Want To Hire a Senior? Stimulus Funds May Help
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 03/12/2009
- $120 million extra in stimulus package
- Part-time jobs funded by feds
- National and state nonprofits/agencies place the workers
Tucked into the nearly $800 billion federal stimulus package, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is an additional $120 million to fund part-time jobs for up to 24,000 senior citizens, some of whom could be working at a library.
The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) provides subsidized, part-time, community service work-based training for low-income persons age 55 or older who have poor employment prospects. Program participants work an average of 20 hours a week. They’re paid the highest of federal, state or local minimum wage, or the prevailing wage.
Where do they work? At various nonprofit and public facilities, including day-care centers, senior centers, schools and hospitals, says SCSEP—and, according to the American Library Association (ALA), libraries. The funding includes health insurance.
How to find a worker
Libraries do not hire the workers directly. Of the total funding, 78 percent goes to 18 national nonprofit organizations, such as the National Urban League and Experience Works, and 22 percent to 56 state and territorial governments. The $120 million represents an approximately 28 percent boost in funding, from $433 million.
In most states, ALA reports, the governor has selected the State Office on Aging to administer the program. The U.S. Department of Labor offers contact information for all existing grantees.
