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San Antonio’s Department of Human Services is committing to increase its support for senior citizens at risk of scams and neglect after a request by a council member was filed last month.
During a Public Safety Committee meeting this week, city staff told council members the department would beef up its preventative messaging and initiatives and report back regularly to the council about neglect, abuse, and scams.
The Council Consideration Request (CCR) filed by District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo calls for creating or enhancing initiatives that could protect seniors from fraud.
A CCR is similar to introducing a bill in the legislature to create new city policies. It requires getting the support of four other council members and going through a committee process before going for a vote in front of the full city council.
Castillo's requests include:
- Auto-enroll seniors in the federal and state do-not-call registries
- Provide access to legal aid which can help seniors assign a trusted guardian, create a living will, and/or other legal mechanisms to protect themselves from fraud and abuse.
- Create and provide seniors with COSA-sponsored No Soliciting yard and door signage for seniors to ward off scammers and unwanted salespeople.
- Create guides for seniors which show them how to use their mobile phone to ward off scam calls.
Castillo said her request was born out of a trend of scams in her district where elderly residents had fallen victim to fraudulent door-to-door sales.
“They're going under the guise of being part of CPS energy, or a trustworthy solar company, and essentially were signing on to $95,000 loans, which then would result in a lien on their property, and then, oftentimes, solar panels that were not even connected,” Castillo said.
In Bexar County there’s about 316,000 people over the age of 65 out of more than 2 million residents. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said there were 1,120 allegations of exploitation against seniors; there were also 5,558 investigated allegations of neglect and abuse in Bexar County in 2024.
Jessica Dovalina, deputy director of the city’s Department of Human Services told the city council’s public safety committee that of the more than 5,500 investigations, about 92% were identified as self-neglect.
“Of those cases, 81% were physical neglect, and 19% were medical neglect. And so that is something that we continue to see at our senior centers, as well as something that our providers continually lift up as part of the discussions about what's happening in our community, given the high rate of self-neglect as well as poverty in our community, which also has increased, those are important factors,” she said.
Self-neglect is when a person is no longer able to take care of themselves and provide for their basic needs. She said the city’s senior centers serve about 22,000 active residents annually. “There we're addressing things like social isolation, food insecurity, access to preventative screenings for medical care, as well as caregiver training and resources and benefits navigation and financial counseling.”
Later this summer, the department has plans to release a “Status of Older Adults in San Antonio” report that would focus on elder fraud, neglect, abuse and exploitation, housing insecurity and cost burden, food insecurity, social isolation, community, healthcare, and transportation. That’s scheduled for September
Among the initiatives planned by the department, it’s committing to create printable door and yard signs to deter solicitors, develop metrics, cost estimates and resources needed to expand the city’s services beyond senior centers, and create resource guides regarding senior rights and tailored guides for cellphone users.
