SCSEP: Extra Help for Charities and for Low-Income Seniors
By Teresa Ambord
If your not-for-profit agency needs more staff than it can afford, don’t overlook an important and valuable resource. Many seniors are looking for ways to supplement their incomes at the same time not-for-profit organizations are trying to hold down their payroll costs and yet cover all the staffing needs.
The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) puts low-income senior citizens to work helping out in charity organizations, for the mutual benefit of the employer and the employee. This program is funded through grants from the Department of Labor. Each year, nearly 100,000 low-income seniors are provided with training, employment, and community service opportunities.
How SCSEP Began
The SCSEP is an offspring of former President Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty. As part of that war, Lady Bird Johnson suggested that the government begin a program that would provide work opportunities for the nation’s older farmers who were low-income and/or retired. Originally it was called Green Thumb, because it utilized the expertise of farmers to beautify America’s highways. This program, which at first was limited to four states, grew into the SCSEP, which is now a major federal workforce success story
If you are a senior who wants to learn more about SCSEP
Low-income individuals, aged 55 and older, who have been out of the workforce for a while or need to develop new skills can get personalized help to meet those goals through the SCSEP. After an orientation, participating seniors are placed in not-for-profit agencies such as libraries, social service organizations, and community centers, for a three-week training period. These jobs are part-time, about 20 hours a week.
The wages are paid by the SCSEP. Typical wages are the higher of: the state’s minimum wage, the federal minimum wage, or the prevailing wage. After the initial training period, some of these seniors are hired by the charities they trained with. Others go to work for other charities where they will work for several months while acquiring new skills. But the ultimate goal is for the seniors to be placed in good jobs in the public or private sector.
The training program is threefold:
- Classroom time, which is customized for the senior and focuses on developing basic skills needed for the participant to be job ready.
- Occupational skills, for cultivating skill for high growth occupations like health care workers and computer operators.
- And on-the-job training, which uses the talents of employers to coordinate participants for specific jobs that require special skills. Employers who provide on-the-job training may qualify for partial reimbursement of the costs involved.
What kind of jobs do seniors do? The variety is endless, but here is a sample: sales, home health aides, library assistants, couriers, drivers, groundskeepers, computer operators, childcare workers, receptionists, teaching assistants.
Click here to find an SCSEP program in your state, through the AARP:
If you are an employer who wants to learn more
Employers who have used the SCSEP report that their senior participants are experienced, mature, responsible, and talented. In general they exhibit a work ethic superior to that of other employees. Human resource managers describe their SCSEP employees as loyal and dedicated to their job and committed to quality work. They bring stability and overall, they reduce the turnover rate, which in the long-terms saves money in recruitment and training.
For More Information:
Contact your local One-Stop Career Center through the Toll-Free Help Line at 1-877-US-2JOBS (1-877-872-5627) or TTY: 1-877-889-5627.
