escort Program, which provides escorts to people
aged 60 and older in all neighborhoods of the city for trips to supermarkets, medical appointments and other destinations.
Since its formation in 1978, the Senior Escort Program has accompanied older San Franciscans on more than
4 million trips without a single criminal incident, according to acting director Raul Moreno. The program offers
individual escorts (for which clients must provide transportation or pay taxi fares) and group trips to supermarkets
(taken in Senior Escort Program's own vans).
"A lot of the people who call us and use our services live in rough neighborhoods where muggings and
other physical violence against seniors are common," says Moreno, who has been with the escort program for
17 years. "We make their lives a little easier and less dangerous. None of our clients has ever been harmed
while we've escorted them."
The Senior Escort Program's Raul Moreno
The program's staff members receive training at the San Francisco Police Academy from members of the SFPD,
the District Attorney's office, the sheriffs department and other agencies, as well as gerontologists, social workers. "As
far as I know, ours is the only senior escort program in the country that provides staff with this much training," says Moreno.
Staff not only escort their clients to and from their destinations, but also patrol around the area while clients
are busy shopping or seeing a doctor. Staff members are also on the lookout for fraud against older adults, and the program has
been an outspoken advocate for seniors around the city.
But despite its success, the Senior Escort Program faces budget shortages that could further shrink its size and
capabilities. As Bay Area Summit went to press, the city's Department of Aging and Adult Services, which oversees the program's
funding, has been asked to slash its budget by 20 percent for fiscal year 2004-2005. (The Department of Aging and Adult Services
will be folded into the city's Department of Health Services on July 1.)
"We're already at a point where we often have to deny service to seniors who have come to depend on us
because of our staff shortage," says Moreno, adding that a hiring freeze has prevented the program from replacing staff
who have departed over the past few years. "I don't even want to think about what further [budget] cuts might do to us."
Currently, with nine active staff members, the Senior Escort Program provides escorts to between 1,100 and
1,300 clients per month (including individual and group trips). That's down from about 3,400 monthly escorts just three
years ago, when the program had 16 members. "It's very hard to do the same job with just nine people," says Moreno.
The program's staff peaked at 56 in 1983. Moreno says most recent staff losses have resulted from retirement
and disabilities rather than layoffs.
The Senior Escort Program is free and available to people aged 60 and older in all city neighborhoods.
Escorts are available Monday through Friday, with appointments scheduled between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Individuals are limited
to a maximum of four escorted trips per month. For information, or to schedule an escort, call (415) 695-5175.
(Editor's note: On January 12, 2005, city officials announced that the Senior Escort Program would end
because of budget cuts.)
(This article originally appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of Bay Area Summit)
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