Provides Low Income Seniors with Job Training and Job Placement

Work Training Programs awarded major grant through U.S. Department of Labor and Senior Service America to train and place seniors in local jobs.

America’s aging population reached a turning point in 2006. One of the nation’s largest generations, the baby boomers, started turning 60. As many as 78 million people constitute the baby boom generation, and they stand to make an enormous contribution to the rich character and wisdom older adults offer to society.  Over the next decade, the number of Americans age 55 or older will increase by almost 30%, and they will be working well beyond the traditional age of retirement.

Tackling the challenges of an aging population, the rising incidence of poverty among older adults, and the growing need for skilled and experienced workers, Work Training Programs, Inc., the Los Angeles County nonprofit that provides independent living and employment support services to people with disabilities or disadvantages, is applying its successful community-based service model to a new program that helps low-income seniors in Los Angeles County prepare to re-enter the workforce.  Work Training Programs has been awarded a grant from national non-profit Senior Service America to provide job training and job placement services to low-income seniors in Los Angeles County, as well as Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.

Work Training Programs is partnering with Senior Service America to provide the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) under Title V of the Older Americans Act.  Senior Service America, which serves seniors across the nation in partnership with local sub-grantees, receives SCSEP funding from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration. SCSEP benefits employers in many ways, including providing a pool of candidates for a wide variety of jobs, saving the employer training dollars, and the fact the program is administered by a local agency, that knows the area and business needs.  Work Training Programs identifies seniors who will participate in SCSEP by outreach in Work source Centers (one-stop career centers), senior centers, and other community agencies through referrals.

“Work Training Programs is keenly aware of the growing senior populations in Los Angeles County, and is responding to their needs by implementing important programs such as the Senior Community Service Employment Program to support healthy aging,” said Bill Murphy, Director of Operations for the Los Angeles Division of Work Training Programs.  “This grant will allow us to expand upon the services we currently provide while demonstrating to the community the benefits of hiring older workers.”

Work Training Programs currently provides services to seniors that are placed at host agencies around the County, including Work Source Centers in Cerritos, Marina Del Rey, Irwindale, Rosemead and Pomona, the Jackie Robinson Senior Center, and the Pasadena Senior Center, both in Pasadena, and the Watts Labor Community Action Committee in Los Angeles.  They are looking to expand their services to serve more of Los Angeles County, and are currently reaching out to provide services to more seniors.

“SCSEP is a natural extension of Work Training Programs’ core mission,” continued Murphy, “to help people overcome barriers to employment and independence.”

Work Training Programs, Inc., established in 1964, is a nonprofit organization, dedicated to providing job training and job placement services to people who require special assistance.  Work Training Programs has been a leader in the field of supported employment and living services to adults with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and mental illnesses, as well as individuals with other barriers to independence and employment such as low-income seniors and at-risk youth.  This includes a comprehensive array of services to help candidates find and keep jobs, to overcome the social barriers and barriers to employment specific to these populations, and maintain true personal independence for a lifetime.

For additional information call Los Angeles County Division 818-773-9570  or Corporate Office 805-966-3310
The website is at www.wtpinc.org.