NCOA Awarded $139.4 Million to Help Low-Income Older Adults Find Work

Labor Department grant provides training and a path to permanent employment

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Sep 28, 2020, 12:43 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Council on Aging (NCOA), a trusted national leader working to ensure that every person can age well, has been awarded $139.4 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to continue its 55-year track record of administering the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), the nation's only jobs program specifically for low-income older adults.

NCOA will use the recently awarded $139.4 million dollar SCSEP grant to continue supporting workforce development efforts to retrain older adults in much needed jobs such as caregivers.

The SCSEP program helps low income older adults reenter the workforce though retraining programs in many in demand jobs such as building maintenance. NCOA will continue to support these programs nationwide through its newly awarded $139.4 million dollar grant.

The SCSEP program is pivoting to the new workplace realities under COVID-19 by helping to train older adults to become contract tracers, an important job in addressing the pandemic. NCOA is proud to support these innovative workforce training efforts for older adults through its new $139.4 million dollar grant.

Under the 4-year grant, NCOA will continue managing 25 SCSEP offices throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, which each year help nearly 6,000 individuals aged 55+ build their skills and self-confidence while earning a modest income.

"SCSEP is a win-win program for older adults who need to keep working and for employers who value the wisdom and expertise of older workers," said NCOA President and CEO Ramsey Alwin. "In 2018 alone, our SCSEP participants provided more than 2.6 million hours of service at more than 770 employers, including nonprofit, government, and private sector organizations."

Created in 1965, SCSEP matches eligible older adults with part-time training assignments, which usually lead to permanent employment. To be eligible, an individual must be aged 55+, unemployed, and living on a family income of no more than 125% of the federal poverty level ($21,550 for a two-person household in 2020).

"Even before the pandemic, older workers were facing multiple obstacles to staying in the labor force," Alwin added. "COVID has only exacerbated these disparities. NCOA is incredibly proud to continue managing SCSEP, which enables older adults to continue working and maintain their financial security."

A recent study by The New School found that close to 5 million older Americans lost jobs between March and July 2020 due to the pandemic. Job loss varied by gender and race, with 19% of non-White older adults becoming unemployed. Researchers noted that most job loss was in the manufacturing and service sectors, which employ larger numbers of older non-White adults and women.

"As the economy recovers and more Americans return to work, we must re-engage older workers at every step," Alwin said. "We know from recent history that age discrimination increases during recessions. Older workers who want to return to the workforce must have every advantage to do so. The longer a person stays in the workforce, the more they pay into Social Security and the greater chance they have to save for retirement."

The total value of the NCOA SCSEP grant is $154,949,642, of which $139,454,678 (90%) is federally funded and $15,494,964 (10%) is non-federally funded. For more information, visit www.ncoa.org/SCSEP.

About NCOA
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is a trusted national leader working to ensure that every person can age well. Since 1950, our mission has not changed: Improve the lives of millions of older adults, especially those who are struggling. NCOA empowers people with the best solutions to improve their own health and economic security—and we strengthen government programs that we all depend on as we age. Every year, millions of people use our signature programs BenefitsCheckUp®, My Medicare Matters®, and the Aging Mastery Program® to age well. By offering online tools and collaborating with a nationwide network of partners, NCOA is working to improve the lives of 40 million older adults by 2030. Learn more at www.ncoa.org and @NCOAging.

SOURCE National Council on Aging