2026 C4A Annual Conference – Agenda & Program

 

Hyatt Regency Orange County

November 17-19, 2026 • Garden Grove, CA

This is a preliminary schedule and is subject to change as conference planning continues.

Session times, topics, and other program details may be updated as we finalize the conference program. 
 

DAY ONE – TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17

  • 11:00 AM: CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OPENS
  • 1:30 PM: PLENARY SESSION
    • Welcome & Opening Remarks
    • Nowhere to Go: Addressing the Crisis in Supportive Housing for Older Californians  |  The session will introduce the California Commission on Aging’s Nowhere to Go report and discuss the growing need for supportive housing for older Californians experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It will explore how housing, aging, healthcare, caregiving, disability access, and homelessness systems intersect, and why coordinated action is increasingly important.
  • 2:30 PM: BREAK
  • 2:45 PM: CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSIONS
    • “Nothing About Us Without Us”: Tips for Successful Advocacy by Older Adults, People with Disabilities, and Organizations in Challenging Times  | Presenters will provide an overview of current threats to Medicare, Medicaid/Medi-Cal, and other key programs while highlighting recent advocacy successes. Participants will gain practical strategies and real-world examples for effective advocacy, with an emphasis on adapting approaches to different needs and centering the voices of older adults and people with disabilities.
    • Power in Partnership  | As people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live longer, stronger collaboration between the aging and disability networks is increasingly important. Drawing on California’s Bridging Aging and Disability Networks initiative, presenters will highlight how AAAs and Regional Centers can build relationships, strengthen shared knowledge, and improve navigation and access to services.
    • Building a Medical Chaperone Program  | Transportation barriers and social isolation can make it harder for older adults and people in rural communities to access health care and navigate medical information. Presenters will highlight a Volunteer Medical Chaperone Program that helps individuals get to appointments, understand next steps, and coordinate follow-up care, while sharing practical tools and a six-step guide for developing similar programs.
    • Beyond the Chatbot: How Aging Organizations Are Putting AI to Work  | Real-world examples will show how aging organizations are using AI-powered texting and web chat to improve access, reduce administrative burden, and support residents beyond traditional business hours. Participants will explore practical considerations including use-case selection, privacy, human escalation, and responsible applications across information and referral, caregiver outreach, transportation, registration, and multilingual communication.
  • 3:45 PM: BREAK
  • 4:00 PM: CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSIONS
    • After the Crime: Online Fraud Recovery Models for Older Adults and People with Disabilities  |  Online fraud can cause lasting emotional and psychological harm beyond financial loss. Panelists will highlight trauma-informed practitioner and peer-support models that address shame, isolation, financial recovery, digital safety, and re-victimization, giving participants practical approaches they can adapt in their own communities.
    • Aging and Disability: Shared Challenges and Cross-Generational Support  |  People aging with disabilities and those acquiring disabilities later in life often share experiences related to independence, transportation, privacy, and social connection. Panelists with a range of ages and disabilities will explore how cross-generational learning, mutual support, and shared strategies can strengthen connection, challenge stigma, and support greater choice and independence.
    • Feeling Fit Club: An Evidence-Based Program for Improving Fitness & Cultivating Connection  | Feeling Fit Club is an evidence-based functional fitness program developed by San Diego County and San Diego State University to improve strength, endurance, flexibility, balance, and social connection among older adults. Attendees will learn about the program’s development, research findings, implementation models, and strategies for increasing participation in community-based exercise programs.
    • From Paper to Performance: How One Area Agency Reduced Administrative Burden and Improved Service Delivery  | PSA-14 will share its transition from paper-based processes, spreadsheets, and manual reporting to more streamlined operations. Through practical examples, participants will explore ways to reduce duplicate data entry, improve tracking and reporting, strengthen data quality, and free staff time for service delivery without requiring extensive new resources.
  • 5:00 PM: BREAK
  • 5:15 PM: PLENARY SESSION
    • Fireside Chat: Advocacy, Alignment & the Road Ahead  | A conversation exploring how statewide organizations approach advocacy, the importance of a strong collective voice, where collaboration is making an impact, and what lies ahead for the communities and networks they represent.
  • 5:45 PM: NETWORKING RECEPTION
  • 6:30 PM: ADJOURN

DAY TWO – WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18

  • 8:00 AM: CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OPENS
    • Continental Breakfast
  • 9:00 AM: PLENARY SESSION
    • Welcome & Opening Remarks
  • 9:30 AM: BREAK
  • 9:45 AM: CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSIONS
    • Power in Unity: Advancing LTSS Priorities with the Next Administration  | California’s gubernatorial transition creates an important opportunity to shape the next administration’s aging, disability, and LTSS priorities. Participants will preview emerging policy priorities, messaging tools, and advocacy resources designed to strengthen alignment, elevate lived experience, and support coordinated engagement with the next governor.
    • Advancing the Master Plan for Aging’s LTSS Systems Change Framework: The Cal Community Connect No Wrong Door Navigator Pilot  | California’s efforts to strengthen LTSS navigation come to life through the Master Plan for Aging and CDA’s Cal Community Connect Community Health Worker No Wrong Door Navigator Pilot. Presenters will highlight how AAAs, CHWs, community-based organizations, health care providers, and managed care plans can work together to improve access, build sustainable navigation models, and advance long-term systems change.
    • Project Butterfly  | Project Butterfly is a person-centered Sourcewise model designed to reconnect Medi-Cal HCBS consumers who experience prolonged gaps in in-home caregiving. Participants will learn how targeted outreach, individualized support, existing staff, data systems, and community resources can be used to improve service access, consumer outcomes, health, and independence.
    • Listening at Scale: Capturing Older Adult Voices to Improve Quality and Outcomes  | A Meals on Wheels member-experience initiative demonstrates how organizations can gather meaningful feedback from older adults at scale and turn it into actionable quality improvements. Presenters will share how quantitative and qualitative feedback, supported by AI analysis, helped identify priorities related to communication, dietary customization, and service quality.
  • 10:45 AM: BREAK
  • 11:00 AM: CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSIONS
    • How to Be an Effective Partner in Policymaking  | This nonpartisan workshop offers practical guidance on effectively engaging policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels. Participants will learn key dos and don’ts, common pitfalls to avoid, and strategies for navigating opportunities for public input and advocacy.
    • Strengthening AAA and Advisory Council Partnerships: Developing Practical Strategies for Aging Networks Across California  | AAAs and Advisory Councils share a commitment to community voice, but differing roles, expectations, and structures can create barriers to effective collaboration. Drawing on experiences from across California, presenters will share practical strategies for improving communication, clarifying roles, strengthening engagement, and increasing the impact of Advisory Council input.
    • Reimagining Senior Nutrition: Expanding Fresh Food Access Through Community Partnerships  | A partnership between the Los Angeles Community Investment Department and Project FoodBox demonstrates how trusted senior centers can serve as effective hubs for fresh food distribution. Participants will explore strategies for building public-private partnerships, improving nutrition access, reducing financial strain, and adapting scalable community-based approaches to food insecurity.
    • 1-Million Care Conversations: A Listening Session  | Caregiving touches families across the country, yet caregivers and care workers are not always asked what they need most. This interactive listening session invites participants to share their experiences, identify common challenges and priorities, and help inform Caring Across Generations’ future advocacy, storytelling, and organizing efforts.
  • 12:00 PM: BREAK
  • 12:15 PM: PLENARY SESSION
    • Awards Luncheon: Keynote & Award Presentation  | A celebratory plenary luncheon featuring the presentation of C4A’s 2026 awards honoring outstanding leadership, service, and contributions to California’s aging and disability network.
  • 1:30 PM: BREAK
  • 1:45 PM: CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSIONS
    • Shaping the California Caregiver Minimum Data Set: A Collaborative Framework for Understanding and Supporting Family Caregivers  | California’s proposed Caregiver Minimum Data Set aims to create a more consistent framework for understanding family caregivers, their needs, and the services they receive. Participants will learn about the draft framework and provide input on how shared caregiver data could support local planning, program evaluation, quality improvement, and statewide decision-making.
    • How to Partner with Your Legal Service Provider to Save the Safety Net  | Legal services are an essential part of the aging network, helping older adults address issues such as elder abuse, housing instability, and other threats to safety and independence. Panelists will share practical models for strengthening partnerships between AAAs and legal aid providers, including strategies related to referrals, funding, contracting, data sharing, and coordinated service delivery.
    • Advancing Change: A Call to Action for Communities Built on Connection and Care  | Three San Bernardino County initiatives demonstrate creative, low-cost ways to strengthen social connection among older adults and people with disabilities, including mobile coffee gatherings, pet-centered resource fairs, and civic engagement activities. Presenters will share practical strategies for using partnerships, volunteers, modest resources, and available funding to sustain and adapt these models in other communities.
    • Already in the Room: A Replicable, Low-Cost Model for Supporting People Through Life’s Hardest Moments  | Area Agencies on Aging already encounter serious illness and caregiver needs throughout their programs, even when those needs are not explicitly identified. Using the Supportive Care Collaborative as a model, participants will explore low-cost strategies, existing partnerships, funding opportunities, and concrete steps for strengthening support in their own communities.
  • 2:45 PM: EXHIBITOR ENGAGEMENT BREAK
  • 3:45 PM: CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSIONS
    • Talking With Your Mouth Full: Turning Senior Nutrition Needs into Policy Solutions  | California’s senior nutrition network is facing growing demand alongside funding pressures that can limit service availability. Panelists will examine the continuum of nutrition supports, from grocery assistance to congregate and home-delivered meals, and offer practical evidence and messaging to help AAA staff, providers, policymakers, and advocates strengthen nutrition policy and funding statewide.
    • Future Forward: Listening to Black Elders, Shaping What’s Next  | Centering the voices and lived experiences of Black older adults can lead to more equitable, culturally responsive approaches to healthy aging. Presenters will share promising practices for building trust, strengthening community partnerships, and engaging Black elders in program design, outreach, service delivery, research, and decision-making.
    • Empowering Older Adults Through Peer-Led Disaster Preparedness  | San Diego County’s peer-led disaster preparedness initiative uses trained volunteers to help older adults, including those who are isolated or especially vulnerable, build confidence and prepare for emergencies. Participants will learn how volunteer training, community partnerships, practical resources, and peer education can create a low-cost, replicable approach to strengthening community resilience.
  • 4:45 PM: BREAK
  • 5:00 PM: PLENARY SESSION
    • Special Film Screening: Take Me Home  | A special screening of Take Me Home, an award-winning film following Anna, a cognitively disabled woman who helps care for her aging parents as her family navigates changing care needs, independence, and an often-fragmented system of support. Presented in partnership with Caring Across Generations.
  • 6:30 PM: ADJOURN

DAY THREE – THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19

  • 8:00 AM: CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OPENS
    • Continental Breakfast
  • 9:00 AM: CONCURRENT WORKSHOP SESSIONS
    • Growing Veteran Directed Care in California  | Strong Veteran Directed Care programs depend on intentional collaboration among Veterans, caregivers, VA partners, fiscal agents, case managers, and community organizations. Participants will explore strategies for strengthening referral pathways, communication, information sharing, organizational capacity, and sustainable program growth while keeping Veterans at the center of decision-making.
    • Smoke, Sparks and Service: Los Angeles County’s Aging Network in Wildfire Response  | Los Angeles County’s response to the 2025 Eaton and Palisades wildfires offers lessons for integrating aging and disability services into large-scale disaster response. Presenters will highlight strategies for wellness checks, continuity of essential services, support for displaced residents, coordination with emergency systems, and use of flexible funding to address urgent needs.
    • San Diego Scam Jam: A Collaborative Model to Build Scam Smart Communities  | San Diego Scam Jam brings together aging services, AARP, law enforcement, and other partners to educate communities about fraud, reduce stigma, and connect victims with support. Presenters will share how the collaborative model was developed, how it engages diverse communities, and practical strategies for creating similar fraud-prevention efforts elsewhere.
    • Voices for Change: Community Organizing & Advocacy for Aging and Disability Networks  | This interactive workshop will help aging and disability organizations move from responding to individual needs toward advancing broader systems change. Participants will explore practical strategies for community organizing, grassroots advocacy, and amplifying self-advocacy, with particular relevance for AAAs, Independent Living Centers, and ADRC partners working to strengthen community power and advance shared systems advocacy goals.
  • 10:00 AM: BREAK
  • 10:15 AM: PLENARY SESSION
    • Future Forward Connection Challenge Raffle  | A celebratory raffle drawing for participants in the Future Forward Connection Challenge. Throughout the conference, attendees can earn entries by visiting exhibitors, making new connections, and completing their bingo cards. Prizes will be raffled off during the closing plenary session.
    • HCBS Town Hall  | An interactive town hall exploring current issues, emerging priorities, and opportunities shaping home- and community-based services (HCBS), with perspectives from across California’s aging and disability network.
    • Closing Remarks 
  • 12:00 PM: ADJOURN

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