Statement to the United States Senate Special Committee On Aging Concerning “Protecting Older Americans: Leveling the Playing Field for Older Workers”
Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Gillibrand, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony for the record. I am Kendra Davenport, President and CEO of Easterseals. Our organization provides services and support to millions of individuals and families each year through a national network of Affiliates that spans forty-eight states and the District of Columbia. We serve older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, and caregivers to better ensure they are able to live full and independent lives.
For more than two decades, Easterseals has been a national grantee for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), the only federal workforce program specifically designed to serve unemployed, low-income adults aged fifty-five and older. Through SCSEP, older adults gain access to paid, part-time community service assignments that help them build job skills, increase income, and prepare for permanent employment. The program provides over 40 million community service hours to public and non-profit agencies, allowing them to enhance and provide needed services. Participants work in schools, senior centers, food pantries, and other local agencies, contributing meaningful service while building the experience and confidence they need to reenter the workforce.
Easterseals currently operates SCSEP in 10 states and 150 counties. Since 2003, our participants have contributed more than 10 million hours of community service nationwide. Most participants earn around $1,200 per month through this program. For many, these wages are essential, helping cover rent, utilities, medications, and groceries. This income not only meets daily needs, but also keeps participants engaged and connected to their communities, giving them a sense of purpose and helping avert loneliness so many isolated seniors experience.
Approximately 65% of SCSEP participants receive some form of public assistance, such as Medicaid or SNAP. Many of these same individuals are now subject to new Medicaid work requirements. It is deeply counterproductive to deny them access to the one program designed to help them meet those requirements.
Unfortunately, this essential program is in crisis. Congress appropriated $405 million in funding for SCSEP this fiscal year, but the Department of Labor only recently released the funds. As a result, Easterseals and many other national SCSEP grantees were forced to furlough participants and suspend job placements. These disruptions caused economic hardship for thousands of older adults. Grantees are expected to spend down funds for the entire year in just seven months, with no guidance from the Department of Labor on whether the program will be renewed. For many older adults who rely on SCSEP as their primary source of income, the lack of definitive appropriations leaves them without a stable path back to work or financial security.
To be clear, grantees like Easterseals successfully competed for and were awarded SCSEP funds through a rigorous process. By releasing program funds, the Department of Labor would honor its commitments to our organizations and the communities we serve. We respectfully ask this Committee to urge the Department of Labor to notify grantees and release SCSEP funds in a timely manner in the future. Without action, the impact of this delay will continue to grow. Older adults who want to work, and who rely on this program to help them do so, are being left behind at a time when our workforce needs them most.
This delay also comes at a time when the Department of Labor is taking broader actions that threaten the progress of disability and older adult employment across the country. These include proposals to eliminate long-standing affirmative hiring benchmarks and roll back equal opportunity protections. Thank you for the opportunity to share Easterseals’ experience with this important program. We stand ready to support the Committee’s continued efforts to ensure that older adults can age with purpose, with dignity, and with access to opportunity.
