Senior Community Service Employment Program

SCSEP serves older workers when other programs do not, and it can help supplement other training programs to better serve older workers. Indiana must coordinate SCSEP with the talent development system at-large to maximize resources, prevent duplication of services, and increase access for older Hoosiers. This program must be fully integrated into WorkOne offices through physical, virtual, or mobile co-location. Local regions can also explore embedding or using itinerant staffing models.

SCSEP funds the following activities:

• Wages and benefits (must account for at least 75% of funds),
• Training,
• Job placement assistance, including job development and job search assistance,
• Supportive services (e.g., health and medical costs, transportation, work-related equipment, childcare, etc.),
• Outreach, recruitment and selection, intake, orientation, and assessments, and
• Other employment, training, and education services that may help a constituent secure unsubsidized employment.

Through braided funding between WIOA Title I, Wagner-Peyser, and SCSEP, as well as the utilization of Indiana Career Ready (ICR), our SCSEP staff can work to connect a senior’s employment history, personal background, and non-work activities and skills (e.g., hobbies, household activities, faith-related activities, etc.) with the current labor market needs to expedite the training and placement process for the participant. Wagner-Peyser could also help fund business outreach, recruitment, and selection and job search and placement for the SCSEP participant. Additionally, if a senior qualifies for another WIOA Core Program, those funds could help provide training and assessments. SCSCEP funds should prioritizes wages and benefits and supportive services, such as transportation or medical costs, when possible.

Indiana’s SCSEP subgrantee, National Able, and other SCSEP partners will develop training that emphasizes digital literacy and computer skills training, life coaching, and financial management skills for its participants. This will require finding innovative curricula and preparation activities that ensure the optimal learning environment and reinforce workplace “realities” regarding the work-a-day schedule, dress, and turnaround on assignments. Our SCSEP training and services must also be tailored to assist individual circumstances, such as older women entering the labor force for the first time, reentry after retirement, the loss of a spouse, or a lack of basic computer and internet skills. For those seniors who qualify, WIOA Adult can help fill any funding gaps or provide training opportunities, specifically in financial and digital literacy.

Indiana utilizes WorkOnes to coordinate SCSEP with WIOA. Through DWD, we train WIOA case managers on the SCSEP program and potential indicators of a constituent’s needs, which may be met by SCSEP, WIOA, and/or other programs and training opportunities. Furthering co-enrollment will be a goal as we implement SCSCEP over the next 4 years.

The state monitoring plan reviews referrals to SCSEP to ensure program candidate referrals are being completed properly on a regular basis. State leadership who oversee the SCSEP grant have quarterly calls with the grantees to go over the administration and coordination of SCSEP efforts, provide technical assistance, and share best demonstrated practices.