On Friday’s edition of WDUN’s “The Drive at 5,” a Hall County-based director for senior job training funds provided an update on the lapse they recently faced.
The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) was created in 1965 to be a work-based job training program for seniors looking to get into the workforce. It’s a program that gets roughly $400-million a year, and costs each taxpayer roughly $2.50 to run.
“The situation right now is that Congress hasn’t passed a full year funding bill,” The Legacy Link’s SCSEP Director Christine Osasu said. “We ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history when they extended the funding through Jan. 30, but after that it’s anyone’s guess.”
Osasu called the future of the program “uncertain” as the House recommended zeroing out the funds after the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $395-million for the program in August.
She said she has a meeting before the Senate Special Committee on Aging set for Dec. 10.
Georgia U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D) sits on that committee, and gave AccessWDUN a statement back in July.
“Freezing this jobs program is another cruel blow from this administration to older Georgians who still want to work, contribute, and live with dignity,” Warnock said. “In places like North Georgia, this program is a lifeline helping seniors reenter the workforce, stay active in their communities, and make ends meet. I will continue demanding this administration ensure Georgians can access the employment resources they need.”
Osasu noted how harmful the pause in the funding was.
“We suffered a four-and-a-half month program pause,” Osasu said. “That … pause harmed 40,000 seniors nationally, and these are the people that have the highest barriers to employment.”
Osasu added that they only have one office open now in Georgia, which is their Oakwood location in Hall County. She is also the only staff member working with SCSEP trainees at the office.
In the last update AccessWDUN published in August, Osasu spoke about a Hall County man that became homeless due to the program’s funding being frozen.
“It is a truly sad and heartbreaking situation,” Osasu said. “It just struck me and just broke my heart, and I wish I could say that was the only person that I had that conversation with but unfortunately, it was not.”
The House Appropriations Committee’s September reversal of the Senate’s funding recommendation of $395-million for the program had a northeast Georgia representative on that very committee: Georgia’s 9th Congressional District Representative Andrew Clyde.
An August statement from Clyde to AccessWDUN said: “The American people gave President Trump a historic mandate to get our country back on track — a mission that includes shrinking the size, scope, and cost of government. As part of this critical goal, the Trump Administration has continued conducting temporary funding freezes to review taxpayer-funded programs.”
When asked, Osasu said they continually work to educate all representatives on the value of the program.
“If you are pro-work, by definition, you are pro-senior employment program,” Osasu said. “I’d really like our congressional leadership to look at this holistically.”
Osasu is set to speak to the senate committee next Wednesday.
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