People today are living longer than at any time in human history. By 2050 one out of every four people in the United States will be 65 or older. Although significant differences in life expectancy at birth and at 65 based on race, income, ethnicity and more persist, in general all groups have benefitted from better nutrition, medical care, and a generally improved quality of life. Longer lives clearly represent progress, but combined with declining fertility and shrinking family size, an aging population will fundamentally affect all social institutions, including the family. This new reality of a radically changing population profile poses serious financial and practical problems for families and government at all levels.
Perhaps the most important implication of this new demographic and social reality stems from the ways in which it could affect relations among generations. By 2030, older Texans are expected to outnumber children. As a consequence, the needs of aging adults will place new demands on family time and budgets during their empty nest years. Whereas during the baby boom our social agenda was defined largely by need to build elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as to provide opportunities for higher education, increasingly the need for health and long-term care as well as the financial support of older persons will take center stage.
The L&L Symposium on Changing Needs for an Aging Metropolis Conference speakers will address the following topics:
- Intergenerational Community Building Strategies
- Awareness of Services by Older Adults
- Challenges of Affordability, Mobility, and Health
- Access to Community Resources
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Luncheon Keynote | Aging in Place: Policy to Support Caregivers
Toni P. Miles, MD, PhD is the Pope Eminent Scholar at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers and a physician and epidemiologist by training. Her expertise has been recognized with Fellow status in both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Association of Public Health. Since 2010, she has focused on the health effects of bereavement. In 2020, she completed the first ever state-wide survey of new bereavement in Georgia, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Retirement Research Foundation. Based on these data, Georgia is now poised to lead the nation in policies to reduce the negative impacts of grief and loss.
In addition to her recent work in bereavement, Dr. Miles has authored more than 200 publications.
Brief Remarks
Jacqueline L. Angel is professor of public affairs and sociology and a faculty affiliate at the Population Research Center and LBJ School Center for Health and Social Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. She did her postdoctoral training in mental health services research at Rutgers University and at the Pennsylvania State University Program in Demography of Aging. Her research examines health and retirement issues in the U.S., with a focus on older minorities, the impact of social policy on the Hispanic population and Mexican-American families. Dr. Angel is author/co-author/editor of 80 journal articles, 30 book chapters and 10 books. Her recent publications include Latinos in an Aging World, Challenges of Latino Aging in the Americas and Handbook of the Sociology of Aging.
Karen Fingerman is Professor of Human Development & Family Sciences at UT Austin. She studies adult development and aging and is currently the Director of the Texas Longevity Consortium at UT Austin and the Research Director of the Center on Aging & Population Sciences. She also oversees the Graduate Portfolio in Aging & Health. Dr. Fingerman's research focuses on social and emotional processes across adulthood, health and well-being.
JR DeShazo is the 12th dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs. He previously served as the founding director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), one of the nation's leading environmental policy research centers.
He is a distinguished scholar focusing on clean technology policies, policy design to enhance environmental equity, methods for valuing changes in environmental quality, and the performance of public agencies.
Council Member José “Chito” Vela
José “Chito” Vela, is the Austin City Council Member for District 4. He was born in Laredo, Texas and first moved to Austin to gain his bachelor’s in history at the University of Texas, which led him to fall in love with Austin as a city. Council member Vela is an alumni of the LBJ School of Public Affairs and UT Law.
Before his election to City Council, he worked as an immigration and criminal defense lawyer at Walker Gates Vela, a law firm in District 4. His passion has always been defending the residents of Texas from forces that seek to marginalize them, and he am very proud of his record on immigration and criminal justice reform. This includes his legal experience as well as his time as President of the Board of the Worker’s Defense Project. Prior to his private law experience, Vela was General Counsel to Texas State Rep. Solomon Ortiz, Jr. (D).
Locally, Vela has extensive experience in both the political and social worlds of District 4. He served as President of the Blanton Elementary PTA for several years, in addition to his experience as Greg Casar’s Planning Commissioner.
Suzanne Anderson is leading AGE of Central Texas into a new stage of expansion, serving more senior adults and family caregivers in the Central Texas area, and innovative service delivery methods. Anderson brings more than two decades of experience with Special Olympics Texas, serving most recently as the senior vice president of field services. Anderson’s tenure at Special Olympics Texas included significant operational experience, where she served as the Interim CEO and stabilized the organization during a leadership change. In addition, she has served as a caregiver herself and benefited from AGE services including the Health Equipment Lending Program.
Panelists
Judge Guy Herman was first elected Travis County Probate Judge in 1985, and he has worked tirelessly to serve the residents of Travis County ever since. In this capacity, he adjudicates matters relating to wills and estates, guardianships, and mental health commitments. In his role as probate judge, he has seen Travis County residents at their saddest times – probating the estate of a loved one — and at their most trying times — creating a guardianship for a loved one needing protection of the Court or helping families with young adults resolve a mental health crisis. protection of the Court or helping families with young adults resolve a mental health crisis. In those sad and trying times, his mission is to be conscientious and considerate of the complicated emotions that arise, especially when a will or guardianship is contested. In striving to settle disputes fairly, he also works hard to counsel families to resolve their disagreements with love rather than rancor. It has been his privilege to serve Travis County residents in their times of grief and sadness.
Jaeson T. Fournier, D.C., MPH, is the chief executive officer of CommUnityCare Health Centers, which is the largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Texas. Prior to joining CommUnityCare, Dr. Fournier served as the CEO of West Side Community Health Services (a not-for-profit FQHC in St. Paul, Minnesota), as deputy health officer at the Ingham County Health Department (a public entity FQHC in Lansing, Michigan) and as CEO of Greater Elgin Family Care Center (a not-for-profit FQHC in Elgin, Illinois). He also helped form and operationalize the nation’s first FQHC-led Medicaid accountable care organization (ACO) while in Minnesota and served as an expert consultant for Arizona State University’s Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-supported National Safety Net Advancement Center, which aims to transform the ability of U.S. safety net organizations to respond to payment and care delivery reform efforts in fast-evolving financial and delivery health care environments.
Gretchen Flatau, a retired veteran of the not-for-profit world, currently serves as Vice Chair of the Austin Commission on Aging. She chairs the Commission’s Housing Working Group. Additionally, Gretchen is The Vice Chair of the Project Connect Community Advisory Committee, responsible for advising the
Austin Transit Partnership and the City of Austin on how $300 million in anti-displacement funds should be spent.
Gretchen has an MPA from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin. She started her career as a community organizer in Boston public housing. After moving back to Austin in 1986, she served as program director, development director, or executive director at multiple local and statewide nonprofit organizations—all focused on making our communities better places to live and work. During the last 12 years of her paid career, Gretchen contributed as a nonprofit management consultant and an Interim Executive Director with a focus on improving how NPOs function and thrive. In that capacity, she worked with a number of local organizations, including Austin Tenants Council, College Houses, Waller Creek Conservancy (now Waterloo Greenway), Austin Parks Foundation, YouthLaunch (now Urban Roots), and others.
Laura G. La Fuente has over twenty years of experience researching, designing, and promoting best practices for delivering services to address social determinants of health. Before working for Austin Public Health, Laura partnered with community stakeholders to develop and implement innovative programs to positively impact school-aged youth. Through her collaborative work with school districts and nonprofits, Laura designed an initiative to increase the number of volunteers working with youth, developed a quality improvement system for out-of-school programs, and invested in strategies to support student achievement.
Ms. La Fuente was named Assistant Director for the Health Equity and Community Engagement Division in June 2022 after serving as interim assistant director since May 2021. This division includes management of the Health Equity Quality of Life programs, HIV Planning Council, HIV Resources Administration, Planning and Evaluation of department and community initiatives, including the Age-Friendly Action Plan, the Office of Violence Prevention, and over $44M in Social Services funding.
Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago and a Master’s in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
Moderators
Teresa Sansone Ferguson is a client engagement specialist at The Helper Bees, a company that works with long-term care insurance providers and health plans in the Medicare Advantage and Medicaid space to provide in-home support to older adults who are aging in place. Prior to this, she served as executive director of AustinUP, a nonprofit organization that advocated on behalf of older adults. In her role at AustinUP, Teresa helped create, promote, and implement the Age-friendly Austin Action Plan, which was adopted by Austin’s Mayor and City Council in November 2016. She currently serves on the City of Austin Commission on Aging, representing CM Ryan Alter and District 5.
Student Moderators
Spring 2024 Class
The research completed this year was done in companionship with Meals on Wheels Central Austin and Family Elder Care. The Spring 2024 Advanced Policy and Practice Seminar in Aging, Health, and Social Welfare graduate class from the University of Texas At Austin synthesized and presented their research.
Parking & Directions
Parking for attendees is available in the Manor Garage. No permit is required to park in the garages; just pull a ticket on your way in and process it at the exit, a pay station, or the garage office before you leave. Fees are calculated based on the amount of time you are in the garage.
ADA Accommodations
Please reach out to LBJSchoolEvents@austin.utexas.edu by April 2, 2024, if you have requests or questions about ADA accommodations.