Aging and Disability Action Plan

The City of Santa Monica has created its own age- and disability-friendly action plan to address the current, emerging, and future needs of older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers. The project was made possible by a grant from the California Department of Aging and with support from the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.

The direction of Santa Monica’s plan was guided by the Action Plan Advisory Committee. To inform the plan, the City conducted a series of community assessment activities, gathering insights from stakeholders including older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, service providers, and other community members. A community survey and open house held between February and April 2025 provided important input about needs and priorities to make Santa Monica even more age- and disability-friendly. This feedback shaped the strategic priorities of the Action Plan.

On September 9, 2025, the Santa Monica City Council approved the Aging and Disability Action Plan, marking an important milestone in the City’s commitment to equity, accessibility, and livability for all ages and abilities. You can download the full Plan here.

Action Alert!
The City held a series of meetings for the community to learn about the Aging & Disability Action Plan in October 2025. If you were not able to attend any of the meetings, you can view a recording of the presentation here (Passcode: =EuW!@C1 ) or access an audio recording in Spanish here / grabación de audio de la reunión aquí.

Contact Us:

(310) 458-2200 x. 5771
humanservices@santamonica.gov

FAQ

What is Santa Monica’s Aging and Disability Action Plan?

The City of Santa Monica developed a citywide action plan to enhance services for older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers, thanks to a California Department of Aging Local Aging and Disability Action Planning (LADAP) grant. You can download the Plan and appendices here. Please contact us if you would like to request a paper copy of the Plan: phone: (310) 458-2200 x. 5771, email: humanservices@santamonica.gov.

As a California Department of Aging grantee, the City joins nearly 100 communities across California that are building or implementing age- and disability-friendly action plans, programs and policies that are in alignment with California’s Master Plan for Aging. California’s Master Plan for Aging is a 10-year blueprint to prepare the state for upcoming demographic changes and support California’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Read more about the California Master Plan for Aging.

City of Santa Monica is now a member of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities and will benefit from, and contribute to, the national body of knowledge and best practices making communities more age-friendly.

Can I view the City Council meeting where the Action Plan was approved?

On September 9, 2025, the Santa Monica City Council approved the Aging and Disability Action Plan. You can read the staff report here (see Item 11.A), and can watch the presentation here(presentation starts around 4:24:15).

How will the Action Plan be implemented?

The Santa Monica Aging and Disability Action Plan marks the beginning of a three-year effort to make the community even more age- and disability-friendly. With strategic goals in place, the next steps focus on partnership, implementation, and progress tracking.

Progress towards the Action Plan goals will be shared with the community via regular community presentations, written updates to City Council, on the City website, and via social media posts. At the end of the three-year implementation, the City will assess the impact of implementing the plan and submit a progress report to AARP as part of expectations of being a member of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.

The City is committed to transparency, deep listening, working with community partners and an adaptive implementation of the process to reach the goals of Santa Monica’s Aging and Disability Action Plan

What is the Action Plan Advisory Committee?

The Action Plan Advisory Committee will guide the plan’s development by reviewing existing community data and best practices, informing a community needs assessment, and selecting the Action Plan’s strategic priorities. The Advisory Committee will include community stakeholders, subject matter experts, non-profit partners, City commissioners, and City staff.

With the goal to create an Advisory Committee that reflects the diversity of our community – individuals from a diversity of backgrounds were encouraged to apply. The City conducted community outreach and promoted an open call for statements of interest from community members to apply to the Committee from August 28 - October 7, 2024.

The Advisory Committee will be very active in meetings and reviewing materials during the following periods:

October 29, 2024 thru Mid-December 2024: Adopting guiding principles, analyzing available data, informing the approach to the community needs assessment.
May thru June 2025: Reviewing community needs assessment findings, prioritizing strategies, approving Action Plan elements.