Secretary of Labor Awards $342 Million For Older Worker Employment Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced that grants totaling more than $342 million are being awarded to 13 organizations to provide community service experience and training to low-income workers age 55 and older.  The grants will help subsidize part-time employment in community service positions that train older workers for placement in unsubsidized jobs.

"This Administration is committed to helping older workers achieve self-sufficiency," said Chao.  "The hundreds of millions of dollars in grants we are announcing today are targeted to help these workers with few employment prospects to gain the experience they need to move into better-paying, unsubsidized jobs."

Authorized by Congress through 2005, the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) provides funding for at least 60,000 positions through which 100,000 participants are served each year.

The 13 grantees were selected through a competitive process based on the technical merit of each application.  As required by the Nov. 8, 2002 solicitation for grant applications, one award each was made to an Asian and Pacific Island organization and an Indian and Native American organization.  

Most of the grantees have held grants or subgrants under the SCSEP before, but a few are new to the program.  As grantees assume their responsibilities beginning July 1, current participants will continue to be served. 

"The Urban Institute projects that, by 2005, there will be 1.4 million more economically disadvantaged adults over the age of 55 than there were ten years earlier," said Emily  Stover DeRocco, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training.  "Those statistics highlight the urgency of our job - to provide the best possible service for the largest number so that no older worker is left behind."

The SCSEP is the only federal workforce program targeted to older workers.  Congress reauthorized the SCSEP, Title V of the Older Americans Act, in 2000.  The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration through grant agreements with states and eligible organizations.

A list of grantees receiving awards and the amount each received is attached.

SENIOR COMMUNITY SERVICE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM (SCSEP)

Awardee: AARP Foundation Programs Amount: $74,974,900  

Asociacion Nacional Pro Mayores Personas - $  7,793,500

Easter Seals, Inc. - $16,180,084 

Experience Works, Inc. - $86,150,732

National ABLE Network - $  5,462,600

National Asian Pacific Center on Aging - $  6,120,400

National Caucus & Center on Black Aged, Inc. - $15,272,400

National Indian Council on Aging - $   6,165,886

Senior Service America, Inc. - $50,128,650

SER-Jobs for Progress National, Inc. - $26,319,150

The National Council on the Aging, Inc. - $21,900,450	

USDA Forest Service - $20,463,300

Mature Services, Inc. - 5,491,200