The "silver tsunami," a demographic flood of aging baby boomers, is poised to wash over the state beginning this year. Sadly but predictably, California is woefully ill-prepared to roll with this wave.

That's the conclusion of "A Long-Term Strategy for Long-Term Care," a report issued last month by the state's Little Hoover Commission.

"California's long-term care system is broken," the report states bluntly. "The state has no reliable means of gauging what clients need, what benefits they receive, which services are used by whom, how much each service costs the state and which programs work the best and are the most cost-effective in keeping people in their homes."

This year, the first baby boomers turn 65. They are at the cutting edge of a population of California seniors that will nearly double over the next two decades, from 4.6 million today to 8.8 million by 2030.

They will need long-term care, which means everything from nursing homes to home health aides to adult day care. Federal law, simple economics and the well-being of this aging population demand the state do all it can to keep them independent, in their own homes and out of expensive nursing homes, hospitals and emergency rooms.

California's confusing mishmash has services for the elderly scattered across seven different agencies. The report calls for a less bureaucratic, more streamlined and better coordinated continuum of care, consolidated under one strong leader. But just changing the organizational chart won't be enough.

People who work in the system want a culture change, away from what is now a largely medical model dominated by doctors and drugs to a social and therapeutic approach.

Under the medical model, government readily pays for drugs to fight depression or high blood pressure and avoid frequent physician visits, hospital stays and high-tech tests. But what many frail elderly need is a place to go during the day to socialize, exercise and eat a balanced meal. They need physical therapy that will allow them to lift their arms higher so that they can dress themselves or get out of their wheelchair onto a walker or cane. They need people to talk to and to play cards, dominoes or checkers with.

Last March, the state cut off all support to adult day care centers, one of the most sensible, cost-effective long-term care options available. If permanently excised from the budget, it will prove to be a shortsighted and costly mistake.

Gov. Jerry Brown is almost a decade older than the oldest baby boomers. Fortunately for him, he's a Betty White-like elder, physically and mentally strong despite the advancing years. Yet not every elder is fortunate enough to have Brown's health and family support structure.

The Little Hoover Commission has outlined a pretty good plan on how the state should prepare for the silver tsunami. Brown needs to read it and perhaps take time out of his busy schedule to stop by an adult day care center. If he did so, he'd learn a lot, and perhaps make a higher priority of ensuring that California seniors less fortunate than himself can lead a dignified, healthful life in their latter years.

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The Little Hoover Commission's report can be found at www.lhc.ca.gov.

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