(bright music) - [Narrator] This is a Nebraska Public Media Connects production in partnership with DHHS with funding provided by a grant from the US Department of Labor.

(bright music) - Meaningful work is important in many ways.

For some, it means financial security, others enjoy the social aspect, For most it brings feelings of confidence and self-worth.

Sometimes finding employment can be a challenge though.

Here in Nebraska, we're seeing changes in the workplace.

Workers 55 and over make up more than 27% of Nebraska's population and are retiring later.

The Senior Community Service Employment Program or SCSEP for short is a community service and work-based training program for workers 55 and over.

The SCSEP approved by Title V of the Older Americans Act supports businesses to offer employment opportunities to Nebraskans 55 and over who are unemployed, poor, homeless or have a disability.

The program provides public and non-profits like area agencies on aging, senior centers and YMCAs, community service hours with part-time paid training.

This training serves as a bridge to employment opportunities.

Through this program, workers have access to employment and training services through the American Job Centers within the Nebraska workforce system.

The SCSEP is based on partnerships with community organizations to address basic supports.

The aging network's familiarity with community supports makes the area agencies on aging and the aging and disability resource centers, important partners for Nebraska SCSEP.

The SCSEP is an annual grant from the US Department of Labor to a state agency and a separate grant to a national organization.

In Nebraska, the National Able Network operates the program under both grants out of the American Job Centers.

In today's program, you'll hear from experts at the local level on the types of training available, the benefits to the community organizations and the employers.

A participant will share how she was trained and how the SCSEP helped her prepare for work.

A training site supervisor will discuss the benefits of working with SCSEP to fill their hiring needs.

You'll learn from an employer, what skills and knowledge the person brought to their job and how the employer's engagement with the SCSEP has been successful.

And lastly, you will learn about the American Job Centers that are central to job search success.

We will highlight services available at the American Job Centers, such as help building a resume, preparing for an interview and exploring demand occupations and wages.

As a partner in the Nebraska workforce system the SCSEP gives power to older Nebraskans to become independent through partnerships with community organizations and local employers.

Now let's hear about connecting older Nebraskans with employment opportunities.

(bright music) - Hello, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Melanie Dawkins.

You can get information and links to resources at www.nebraskapublicmedia.org/ connects in just a moment, We'll meet the panelists in today's program who will provide more detail on available assistance.

But first, let's take a look at some of the players in Nebraska who help connect older Nebraskans with employers through the Senior Community Service Employment Program.

[Narrator] We begin in Lincoln at the American Job Center.

- One of our big initiatives and kind of overarching goals is to make sure that we help job seekers overcome any barriers that they're faced with while our end goal is sustainable high quality employment.

We know that the barriers they may face are not just employment related.

It could look like homelessness, transportation issues, childcare issues, et cetera.

Our goal is really to become a one-stop shop for all those services.

Job search assistance, unemployment assistance - [Narrator] Andy Huls is the one-stop operator in Lincoln.

Part of his role is to refer people who qualify for the SCSEP program.

- The Senior Community Service Employment Program provides unique services to individuals 55 years old and older.

So here at the American Job Center when we have customers come in who may benefit from that program and be eligible due to their age we work with the SCSEP program and make referrals to their program to really get directed individual services from the SCSEP provider.

- [Narrator] One-stop employment centers are found across the state.

- Sometimes they are full service comprehensive centers.

Other times they almost look a little bit like pop-up shops.

So obviously this one in Lincoln, there's a large one in Omaha, through different partners such as Nebraska Department of Labor you will actually find them throughout the state.

- [Narrator] Finding jobs for the unemployed is a big part of the one-stop shop but equally important is finding qualified employees for businesses.

- We wanna work with local area businesses who have different employment needs or employee needs.

And one of the ways we try to meet the needs of businesses is hosting on-site hiring events whether that is one business coming to the American Job Center to have opportunity for job seekers to meet with them one-on-one or to have large scale hiring events where we invite in 30 or 40 different employers to meet with our job seekers.

So we definitely have a focus on local area businesses who have different hiring needs or are looking for different types of employees to fill positions.

- [Narrator] Much like the one-stop operators SCSEP job coaches work to bring employees to employers.

This partnership allows the SCSEP participant a chance to gain employable skills.

And it gives host agencies, which are non-profits, workers they train and can use without having to pay their salaries.

- You get extra hands, we get extra hands with no obligation really so I would say that's the biggest benefit.

And then you're helping them up their potential and being good where they need to go.

And you're not obligated to anything but then you give a helping hand.

Thank you for calling St. Vincent de Paul, Nya speaking.

- [Narrator] Nya Gatluak is the office administrator at Saint Vincent de Paul, a nonprofit thrift store in Omaha.

She grew up needing the services she is able to help provide today.

- I was a kid who had to go to the food pantry and I had to go, you know, go sit at a church with my mom, not knowing why we're there, so we can get help paying our bills.

So this is a personal joy for me.

When we took on the program our goal is to help people be efficient.

And when you don't have something to do I don't think you feel efficient as a person.

So coming in and really just having a platform of expectation helps you to kinda move up within yourself and with those you work with.

So, you know, we kinda have, we'll talk about I will talk about, you know, their goals and what they wanna do and how they wanna do it.

- [Narrator] Eunitta Payton has participated in the Senior Community Service Employment Program for about a year.

- They have a lot of training programs for us.

They have some classes we can take.

I took in three different classes of a bootcamp.

It's like for computer skills to freshen up my computer skills.

I took a CNA class.

- There's so many benefits from it.

One, we all need to give each other a chance to be part of the workplace.

There are so many people out there like they don't wanna be part of the workplace.

So those that wanna be engaged, let them come in and let them be an asset to what you do because you're teaching something that they can go pass forward.

- Hi Nya - [Nya] Hey.

- I wanna check out my schedule.

- [Narrator] Most recently Eunitta has come alongside Nya at Saint Vincent de Paul.

- When you start they show us how to clock in, go back get a apron.

Then they split us up in some go back and sort and hang.

Some come out and tidy up and hang and tag.

- I love meeting different people, different walks.

They bring in different things.

We've changed up some of our processes because people who have this type of experience will go, hey, I've seen it done like this, Maybe you should try it.

And it worked out great.

So bring in the assets.

- [Narrator] And for Nya helping older Nebraskans find employment is personal.

- My mom was working for a really, really long time, 20 years at a place.

And then they just kind of let her go.

And she hasn't had really much luck and it's kind of discouraging to not have luck or the ability to find work.

So for this program to say, hey, we'll give you a platform to where you can socialize and earn an extra means.

And then, you know, we're opening these doors to potentially extend yourself back into the workplace, why not?

I think that that creates in the mind opportunity.

It gives people the encouragement to go out there and put themselves back out there when they could've been just discouraged for a long time.

- [Narrator] Through the program participants are assigned a job coach.

That coach helps them get the training they need and places them in work places like Saint Vincent de Paul, where they can hone those skills.

- He is a fabulous guy.

He informs us on job fairs, when there's other programs we could sign up for like the boot camp.

He informs us quite often, twice, two three times a week of what's going on that we can go out and apply for jobs or which he stresses that don't apply for something that you're not gonna do, which makes sense.

- Being part of the program and working with the SCSEP program.

You're not obligated to keep someone that isn't for you.

They even reach out to you and say, hey we know we have this many people on your site, you know, how are they doing?

And are they efficient enough for you?

Are they doing the task?

And if you say no they'll pull them.

(gentle music) This is my second family.

And I do everything I can to make sure everybody that's coming through these doors wants to come back.

So, and that's my mission for the day, every day at Saint Vincent de Paul.

- Joining me to talk more about the SCSEP program are two of Nebraska's job coaches, Rebecca Tangeman and Nate Woods.

Thank you both for being here, Rebecca, let's start with you.

What is the Senior Community Service Employment Program and give us National Able's role.

- SCSEP is a job training program specific to older individuals.

So they'll come onto the program.

They'll update skills, hopefully gain new skills while they're with us and then our role at National Abel is to really individualize a plan for them, address any barriers that they may have.

That's preventing them from securing permanent employment and guide them and steps to permanent employment.

- And about how many Nebraska seniors participate in this program every year?

- So we have close to 300 participants between both sides throughout Nebraska that are enrolled in and participate every year.

- And who is a good fit for this program?

- Well, the criteria is pretty minimal.

You have to be 55 and older, unemployed, job searching and then we do have income requirements and guidelines as well to follow.

- And now lets go to Nate, as a career coach, how do you help SCSEP participants - So basically we have an assessment when we initially meet with them to figure out exactly what their needs are.

So we wanna get their needs met prior to actually assigning them to a host agency for work.

- And what can a participant expect during that career planning process?

- So a couple of things that we do is, again, we take that assessment, find out what their needs are, set them up with agencies like the homeless, help them find housing.

If they wanna go to school, help them identify an area where they can go.

And things of that nature - Rebecca, as Nate was just talking about, there's a variety of different fields that someone can go into.

What types of training is available for these program participants?

- So for the actual training positions, we partner primarily with non-profit and government entities.

So the training positions are very much dependent on the specific agency.

So different agencies need different things.

One agency may need a cashier, another one may need janitorial, and then we'll work to place the right individual in those positions.

And then on the flip side, the individual may be interested in some sort of adult education, you know, maybe they need their GED or certification updating computer skills.

And so then we'll provide them assistance with those goals as well.

- And Nate, how do you help participants select training options that support their career goals?

- Yeah.

Good, good question.

So my next move is a tool that we use and what that does is that it identify the opportunity the job that they're looking for.

And then it has a list of like salaries.

It talks about what your responsibility is and type of education you would need for that.

So that gives them an idea of, is that a good match for you or is it not a good match for you?

- And we have been focusing a lot on the senior participants but as we heard from Nya in that piece, organizations can benefit as well.

Rebecca, talk about the types of organizations and businesses that can participate.

- So primarily we partner with non-profit agencies throughout Nebraska and then for specifics, that would depend on the area because every area is different of who we partner with there.

We also do partner with for-profit companies as well.

So for the non-profit world, usually their resources are very limited and very stretched.

And so they might rely on volunteers which is a great resource, don't get me wrong, but our program then helps that for they will know when somebody comes in for those scheduled routine hours.

And then on the flip side if it's a for-profit agency, you know businesses get a stack of applications all the time.

And so it's nice to have them have that older worker come in.

They can see the assets and the experience and the range of skills that an older worker brings to the team and then kind of squash any hesitancies they might have with bringing someone older onto the workforce.

- So there are a lot of benefits for these organizations and these businesses to really work with your program.

We have learned about what it takes to be part of the program and now let's take a look at some of the ultimate goals of the successful employment once a participant's time in the program comes to an end.

Here's one of Nate's former participants, Donna Leahey with her story.

- I received classes, you know, online classes and Nate would always help me if I had a question, I learned how to be organized, I learned some computer skills, working with the public was wonderful and dealing with the different people that come in.

If I had a question, he was always there.

He was a great leader.

He was a great friend.

He did an excellent job and I can't say enough good things about Nate.

- [Narrator] Donna was able to use the skills she learned to get a job at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital - We are a rehabilitation hospital, so we're always looking for good nurses.

We also have an ongoing need for therapists whether it's occupational or respiratory therapists - [Narrator] As the human resources manager, Andy Raffel sees many different employees throughout his day.

And as the first person, employees and patients see when they walk in the door so does Donna.

- Our mission is to care about the folks who come into our building.

And she really exudes that factor on a daily basis.

- How are you doing today?

- I get the blessing of greeting every person that comes into the hospital trying to make their day a little bit brighter.

I make sure they're wearing a mask, lead them to the kiosk and I make sure that they're not having any issues with COVID-19 that they're healthy, make sure that visitors and caregivers are who they should be in there at the right time to come in and visit their loved ones.

- Donna has been great.

We've had her for a little over six months.

She is the welcoming face for everybody who comes in the door on her shifts.

Even though we're wearing mask, you can still tell that she's smiling under that mask, very happy to see people.

She remembers our regulars names, whether they are caretakers for our inpatients or whether they are outpatient folks there for therapy sessions.

She helps everybody very well.

And she's also very efficient at moving people through the lobby so they can get where they need to be in the building.

- [Narrator] Donna says the on the job training she received as part of the SCSEP program, helps her be successful at her job today.

- When I worked at SCSEP I worked with the public and I so loved that.

People's stories almost made me cry.

I have empathy and compassion for people and working with the public was just my niche.

It was what I want to do and in that program we had opportunities to go do online classes, to help us do resumes and help the public with unemployment insurance.

It just all helped my customer service skills.

- When I was hiring her, I knew that she had a number of years experience in claims and then she had a number of years in retail and customer service.

Part of that was through her time with National Able but being able to talk to her and find out a little bit more of who she was.

I just saw that as a really good fit for the role that we needed to fill.

At Madonna our mission is really to help rebuild the lives of adults and children who have suffered illnesses or injuries and help get them back to a restorative part of their life.

And, you know, with having Donna upfront, she really came in with that mission in that belief before she even started.

So we didn't really need to like bring her up in our belief system.

She already had that and shared that.

And so I think that's been part of an easy transition for her because she already lives that as part of her normal life.

And now she can do it with us.

- I say-go for it.

You will be so blessed.

It is such a great program.

Definitely go for it.

- Well, Donna is so wonderful and clearly loves the job that she has there.

Nate, tell us how it feels to see graduates like Donna in that program get successful employment.

- Absolutely, it's very rewarding to see a person such as Donna that worked very hard when she came into the program to get to that level and so that says a lot about who she is.

- And you said she was, had done such a great job there.

They actually gave her an award?

- They did, they gave her an award.

She had called me earlier during the time thinking that she wasn't doing a good job.

And I told her, if they're not complaining then you must be doing something right.

And so she sent me an email and showed me the award that she received since she's been there.

- That's wonderful.

What do you think the program is?

Why do you think that program is beneficial to seniors in particular in Nebraska?

- Well, I think it gives them a sense of belonging that, you know, as we get older and you know we're attached to something and we're making a difference.

That's important as you get older and just not to me.

- And now you cover specifically the programs with Lincoln and in Omaha and Rebecca, tell us about what your task is as far as you get to help with SCSEP throughout the rest of the state.

- Yes, my territory is pretty big but I do partner with the American Job Centers throughout the state and establish partnerships that way.

And it's been just absolutely amazing to partner with so many different agencies in all different locations you know, from the smallest village up to the largest metropolis, it's been fantastic to partner with so many different agencies throughout the entire state border to border.

- And you must get to really understand a lot of these different aspects of Nebraska because from one end of the state to the other, things are very different.

- They are very different, especially for job searching.

You know, people in the rural area may need to look at commuting and what kind of wage to counteract that.

And there's different variables when you look into the rural communities and the employment prospects and job openings in those areas are very hard to come by.

- Yeah.

Very different and Nate, you wanted to talk about something else that was we didn't get to touch on a whole lot earlier about on the job experience.

- Yes so on the job experience is another way a participant can come into the program if he or she is looking for a for-profit organization to work there and the for-profit organization is agreeing to give them the opportunity where we have what we can do something and then pay their salary for 4-6 weeks, and if it's a good fit, then they just hire him on.

If it doesn't fit then they just come back into our program.

So it's another good opportunity.

- And what types of businesses around Nebraska are working with the OJE program?

- Everything - Everything from - The retail, the fast food, you know those type of organizations - Really a wide variety and so talk to me a little bit about SCSEP and it's helped a lot of people throughout Nebraska over the decades and it's been a program.

Can you talk a little bit about where it has been as terms of evolution and maybe where you think it can grow in the future?

- Well, I know previously some of the other holders were a Green Thumb and Experience Works then National Able took it over a few years ago and even really since I've been there, it's kind of shifted into more of the helping them find the permanent employment and not just to be on the program and get to them to that next step and be that stepping stone.

- All right, Rebecca Tangeman and Nate woods, Thank you both so much for being here with us today and for bringing this important information to light for much of Nebraska.

So thank you so much for being here and now remember if you would like to learn some more information.

We have resources and links available at www.nebraskapublicmedia.org/ connects Rebecca, where would you suggest someone who is interested in getting some information about SCSEP?

Where would they turn for that?

- Well, anybody that's interested should out to their American Job Center locally.

They can go to www.nationalable.org or the number that's gonna be on the screen.

- Okay, lots of great information out there.

All right.

Thank you so much.

And we appreciate all of the hard work that you're doing for everybody around Nebraska.

Are there any other success stories that you wanna share or anything that has been helpful in giving you a little more access moving forward and a little more excitement to get out there and help people?

- Well I would definitely like to say that the best part of our job is the success stories and seeing where people are stressed out or down on their luck when they come with us and helping them through that transition to where they are now, it's been amazing.

- And Nate, do you have any other success stories?

We saw the piece from Donna which was really, really wonderful, anything else?

Any other success stories that you've heard from other people you've worked with?

- Well, I can say when I initially started working for the company just about four years now there's a guy that was going through a training program from National Able and he applied for a job in AAA and previously he wasn't able to do it.

So after that training, he got the job at AAA.

So I think that was a great success story.

And there's, there's lots of more like that now - Thank you so much for helping to get this information out there, we appreciate both of your time today Rebecca Tangeman and Nate Woods again helping to bring all this important information to light for Nebraskans.

So remember that if you would like some more information about the Senior Community Service Employment Program.

you can go to our website at www.nebraskapublicmedia.org/ connects.

Take care.

(bright music) - [Narrator] Funding provided by a grant of Labor began administration of the Senior Employment Program.

from the US Department of Labor.

(bright music)