Community Service Employment for Older Americans

Department & Agency:     

Department of Labor
http://www.doleta.gov/Seniors/html_docs/AboutSCSEP.cfm

Administering Agency:     

Employment and Training Administration (ETA)

Stimulus Funding:             

$120 million total, $3 million tribal organization set-aside

Eligibility and Type:         

National non-profit organizations and Tribal Organizations

Formula and Project Grants

Program Description:

This program provides subsidized, part-time, community service work-based training for low-income persons age 55 or older who have poor employment prospects. Services include Individual Employment Plan (IEP) development, orientation, community service placement, training specific to community service assignment, other training as identified in the IEP, supportive services, wages, fringe benefits, annual physicals, assistance in securing unsubsidized employment, and access to local One-Stop Career Centers.

Funding Guidance and Timelines:

Competition for national representation was held in 2006. The National Indian Council on Aging (NICOA) http://www.nicoa.org/ and the Institute for Indian Development are the two organizations chosen to operate this program.   The ETA will be in contact with both grantees.

NICOA has been a national sponsor of the Senior Community Service Employment Program since 1989. The program is currently operating in 7 states: Arizona, California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Although it is an Indian organization, this program is offered to individuals from all ethnic groups who meet the eligibility criteria.

Information on the Institute for Indian Development is not available at this time.

General Provisions: 

Bill language of the Act (contained in Title VIII – Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies), provides that all Community Service Employment for Older American funds will be allotted within 30 days of enactment to current grantees in proportion to their allotment in program year 2008.     

Funding Notices:

Not applicable, because grantees are known.

Technical Assistance:

Not applicable, because grantees predetermined.