Prince George's County rolls out Senior Affairs Division; officials outline outreach and services

Karen Daniels Furman, the senior affairs specialist in the Office of the County Executive, told the Holistic Sustainable Solution Senior Task Force on Nov. 12 that the county’s newly established Senior Affairs Division has begun broad outreach and direct assistance for older residents.

"I am honored to share exciting updates on our newly established senior affairs division," Furman said, adding that in the first four months the office has "engaged with close to 10,000 seniors" at events, senior living sites, conferences, churches and through partner organizations such as AARP and Parks and Recreation.

The division, created by County Executive Ayisha Braveboy, is focused on making it easier for seniors to find services and on coordinating with county agencies and nonprofits. Furman said the office has connected seniors to food supports, transportation, rental assistance, home-repair programs and counseling on Medicare and Medicaid options.

Furman described several individual interventions that taught the division what residents need. She said staff have reported and monitored elder‑abuse cases and worked with the director of Family Services to initiate investigations. In one case she cited, "a 91 year old woman ... had just received a notice from a realtor to get out of her home immediately" after signing a reverse mortgage; Furman said investigators were reviewing the documents and Health and Human Services was assisting with housing.

The office is also planning a series of "senior chats" to educate older residents on fraud prevention, estate planning, computer literacy and benefit programs, and a pilot intergenerational initiative called Bridging Generations to link seniors with youth and young adults.

Task force members raised distribution and access questions about a senior resource guide the county uses at outreach events. Furman said paper guides are issued at community events and she has added a link to the guide in her email signature; another participant recalled the guide had been mailed to county residents after a prior Family Services briefing and Furman offered to follow up on distribution and post the link in the meeting chat (www.pgspn.org).

On administrative business, Council member Harrison moved to approve the October minutes, but a staff member filling in said they had not reviewed the minutes and the group agreed to add them to the next meeting agenda rather than vote. Miss Eubanks, the task force staff contact, announced there will be no December meeting and the group will reconvene on Jan. 14, 2026.

"Maybe a 9 to 11 member volunteer kind of advocacy group that ... meets with us that can really talk about the heart part of the matter," Harrison suggested, proposing a volunteer advisory body to connect community concerns to both executive and legislative branches.

The meeting ended with thanks to Furman and holiday wishes. The task force did not take formal votes on program adoption; next steps recorded were follow-up on resource distribution, consideration of an advisory volunteer group and scheduling of the next meeting.