U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration
SCSEP Senior Community Service Employment Program
What is SCSEP?
The Senior Community Service Employment Program is a community service and work-based training program for older workers. It provides subsidized, part-time, community service training for unemployed, low-income persons 55 or older who have poor employment prospects. Through this program, older workers have access to SCSEP services and to additional employment and training assistance through American Job Centers.
How can SCSEP help me?
Subsidized community service assignments are provided in public and non-profit agencies, allowing these agencies to enhance and provide needed services to the community while older workers gain job skills. Program participants work an average of 20 hours a week and are paid the highest of the federal, state, or local minimum wage. These assignments are intended to serve as a bridge to unsubsidized employment.
Participant services include Individual Employment Plan development, orientation, community service placement, training specific to an individual’s community service assignment, and other training as necessary. Supportive services, annual physicals, assistance in securing unsubsidized employment, and access to local American Job Centers are also available.
How do I qualify to be a participant for SCSEP?
Program participants must be at least 55 and have a family income of no more than 125 percent of the federal poverty level. Enrollment priority is given to individuals who are veterans, are over age 65, have a disability, have limited English proficiency or low literacy skills, reside in a rural area, have low employment prospects, or are homeless or at risk for homelessness. Individual participation is limited to 48 months.
Where are the community service assignments?
After receiving orientation, SCSEP participants are placed in a wide variety of community service activities at non-profit and public facilities, including day-care centers, senior centers, schools, and hospitals. The salary of the participant is paid for by SCSEP. This gives the agency a dedicated worker and provides the participant with on-the-job experience and an opportunity to re-enter the workforce. These community service training assignments promote self-sufficiency, provide assistance to organizations that benefit from increased civic engagement, and support communities.
I’m an employer. Why should I hire an older worker?
Experienced. Qualified. Responsible. Talented. These words represent the values demonstrated by older workers. Employers rate older workers high on characteristics such as judgment, commitment to quality, attendance, and punctuality. SCSEP participants possess a work ethic unmatched by most other employees. Hiring older workers brings stability to a workplace. Some employers may even qualify to take part in a program that pays the new employee’s salary during an on-the-job training experience.
The United States is undergoing a demographic shift that is changing older Americans' relation to the workplace. The average and median age of the U.S. population is rising, and the composition of the workforce with it. By 2024, it is estimated that workers 55 and over will make up 25% of the U.S. civilian labor force, up from 14% in 2020. In addition, individual workers are tending to remain in the workforce longer and retire later. The number of workers over the traditional retirement age of 65 is seeing a marked increase, and it is projected that they will make up more than 7% of the labor force by 2024.
Recognizing contributions of older workers.
National Employ Older Workers Week, held annually the last full week of September, recognizes the vital role of older workers in the workforce. It also showcases SCSEP, which has helped over one million older Americans enter the workforce.
