(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – In 2027 the youngest baby boomers turn 63, and the oldest turn 81. And demand for care services is through the roof.

Mike Steiner calls it a “silver tsunami.”

Steiner, owner of the Right at Home franchise in Grayslake, has a vested interest in a new law requiring assisted-living facilities to refer people to licensed home care companies such as his, as opposed to unlicensed, or “grey market” providers.

Before, when you ask a care center about home care services, Steiner says, the people at the care center may say, “‘Go hire Mary Jane. She’s really good.’ But you may not know Mary Jane’s background, you may not know that she’s got a criminal record she just hasn’t shared with anybody, and going thru a licensed agency thru the Illinois Department of Public Health regulates this.”

Steiner is co-chair of the legislative committee for the Illinois Chapter of the Home Care Association of America.