卡尔·哈尔沃森(李·佩莱格里尼)
A research team led by BCSSW Assistant Professor 卡尔Halvorsen scrutinized the Senior Community Service Employment Program, 1965年通过《电子游戏软件》成立. SCSEP provides on-the-job 培训—similar in many respects to internships—each year through a network of state and national grantees and host agencies to nearly 70,000 people ages 55 years and older with incomes at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level. Host agencies are either public or nonprofit organizations where participants often work in clerical, 家居, 在挣最低工资津贴的同时还要面对客户.
SCSEP对个体水平结果的影响很少被独立电子游戏正规平台, 霍尔沃森和他的合著者指出, who held detailed discussions with a small group of program participants and front-line case managers (some were both participants and case managers, SCSEP的共同特征). The study has recently been published as an open-access article in the online journal 电子游戏正规平台 on Aging.
这些调查结果, 据电子游戏正规平台人员称, 在美国老年员工比例下降的情况下是有用的.S. labor force continues to increase—and is expected to be about 25 percent by 2030—even as concerns mount over their vulnerability in the job market: Unplanned retirements, 比如通过裁员或关闭企业, 自COVID-19大流行开始以来，在老年人中加速了吗.
“There’s a solid body of evidence that having the option to work in later life is beneficial: It gives a person a sense of personal meaning, promotes social engagement while reducing social isolation—which is linked to health and 精神 health outcomes,霍尔沃森说. “但经济方面对低收入的老年工人来说极其重要. 那些年龄在50-61岁之间的人可能需要一个通往社会保障的桥梁. 对于62岁及以上的人, 社会保障占他们收入的90%, 这些钱根本不够生活.
“SCSEP plays a vital role in helping low-income older adults stay in or re-enter the job market, 这项电子游戏正规平台充分表明了它的好处.”
例如，过去的电子游戏正规平台主要集中在该计划的统计方面, that participants earned more income in their first year of post-SCSEP employment than the annual per-participant cost to the federal government for funding the program—whereas the BCSSW study sought to present a more holistic view of SCSEP’s impact on participants’ physical, 精神, 以及财务状况.
SCSEP服务于许多在就业结果方面处于特别不利地位的人群, 该电子游戏正规平台报告称. 近40%的参与者年龄超过65岁，17%超过70岁. 其中三分之二是女性, 44%的人认为自己是黑人或非裔美国人，12%的人认为自己是西班牙裔, 拉丁美洲人, 或者西班牙血统. 60%的人只有高中或更低的学历. 许多人有残疾，读写能力低下，生活在农村地区. 大约五分之三的人无家可归或有无家可归的危险, 同样数量的人接受某种形式的公共援助.
“There’s a solid body of evidence that having the option to work in later life is beneficial: It gives a person a sense of personal meaning, promotes social engagement while reducing social isolation—which is linked to health and 精神 health outcomes. 但对于低收入的老年工人来说，财务方面尤为重要.”
Case managers explained that SCSEP participant goals and supports must be formulated with an eye toward the personal and professional difficulties older workers are experiencing when they go through the program: “It’s an emotional roller coaster,一位受访者说。, 他还说, “Even their intake interview is nerve-wracking because this is often their first interview in years.”
许多参与者都是无家可归者或“沙发客”,” others are recovering from major health shocks—such as cancer treatment—and are realizing “they are not as strong as they thought they were.“有些人经历了个人冲击, such as losing a child: “They are like walking zombies at this point and we are trying to help them find normalcy,一位受访者说。. Simply helping them “get out of bed every day and to do something that feels meaningful and to feel valued” is critical during their first months in the program.
The study’s “feedback loop” examples demonstrated how consistency on the part of both the participants and program features were critical to success: The SCSEP stipend increased participants’ sense of financial security and confidence, fueling their desire to stay with on-the-job 培训 and continue receiving the stipend; as participation decreased, 津贴和经济安全感也是如此, 降低信心和留在计划中的愿望. 类似的, exposure to the work of program administrators and host agencies enabled participants to learn about and access non-SCSEP health-related supports, 从而提高他们的健康和能力，继续进行在职培训和, 这样做的时候, 了解社会支持. Program placements served to decrease participants’ isolation and increase social engagement, 建立他们的信心，鼓励他们在实习地点进一步互动.
Halvorsen and his co-authors developed a set of recommendations based on their discussions with SCSEP participants and staff on ways to strengthen the program, 例如资助额外的SCSEP插槽, 除了联邦政府，可能还有其他来源. Others include instituting pay-for-performance; increasing opportunities for social engagement and building relationships; reducing the “benefits cliff” some participants experience when they transition from SCSEP into unsubsidized jobs; required 培训 and education for host agencies; and reconsidering benchmarks of success for the program, 考虑到SCSEP参与者面临的障碍.
The study has been shared with SCSEP administrators as well as the Massachusetts Executive Office for Elder Affairs, 等, Halvorsen说, who described his newest project—supported with a grant from BC’s Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and 社会—“to turn the report’s qualitative findings into quantitative, 统计结果.” This project is an interdisciplinary initiative with Sociology and Connell School of Nursing faculty that involves surveying SCSEP participants in Massachusetts to get a granular view of whom the program serves and how their lives are affected by it.
“能够展示SCSEP的影响对项目经理很有帮助, 这样他们就可以在已有成果的基础上进行推广和发展.”
Read more: “How the Senior Community Service Employment Program Influences Participant Well-Being: A Participatory 电子游戏正规平台 Approach with Program Recommendations."
肖恩·史密斯|大学传播| 2022年8月