Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Friday establishing a Senior Bill of Rights for Chicago residents age 60 and older, creating a new Mayor's Office on Aging tasked with closing gaps in city services for the city's older population. The order also sets up a working group to study bringing back a standalone Department of Aging, an agency Chicago hasn't had on its own since 2009.
According to WBEZ, the order establishes a Mayor's Office on Aging and a Senior Bill of Rights. The newly created Office on Aging will coordinate and expand access to city services affecting older residents, and the order creates a working group to explore how to re-establish a Department of Aging — the agency that merged into the Department of Family and Support Services back in 2009, per the same report.
At the signing, Johnson spoke about the order. The Senior Bill of Rights addresses Chicago seniors' access to city services, safe housing, healthcare and support.
What the Bill of Rights Actually Guarantees
The Senior Bill of Rights affirms the fundamental rights of every Chicagoan age 60 and older, including a right to safe, sanitary and accessible housing and to accessible information about city programs and services, WBEZ reports. It also protects seniors' right to organize and advocate around housing and other issues without retaliation, and the order looks for ways for seniors to report problems directly to the city.
City officials estimate more than 542,000 Chicagoans are at least 60 years old, or roughly 19% of the city's population, according to the station's report. That figure doesn't fully line up with an earlier estimate: a March report cited by the Hyde Park Herald put the same age group at about 517,042 people, also roughly 19% of the population. That same report found that roughly 88,165 people in that age group — about 17.4% of them — live below the federal poverty line.
Years of Organizing Behind the Order
The order follows years of advocacy by Ald. Jeanette Taylor, KOCO, Access Living and People Matter, WBEZ reports. Taylor introduced a Senior Bill of Rights ordinance to City Council in July 2025 with Johnson's backing, according to the Hyde Park Herald. That proposal contained 15 provisions promoting the dignity, privacy and safety of anyone age 55 and older, and it would have reestablished a standalone city Department of Aging separate from Family and Support Services.
The 2025 ordinance also called for the new department to create a confidential hotline for housing complaints and establish an Elder Abuse and Neglect Program, per the Herald's reporting. Had it passed City Council, the ordinance was designed to take effect on January 1, 2026. Johnson said he plans to include money for a new director of the Office on Aging in his next budget proposal, WBEZ reports.
Home Repairs Remain a Flashpoint
The push for stronger senior protections comes as frustration simmers over the city's handling of home-repair assistance. A letter published by the Chicago Sun-Times questioned why $6.3 million allocated for the city's Home Repair Program isn't being used while low-income seniors wait for urgent repairs and accessibility modifications. In late 2024, the city closed its Small Accessible Repairs for Seniors program, folding its services into the broader Home Repair Program, according to the letter. The broader Home Repair Program, by contrast, had provided repairs to about 300 senior households every year.
Seniors who were waiting for assistance through the old program have reported struggling to find help through its replacement, the letter states, and some have been referred to community organizations that had their own funding eliminated when the senior-specific program closed. With planning for the city's 2027 budget already underway, the letter urges officials to fund the growing need for senior home repairs.
Beyond repairs, existing programs continue to serve older Chicagoans in other ways. The Chicago Housing Authority's Resident Service Coordination Program supports older adults living in senior-designated buildings, with services provided by Metropolitan Family Services, according to the Chicago Housing Authority. The city's Golden Diners Program also serves hot, nutritious lunches to seniors over 60 at more than 50 locations citywide, including 20 CHA senior buildings.
For now, the executive order marks a formal commitment rather than a finished overhaul — the working group has yet to determine how or whether a standalone Department of Aging will return, and the office's funding and staffing will depend on the mayor's upcoming budget proposal. Advocates who spent years pushing for the policy will be watching to see whether the promises translate into the housing repairs, healthcare access and anti-retaliation protections the Bill of Rights lays out.
