North Dakota seniors looking for employment may be able to get help through the Senior Community Service Employment Program, a federal program targeting residents 55 and older and unemployed. The program places participants into host agencies, according to Veronica Crawford, a participant assistant.

While enrollees are in training, Crawford said they are paid $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage, and they develop skills to the point they are comfortable performing a job. After training, a job coordinator helps participants find gainful employment, often with a good wage bump, Crawford said. She gave an example of her own experience when she went from the $7.25 starting wage to earning $17 per hour.

“The application process is thorough, and the wage depends on the person,” Crawford said. “We do a 42-page application and in the application we glean a lot of information – what their skills are, what their interests are, their hobbies, where do they see themselves in five years, what would they like to do, would they like to do something that the job they had for 20 years, type of thing, and then we place them.”

According to Crawford, one of the issues seniors face in the workforce is they don’t have the skills with computers to keep up with others. Through the program, she said, free computer classes are available, in which students can learn to work emails and gain other necessary skills.

Crawford said Turtle Mountain College has teamed up with the program and has given eight participants a full computer course. She said each of the class members are now employed and comfortable using computers in their work.

“There are infinite possibilities as far as jobs,” Crawford said. “It really depends on the individual and what they are interested in.”

The program can either let participants choose where they would like to work, or it can allow for employers seeking employees to come forward and ask, according to Crawford, who said she does a great deal of recruiting. Crawford said she calls businesses or organizations to place individuals, then she makes sure the employer meets certain criteria. In the program, participating employees are held to a training schedule, which is much like a job description, in which standards are laid out. Employers also are held to standards, such as not leaving their senior employees without another person present.

“There always has to be someone there,” Crawford said.

Crawford said there is someone to guide participants all the way through. She also said the program is a great way to meet people and break the isolation that has increased since COVID appeared.

When Crawford joined the program, she was placed in a human resources position at the Quentin N. Burdick Job Corps Center in Minot, where she learned a vast amount, she said. It was there she learned new skills and leveraged her past experience to negotiate her raise above the starting wage.

“Right now, with groceries being outrageous, people can’t afford their medications. $7.25 may not sound like much but it can pay for a prescription,” Crawford said. “It’ll help people out until they can find employment.”

Each participant gets 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, and participants are able to stay enrolled for four years. All federal holidays are paid, as the Senior Community Service Employment Program is a federal program, and participants get support through the duration of their enrollment.

“We’re not social workers, but we have a great set of helping agencies we can send people to for help,” said Crawford, who also said many people are afraid if they make too much money, their supplemental nutrition assistance or other benefits may be stopped. She wanted to dispel those thoughts, and explained those benefits are protected under Title V, so subsidized rent or other benefits would be kept. She said that knowing they won’t get penalized helps people get into the program and gets them started.

“It really has a lot of pluses to it,” she said.

If applicants to the Senior Community Service Employment Program have requirements for accommodations, those accommodations can be made, and recruiters will be aware because of the extensive application process. The program is part of a sub-grant to the National Indian Council on Aging, and if someone is interested in enrolling, they can fill out an application online, Crawford said. She also said anyone in her office would be able to provide more information, but she will likely be the one who calls back, if contacted.