In need of senior opinions

H

halalu

Member
Location
midwest
What do you think of this? Some of us were forced out of work and cannot afford to stay at home and not work. This is a government solution to our problem. What do you think?
The Kansas SCSEP Senior program is designed to help seniors find full time employment after being trained by companies participating in the program. My personal experience and other seniors experience while we are participating in the program has been no permanent employment in companies in the program and no full time job with higher wages. Many of us have been working for minimum wage for over six months to a year or more and they are not being hired by anyone. The seniors appreciate the SCSEP program but why are we not moving forward and acquiring full time higher wages. We feel that we are being exploited.
The companies that are participating in the SCSEP program are not with the intention of hiring most of us but they do allow us to work as long as we like for minimum wage.
We can prove that they are training us and keeping us with no intention of hiring us because the training companies have posted job openings and when the seniors apply for the jobs they are not being hired but they are being allowed to continue to work and do whatever job duties the company requires and they are still paid minimum wages. The time we take for job interviews or tests that require us to be absent from the minimum wage job cause us to make less money and it reflects on our attendance. We are not beginners. We have past job experience that is not being recognized as qualifications that allow full time and higher wages in the companies that are training us and we are not finding full time work.
SCSEP Senior Program:
· Requires searching for a full time job
· We are not allowed to work for anyone else full or part-time and we are working less than forty hours a week for minimum wage
· They do not give raises
· No paid vacations or sick leave
· No insurance or medical benefits
The companies that participate in the program are supposed to
· Train the SCSEP participate so that they will be qualified to work for companies that will pay them a higher wage and keep them as full time employees in several cases that is not happening
· Some of the participating companies are:
· Limiting the training that they are giving the SCSEP participant so that they will not be able to find better employment and hope that they will continue to work for them at minimum wage
· They train them for what they need for their own company and then they refuse to hire the SCSEP participant.
· Some of them are interfering with the SCSEP participant’s efforts to find full time work by making the need of their business the priority instead of allowing the SCSEP participate to take the time to look for full time work outside their company.
· The company has already decided not to hire the SCSEP participate but they still want to keep them doing the job assigned for minimum wage instead of hiring them full time and paying company wages.
Is there anyone available to discuss this issue? We need more money. We are qualified to do jobs that pay higher wages and we are supposed to be training in these companies to make more money not stay in them for minimum wage.
 

Welcome to the world of big corporate. The bottom line is accepting the individual doesn't matter to them. When you work for big corporate you are part of a machine, totally replaceable and working "at will". They try to color that beneficial...you have the right to quit any time you want. They have the freedom to fire you as they see fit. The last store I was in was a sinking ship. Profit margins were going down meaning they had to save by trimming staff. They didn't have to discuss it with anyone but you could see what was happening.

Every two weeks on Saturday morning they would line up the latest batch of terminations. The people most at risk were the full timers who had been there several years. Corporate doesn't have any recognition of their efforts. If you can fire a full time person and three part timers and replace all four with one part time new hire at minimum wage think how much money you're saving. One of the most depressing signs was in the break room one day " One of our associates is about to become homeless, please help.". Back in the day you could get enough hours for that not to happen. It's the way things are now.
 
"The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is a community service and work-based job training program for older Americans. Authorized by the Older Americans Act, the program provides training for low-income, unemployed seniors. Participants also have access to employment assistance through American Job Centers."

Can you contact the American Job Center? At least to complain? Sometimes with these federal programs, a squeaky wheel gets greased (I mean in a good way).

I did a little reading about this. Here's what I think: The people who got good jobs out of this are the administrators and advisors.

halalu, if you're up to making a big hullabaloo about it (I hope so), write to AARP, an endorser of the SCSEP (no surprise there), write your congressman and assemblymen on both sides of the political isle, write and call your local TV and radio stations to try to get a public interview, and get others in the same boat to join you in organizing a public protest.

Otherwise, nobody's going to pay attention. As far as the creators of the SCSEP are concerned their program created jobs, so it's wildly successful. They aren't looking at you.
 

Wrigley's said:
"The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is a community service and work-based job training program for older Americans. Authorized by the Older Americans Act, the program provides training for low-income, unemployed seniors. Participants also have access to employment assistance through American Job Centers."

Can you contact the American Job Center? At least to complain? Sometimes with these federal programs, a squeaky wheel gets greased (I mean in a good way).

I did a little reading about this. Here's what I think: The people who got good jobs out of this are the administrators and advisors.

halalu, if you're up to making a big hullabaloo about it (I hope so), write to AARP, an endorser of the SCSEP (no surprise there), write your congressman and assemblymen on both sides of the political isle, write and call your local TV and radio stations to try to get a public interview, and get others in the same boat to join you in organizing a public protest.

Otherwise, nobody's going to pay attention. As far as the creators of the SCSEP are concerned their program created jobs, so it's wildly successful. They aren't looking at you.
Click to expand...

I agree.
 
"halalu, if you're up to making a big hullabaloo about it (I hope so), write to AARP, an endorser of the SCSEP (no surprise there), write your congressman and assemblymen on both sides of the political isle, write and call your local TV and radio stations to try to get a public interview, and get others in the same boat to join you in organizing a public protest."

GREAT suggestion Wrigley!!

On the negative side of the question, this is just a lot of "feel good" politics...making the government feel good that they are doing something but not realizing (or admitting) that the money is wasted and is NOT accomplishing the goals it supposedly has. It appears that all employment services are being rolled into the Careeronestop.org website as stated in the following: The American Job Center Network is a unifying name and brand that identifies online and in-person workforce development services as part of a single network." For those who have never experienced unemployment over the years, this is essentially the agency that has handled unemployed workers looking for jobs. It is available in every state.....but I'll be damned if I can figure out who gets the jobs as it's never helped me when needed.

To halalu-My question would be have you talked to the people in charge of your program why this is happening and what has been their response?
 
Scams like this cost taxpayers an estimated $50 billion a year in total spending by states and cities. The bottom of the iceberg - in every sense of the word - is the tax breaks. Those granted by states - income, sales, and excise taxes - are the least visible, least accountable, and most corrosive means by which states fund job creation. Those granted locally - in particular, property tax abatements and diversions - are especially harmful to schools.

Look up the names of corporations that have received taxpayer subsidies in the name of jobs. Almost every big company has gotten them. In fact, the average state now has more than 30 economic development subsidies, many of which are locally granted by cities and counties. These subsidies include property tax abatements, corporate income tax credits, sales and excise tax exemptions, tax increment financing, low-interest loans and loan guarantees, free land and land write-downs, training grants, infrastructure aid - and just plain cash grants.

Chances are you will find companies - many companies - that have failed to create or retain as many jobs as they said they would. Companies that are paying poverty wages or failing to provide healthcare to their employees. Companies that are abandoning our cities and sprawling onto farmland and natural spaces. Even companies that are outsourcing jobs offshore.

Dig a little deeper and you'll undoubtedly find companies that have not created any new jobs - even some that have actually laid people off since they got the subsidies. Other companies that have gotten paid just to move existing jobs from one place to another, where they are proclaimed to be "new jobs."

How can companies get away with this? Because the system is rigged. Corporations have it down to a science. They have learned how to chant "jobs, jobs, jobs" to win huge corporate tax breaks - and still do whatever they wanted to all along, including actually laying people off.
Click to expand...
source
 
Thanks Wrigley's, I did contact a senator and I sent a this same email to AARP about a week ago. So far no-one is responding. I have applied for several jobs and none of them have called me. I think the government is stopping me from leaving the SCSEP program. I also just found out that if I leave the program unemployment is not an option. So I am preparing for being broke because I do need to leave this program.
 
Thank you all for responding to Halalu

I agree with you all. I have sent this same email to a Kansas senator and I sent it to AARP about a week ago. No-one has responded yet. I am getting ready to be broker than I am. I think I will eventually give up and leave the program. Suddenly I cannot get a job any where the only work I can get is in the program for minimum wage and they do not allow us to work for anyone else part-time

Thanks again
 
halalu said:
I agree with you all. I have sent this same email to a Kansas senator and I sent it to AARP about a week ago. No-one has responded yet. I am getting ready to be broker than I am. I think I will eventually give up and leave the program. Suddenly I cannot get a job any where the only work I can get is in the program for minimum wage and they do not allow us to work for anyone else part-time

Thanks again
Click to expand...
hahalu... first, our Kansas Senators and Representatives are totally worthless. They are too wrapped up in making certain anything put forth by this POTUS is shot down. Looking at assisting an individual here at home is far beyond them. So...

Which SCSEP regional office are you working with? There appears to be five in Kansas. You might call the other four offices and see if their administration practices are the same as you are running into. Do you have an Area Agency on Aging close? My wife and I have had excellent assistance with the one here in our town. They might be able to help.
Lastly, do you live in a large metroplex like KCKS or Wichita? If you live in a smaller community, I'd go to the local government. Mayor, City Commissioner, etc. It is NOT good press for the local elected officials to allow some "scammer" taking advantage of their constituents. You can do a lot more good... or damage... to a local official's campaign than a State or Federal official.

Our current Governor is making life difficult for anyone other than corporate CEO's and the very wealthy. State program after program are being cut. Since the program you are involved with is a Federal program, the State will wash their hands of any issues. Again... go local.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top