Monday will mark a milestone for America's baby boomers: Maryland resident Kathleen Casey-Kirschling will sign up for Social Security benefits. Casey-Kirschling, born the first second of 1946, is America's first boomer, and her step into early retirement at age 62 heralds the coming deluge of her generation tapping the entire spectrum of elder-care resources.

We're not ready for it — not nationally, and not locally. The first retirees, 3.2 million people, will turn 65 by 2011, and the demand on social services will keep compounding for the 22 years to follow.

In Hawai'i, work is under way at the county level on plans addressing the needs of boomers, as a result of a change last year in the federal Older Americans Act. Honolulu's Elderly Affairs Division this year issued its "Four-Year Area Plan on Aging" to identify the needs of the wave of seniors and caretakers.

Increasingly, elders live in urban communities. And in Honolulu, leasehold residential properties, which house large elderly populations, are reverting to the fee landholder's ownership.

This means that we're already in a catch-up position in meeting needs. The work can't be left to elder-care agencies alone.

Honolulu is facing decades of redevelopment with the coming of a mass-transit system. At every stop along the way, the needs of the retirees deserve top priority.

And Hawai'i is already at critical mass when it comes to long-term care. Ours is the only state whose long-term facilities run between 90 and 95 percent full, according to AARP Hawai'i. The state must do more to encourage the growth of the caregiving profession, including tax credits and other incentives.

This deficiency has forced many families to care for elderly parents at home. Providing them with support and resources should be among the state's priorities.

The Legislature formed a committee last year to come up with a series of recommendations to do so. It's time to put that plan into action.