ETA News Release: [10/01/2007]
Contact Name: Jennifer Kaplan or Jennifer Coxe
Phone Number: (202) 693-5052 or x4676
Release Number: 07-1494-NAT

Four organizations win limited competition to train older workers

Programs to help older workers gain and maintain employment
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that four organizations have been competitively awarded more than $3.1 million to support pilot programs designed to benefit older workers. A range of activities in 16 states will provide older Americans with the skills needed to enter growing industries and better prepare employers for incorporating these workers into their workplaces.
"This $3.1 million investment helps older Americans seeking to stay in the workforce access the skills training they'd like to continue to improve themselves to obtain better opportunities in growing industries," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.
Today's awards are based on a limited competition offered to existing Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) grantees. Funding was provided to the top four proposals among 15 received. The recipients are: The Workplace Inc., serving Connecticut; The National Council on Aging, serving California, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia; SER Jobs for Progress National Inc., serving California, Colorado and Florida; and the AARP Foundation, serving Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New York and Texas.

Grantees will partner with local entities, including One-Stop Career Centers, employers, community colleges and other educational institutions, to provide older workers with skills-based job training. Certain programs also will allow participants to earn wages while learning a new career and/or provide both older workers and employers with information and skills training designed to foster productive relationships between the two groups.

"These programs will provide older workers with the tools needed to enter, or in many cases re-enter, growing industries," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. "By providing these funds, we will gain insight into which older worker programs are effective and how we might replicate them to serve seniors nationwide."