Senior Community Service Employment Program
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This section includes information about income received from the Senior Community Service Employment Program.
Policy
The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is a community service and work-based job training program for participants 55 years of age and older. Authorized by the Older Americans Act, the program provides training for low-income, unemployed participants who meet the SCSEP eligibility criteria.
For NA, funds received under SCSEP is not countable unearned income.
For CA, funds received under SCSEP is countable unearned income.
For more information see https://des.az.gov/services/older-adults/senior-community-service-employment-program.
Countable income is used to determine an income budget. (See Income Budgeting to see how FAA determines the income budget.) FAA needs to know about income that is both countable and not countable to determine whether a budgetary unit’s income is exceeding their expenses. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, all of the following income is required to be verified before eligibility is determined:
●Reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
●Changes after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
Examples of verification that can be used for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Signed statement from the agency or payer providing the income
●Current check reflecting gross income (Do not copy federal government checks)
●A collateral contact with the employer or their payroll authority.
NOTE Collateral contact is not used when contacting the employer would jeopardize the participant's employment or when the employer does not accept telephone verification.
●Participant statement verification when any of the following occur:
Other attempts to obtain verification have failed
Obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant.
NOTE A participant’s statement is not allowed to verify income when it is considered questionable.
Legal Authorities
7 CFR 273.9(b)(2)
last revised 10/02/2023