Replacing Milwaukee County’s five senior center facilities, which are nearing the end of their useful life, would cost $24 million, according to a new report.
But, as the county faces a large backlog of infrastructure projects and changing older adult population, the new Wisconsin Policy Forum report suggests officials should consider the role of the county’s senior centers and examine possible alternatives to its current programming model.
The county-owned senior center facilities, all of which are located in county parks, are between 35 and 61 years old. It’s expected that each of the buildings will be graded in poor condition by 2022 and will be in need of full replacement for a total cost of more than $24 million, the report said.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee County faces a large backlog of deferred maintenance needs, new building replacement projects and lagging financial capacity to address them. Given the cost, the report said owning and paying for programming in large senior centers will be difficult for the county to maintain.
The county spends about $1.1 million annually for contracted services at the five senior centers it owns, and $241,000 for social and recreational programming at four privately-owned centers.
The county-owned senior centers include the Clinton Rose Senior Center, Kelly Senior Center, McGovern Park Senior Center, Washington Park Senior Center and Wilson Park Senior Center. Beginning this year, a new nonprofit agency, Serving Older Adults of Southeast Wisconsin, took over management of the centers on behalf of the county. Previously, they were run by UNISON, a senior-serving nonprofit that ceased operations in March after losing its county contracts.
Other senior centers throughout the county operate independently from the county and some school district recreation programs offer programming similar to senior centers.
Despite the county’s older adult population growth, attendance at the county-owned centers has declined in recent years. Four percent of the county’s approximately 172,000 senior residents visited a senior center in 2018, the report said.
Characteristics of today’s older adults are changing, which could make the traditional senior center model outdated, the report said. Census bureau reports indicate older adults today are more educated, have higher incomes, have better health, are more likely to live alone and have fewer children on whom they can rely for assistance, the report said.
“As government and community leaders consider the future of the five centers and the affordability of needed infrastructure work, they should consider the changing characteristics of the county’s older adults,” the report said. “Older adults are living longer, creating distinct cohorts of seniors who have very different needs.”
The report examined peer Midwestern counties’ approaches to senior programming.
“We found examples of counties where senior centers play only a minimal role in the service delivery system, as well as one county that has revitalized their use through comprehensive performance-based contracting,” the report said. “We also observed a county that sees senior centers as part of its broad parks and recreation function, as opposed to a component of the older adult service continuum.”
The report said Milwaukee County should consider whether owning and paying for programming in large facilities devoted exclusively to older adult services is the best use of its limited funds.
The report floated other options, including providing services instead at multi-generational community centers or funding outside agencies that would provide senior center-type programming in their own facilities.
“These are not easy questions for Milwaukee County leaders, nor for the thousands of older adults who utilize and find great value in the existing county-owned senior centers,” the report said. “Nevertheless, even if the county was not facing steep financial challenges, national policy directives and the changing needs and demands of the county’s older adult population require that these questions be thoroughly and objectively deliberated.”
