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Program helps train seniors for re-entry into workforce

Staff //August 16, 2018//

Program helps train seniors for re-entry into workforce

Staff //August 16, 2018//

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Seniors who previously might have been left behind by the job market are being provided with new skills to help them find permanent employment through a federal job training program.

The Senior Community Service Employment Program is a program through the Department of Labor that helps low-income people ages 55 and older who want to enter or re-enter the workforce. The program has been implemented in South Carolina since 2016 through a grant held by the S.C. Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging and Goodwill Industries International Inc.

Pamela Grant, director of the program at the Office on Aging, said the intent is to train participants in skills that will make them more competitive in the job market. Grant said the skills can be almost anything, such as customer service or computing skills.

“The ultimate goal of the program is to find permanent employment for the participants,” she said.

According to the Office on Aging, approximately 652,790 people in South Carolina — 13.3% of the Palmetto State’s population — are older than 55.

To be eligible for the employment program, an individual must be at or below 125% of the poverty line, which is $15,075 for a family of one. According to the Department of Labor, enrollment priority is given to veterans and qualified spouses, then to individuals who are older than 65, have a disability, have low literacy skills, reside in a rural area, are at risk of homelessness, have low employment prospects or have failed to find employment using other services.

“The mindset of most participants that we serve, they’re thinking that they’re too old to find a job,” said Mike Daniels, manager of the program for Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands S.C. “In their mind, they’re thinking no one will hire them, but it’s actually just the opposite because there are more opportunities for the mature job seeker.”

Once they’re in the program, Grant said, participants create an individualized employment plan to outline the steps needed to develop the skills they want.

“It depends on what the person would like to do ultimately,” she said. “Computer skills are almost anything you want to do with technology. Sometimes they want to be more proficient in soft skills like answering the phone and customer service relations.”

Program participants train with host agencies, which are public and nonprofit entities that help provide the individuals with the skills they need.

Daniels said a lot of the training involves arming seniors with the tools to find a job, such as teaching them how to use job search engines and helping them build a resume.

“It’s a generation that came along when you had to look at a classified ad in the newspaper, you had to word-of-mouth hear about a job or you just walk down Main Street and you see a help wanted sign,” Daniels said. “It’s a new generation. Technology and times are changing, and so therefore we’re bringing them up to speed.”

Grant said that the Senior Community Service Employment Program also partners with the state’s technical colleges to help participants enroll in educational programs, if that’s necessary to acquiring the skills they’re interested in.

“We evaluate the participants and, based on the evaluation and the participant’s desire and their educational attainment, we will partner with whatever agency or program is out there to help them realize their goal and whatever skills they need to acquire to get the job or get in the field that they’re desiring,” she said.

Participants can be in training up to 20 hours per week, Grant said, and are reimbursed for their time at minimum wage. Training can last up to 48 months, but according to the Office on Aging, the average is 36 months.

During the training, Grant said, the Office on Aging also provides participants with supportive services, which can include helping them apply for food stamps, find affordable housing or get them to the dentist.

“Supportive services can be almost anything to help a participant be successful in the program,” she said. “We’ve even purchased a set of tires so that the person could get to the host agency so they could receive the training.”

The state has a total of 111 slots for participants, but Grant said because of the rotating nature of the program, between 150 and 200 individuals can be trained each year. Goodwill has an additional 210 slots.

“It not only helps the participant financially, but the intrinsic value is tremendous,” she said. “It gives them a sense of purpose and a sense of well-being. It diminishes the social isolation that sometimes can be attached to getting older.”

According to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in 2015, employed adults aged 65 and older had better health outcomes than those who were not employed. Retired or unemployed seniors were about 2.75 times more likely to report being in “poor” or “fair” health, as opposed to “good,” “very good” or “excellent” health, than seniors who had a job.

Grant said in the past 36 months, over 200 participants have found employment and over 300 have been enrolled in the state program. According to the Office on Aging, 80% of participants retain their employment at least 12 months.

Daniels said people have found permanent employment at Goodwill retail stores, medical centers, city governments and at Walmart. The average wage, he said, is $10.61 an hour.

“We have a tremendous impact,” Daniels said. “We’re very proud of putting individuals back to work, giving them job training skills, building lives.”

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