The shifting social landscape presents new challenges for state and local agencies trying to support seniors.

The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee heard Wednesday how modern family dynamics mean many grandparents now raise their grandchildren while their parents struggle with substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration.

Other adults balance caring for both their children and their parents, state officials said. Both situations make the Department of Aging’s once straightforward mission more complex.

“The silent generation is kind of passing on. They were silent,” said JR Reed, board chair for the PA Association of Area Agencies on Aging. “Now we have the Baby Boomers, and they will tell you. They will tell you what they want.”

Rep. Justin Fleming, D-Harrisburg, shared his experience from the other end of the spectrum as a mental health and child advocate encountering grandchildren being raised by grandparents.

“I would love to see additional services and support for that population…,” he said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t provide help just because there’s a familial relationship there.”

Karen Leonovich, the association’s director of policy and programs, said that expanding the state’s caregiver program may help alleviate some of the pressure on families caught between caring for both children and the elderly, pointing out that this is a “society” issue that takes “a lot of moving parts.”

The familiar pain points of staffing and funding are the biggest obstacles to addressing these issues, while the sheer number of seniors is stressing infrastructure and resources. Adults over 60 represent about a quarter of the state’s population – nearly 4 million people.

“I am really, really concerned that we are probably already beyond a tipping point, that we’re hitting a crisis level,” said Rep Mike Jones, R-York, regarding staffing in nursing and caregiver roles.

The governor’s proposed budget includes a $10 million increase in funding derived from the lottery, which Leonovich says will go toward staffing.

Currently, 25% of funding for the Department of Aging and related local agencies comes from the federal government’s Older Americans Act, while the remainder comes from the Pennsylvania Lottery.

The number of seniors aged 85 and up looms large, with one-half of that population experiencing some level of dementia, indicating that the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better, officials said.

Protecting the vulnerable senior population goes well beyond the sort of care that aging services typically provide. As age increases, so does targeting for financial scams, demanding resources from legal and financial departments across the state.

Some seniors have been taken advantage of by such promises as sending their ashes into space when they die or hitting it big with fake cryptocurrency investments.

David Shallcross, director of the Attorney General’s Senior Protection Unit, walked legislators through a variety of new tactics they’ve seen, both in the office and with his own father.

“Scams are very creative,” he said. “They will find any niche. They will find what’s new, what’s exciting, what draws someone in. And again, if it’s on the news, it’s got to be real right?”