Jobs, Skills and Independence for Older Men and Women

Benefits for Older Workers
Those mature workers participating in the program get these benefits and more:

• pre-job and on-the-job training
• professional help identifying the personal strengths that could be used in a new job
• job placement assistance
• annual physical examinations
• consumer information about Social Security, taxes, personal health, and more
• compassionate help from professionals during difficult transitions, such as recovering from an illness or losing a spouse
• renewed self-confidence that comes from doing a job well

Benefits for Communities
This program is called the Senior Community Service Employment Program because it involves older people working to serve their communities. It helps meet urgent community needs that might otherwise go unmet, and it pays older people to help those needs.

Other jobs and training through the program are with private employers. Corporate employers, who have a hard time filing openings, often turn to Senior Community Service Employment Program's local projects for help finding responsible employees.

And many of the jobs available focus on helping people - working in libraries and hospitals; delivering meals to elderly people who can't get out; providing consumer education; and assisting in schools, child care centers, and a variety of non-profit and public agencies.

Facts About SCSEP...
More and more, employers are convinced that mature workers can be more valuable than younger workers - responsible, productive, and ready to learn the new skills that are in demand.

For more than 30 years, The National Council on the Aging has been working with the U.S. Department Labor and community agencies to help older people find jobs, increase their incomes, and learn new skills.

Is the Senior Community Service Program For You?
Did you lose your job after years of work experience?

Do you have work skills, but maybe not the ones local employers are looking for?

Are you a qualified worker who is turned away from jobs because of your age?

Are you a homemaker or someone who needs to return to work?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, or if you need help finding work and gaining new job skills for any reason, the Senior Community Service Employment Program could be for you.

Thousands of older adults have already used the program to improve their financial security and job satisfaction.

To find work and job training in this program, a person must:

• Be 55 or older
• Have a household income no more then 25% over the federal poverty level
• Be out of work or having trouble finding a suitable job

Here's How the Senior Community Service Employment Program Works:

• At no cost, a preliminary meeting at the local project office assesses what kind of work or training you might be interested in. The interviewer also asks what else you might need in order to work, such as transportation, better eyeglasses, or other services.
• Before enrollment in the program, you receive a health check-up, and then are assigned to a job or training at a nearby community agency. (The job or training is part-time and pays at least minimum wage.) Job training may include new job skills such as typing, computer operation, word processing, health services delivery, or public relations and communications.
• Gradually, your new job skills grow stronger and your job responsibilities will increase. The, the local project office helps you find a better-paying job that is not subsidized by the federal government.

Founded in 1950, The National Council on the Aging is a private, nonprofit association of organizations and individuals that promotes the dignity, self-determination, well-being, and contributions of older persons. NCOA members include senior centers, adult day service centers, senior housing, congregate meal sites, faith congregations, and area agencies on aging. NCOA has helped develop many innovative programs such as Foster Grandparents and Meals on Wheels that serve the needs of older Americans and their families.