Congress Invests $300 Million in Older Adult Employment Training through SCSEP

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    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 14, 2017
    Contact: Wes Lum, (206) 624-1221

    Congress Invests $300 Million in Older Adult Employment Training through SCSEP

    The U.S. House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee approved a draft FY18 budget bill this week that funds the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) at $300,000,000, which is a reduction of $100 million from FY17.

    SCSEP is funded through Title V of the Older Americans Act and is the only federal job training program focused exclusively on helping Americans return to the workforce. The program assists low-income unemployed adults aged 55 years and older by providing job training.... Read More

                 

    Congress Reduces Investment in Older Adult Employment Training through SCSEP by $34,000,000

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    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 9, 2017
    Contact: Wes Lum, National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, (206) 624-1221

    A long-overdue fiscal year 2017 spending bill passed on May 4, 2017 will provide the Senior Community Services Employment Program (SCSEP) with $400 million to continue providing community service employment for older Americans, which is a reduction of $34,000,000 from the previous fiscal year.

    SCSEP is funded through Title V of the Older Americans Act and is the only federal job training program focused exclusively on helping Americans return to the workforce. The program assists low-income unemployed adults aged 55 years and older by providing job training through temporary paid work experiences that can lead to unsubsidized employment.

    In 2016, 65,170 older.... Read More

                 

    NAPCA to Convene Focus Groups to Better Communicate with AAPI Older Adults

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    In August, the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) will convene focus groups to better understand how to communicate with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) older adults.

    NAPCA is working with the University of Washington Healthy Brain Research Network to conduct research focus groups to evaluate messages about connecting adult children to resources for their aging parents. We are currently recruiting Chinese or Japanese adults with at least one living parent, step-parent, or parent-in-law aged 65 or older. If you are interested in participating in these focus groups in the Seattle, WA area, or would like more information, please call Lillian at 708-890-8475 or Minhui at 206-661-5079. You may also fill out the screening survey.... Read More

                 

    Seniors Decide 2016

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    Seniors Decide 2016 was a forum led by the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations (LCAO), of which NAPCA is a member, to provide a fair and unbiased platform for sharing the views of candidates for President of the United States on policies and programs affecting older Americans.

    The forum was held on Wednesday, February 17, 2016 in Washington D.C.  While we would have preferred a greater participation and turn out by the presidential candidates, we learned a lot about the issues that older adults care about when they cast their ballots and who they vote for.

    NAPCA is proud to have fully engaged in this event and to have supported LCAO in this worthy.... Read More

                 

    Barriers to Accessing Adult Vaccines

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    image003Earlier this week, I had the honor of being a panelist at an “Adult Vaccines Save Lives” briefing on Capitol Hill to help launch the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition. The Coalition brings together leaders in health and public health to raise awareness and engage in advocacy on the importance of adult immunization. With the aging of the U.S. population, the public health impact of vaccine-preventable diseases and their complications in older adults is likely to grow.

    Why Should We Vaccinate Older Adults?

    The diminishing function of the aging immune system reduces the immune response to vaccination and underscores the need to develop more effective products for older adults. People age 65 years.... Read More

                 

    Advocating for AAPI Older Workers in the Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act

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    The Senior Community Service and Employment Program (SCSEP) is a federal program that helps low-income jobseekers who are 55 and older, and assigns them to subsidized community service employment opportunities where they update their skills through on-the-job training.

    The National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) is the recipient of the national SCSEP grant targeted to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) older workers.  NAPCA partners with project sites in nine cities nationwide to administer the program.

    Most NAPCA SCSEP participants are foreign-born with limited English proficiency, and therefore, they have limited work experience in the U.S. and encounter additional barriers to find employment.  Our participants gain marketable job skills through community service.  As a result,.... Read More

                 

    NAPCA’s Response to the 2015 White House Conference on Aging

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    Convening the 2015 White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) was no easy task with its limited budget, minimal staffing, and a relatively short planning process.  In spite of these challenges, the WHCOA delivered high-quality and thought-provoking discussions that allowed the nation to reflect on our assumptions of aging, to be inspired by innovation, and to be meaningfully engaged in the democratic process.

    I resonated with JoAnn Jenkins’ presentation on “disruptive aging” whereby she challenged us to redefine what it means to age.  When applying this concept to our spheres of influence in our aging network, I believe that we need to (1) be open to new philosophies and values that root us in our missions, (2).... Read More

                 

    Raising the voices of our AAPI elders at the White House Conference on Aging

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    The once-a-decade White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) is the catalyst for the development of aging policy and is convening on Monday, July 13, 2015.  There have been a limited number of pre-WHCOA events and listening sessions to address Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) senior issues and the impact of these events is unclear.  Participation at the WHCOA itself will be highly selective.  Post-WHCOA activities are unspecified.

    The WHCOA gives us a platform to raise the profile of AAPI aging, and advocate on behalf of AAPI elders to ensure that their needs are addressed in new aging programs and policies; educate AAPI seniors, their families, policymakers and the general public on the unique needs of the AAPI.... Read More