The National Indian Council on Aging’s (NICOA) Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) provides participants with the tools to transition to regular employment, which helps local employers address workforce shortages. Not only are SCSEP participants able to fill these shortages, but they have gone through the program to ensure that they are trained, qualified, skilled, mature workers.
NICOA and local workforce offices work closely with employers for job placement opportunities to help employers find mature workers with qualifications that fit their work environment. NICOA staff also thoroughly assess each participant’s skills, interests and attitudes before referring the applicant to potential employers.
Participants in the program work and receive on-the-job training at 20,000 local nonprofit and government programs. These host agencies include libraries, senior centers, schools and tribal government offices. In 2016, SCSEP participants provided nearly 35 million staffing hours to these local programs, including more than 7 million hours serving older adults through programs such as Meals on Wheels. Based on estimates by the research organization Independent Sector, the value of the work performed by SCSEP participants exceeded $820 million.
SCSEP delivers a “triple win” for our nation by promoting healthy aging and offering employment opportunities for low-income older Americans while providing a well-trained workforce to local programs and agencies serving communities.
