Civic Participation and Employment Tactic Profiles
A strong community encourages people of all ages to be active contributors. This domain addresses the ability of older adults to continue supporting their communities through paid work, volunteering, and civic opportunities.
Aging Our Way, PA Tactic 26:
Expand accessible voting sites that allow for older adults and individuals with disabilities to participate in all elections.
Overview:
Note: This tactic profile was developed in collaboration with the Department of State.
Congress enacted the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act in 1984 “to promote the fundamental right to vote by improving access for the handicapped and elderly individuals to registration facilities and polling places for federal elections.” However, some polling locations still have barriers which prevent older adults from voting. Improving these barriers and providing education through local community organizations and the AAA network will ensure that older adults and individuals with disabilities can use the various resources in PA to cast their votes.
Recommended Localized Tactics:
- Complete an evaluation of all polling locations based on the Department of State Accessibility Criteria which delineates the accessibility criteria and provides information on each county website regarding polling locations that are ADA compliant and the phone number to contact for further information on the polling location.
- Expand options of polling locations, such as retirement communities and senior centers which are already accessible.
- Educate voters on their options, such as the ability to have a designated agent by completing the Designated Agent Form, options available to pick up or return a mail-in or absentee ballot, distribution of Department of State Fact Sheet for Long Term Care Facilities, and general voting information and resources to various organizations, e.g. senior centers, aging network options, schools, universities, faith based organizations.
- Explore options to increase participation, for example, assisting with or providing information on transportation options.
Key Players and Partners:
- PA Department of State
- PA County Boards of Elections
- Area Agencies on Aging
- League of Women Voters Pennsylvania
- NAACP
- Local School, Community and Faith Based organizations
Resources:
- All polling locations should follow the guidelines included in The PA Department of State's accessibility guidance for voters with disabilities and language needs.
- Find your Local Polling Place to Vote in Person helps identify ADA compliant polling places.
Example:
Westmoreland County had eight polling locations on their website that indicated the locations were not accessible for residents with mobility issues. After the Election Board and County Commissioners were notified at public meetings in 2024, the local newspaper researched and published an article on polling locations that were not accessible. All polling locations were changed to comply with ADA requirements for the 2024 General election.
PA Council on Aging Contact:
Margie Zelenak, mazelenak@gmail.com
Aging Our Way, PA Tactic 98:
Design accessible instructions and create filters for customizable job searches on Pa CareerLink® filters to highlight the many flexible opportunities.
Overview:
Significant enhancements are necessary across Pennsylvania to expand older worker access to internet workforce resources and to provide personalized assistance with navigating on-line employment services. Accessible instructions must be ADA compliant and offered in multiple languages. The PA CareerLink® Online System provides resources specifically for mature workers (age 55+) such as access to job listings, locations of certified training providers and courses, resume development and interviewing tips. Internet access varies across the state and digital literacy disparities impact job access; transportation barriers limit rural older adult participation in the workforce. Senior centers and libraries play a crucial role as access points for digital literacy and navigation.
Recommended Localized Tactics:
- Engage local leaders to assist the Department of Labor & Industry by sharing information with their communities about how to access PA CareerLink® Online or in-person at one of the many PA CareerLink® Office locations across the Commonwealth.
- Coordinate with local high schools and colleges to provide local senior centers and libraries with volunteers to offer assistance with technology to enable mature workers to access on-line resources.
- Advocate for and work toward improvements with navigation supports for digital employment, transportation solutions for rural counties and strengthening bilingual and culturally competent nature worker services. Standardization of older adult employment messaging across local AAA and CareerLink should be improved.
- Promote though community platforms the PA CareerLink online and office locations along with information on the services for job searching that are provided. Include locations of libraries and senior centers that provide access to computers.
Key Players and Partners:
- Department of Labor and Industry (DLI)
- Department of Aging (PDA)
- Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR)
- Local PA CareerLink staff and the PA CareerLink Online Help Center
- Local Workforce Development Boards
- Senior Centers, libraries, adult education programs
Resources:
- PA CareerLink®
- Senior Planet, a program of AARP helps older adults learn to use technology to live better in the digital age.
- Office of Commonwealth Libraries supports libraries in providing public career, resume, and technology assistance; many locations offer high-speed internet, computers, and technology training.
- PA Local Workforce Development Boards Pennsylvania's local workforce development boards, or LWDBs, are part of our public workforce system – a network of state and local providers and programs that support local and regional economic development, and the education and training of Pennsylvania's workforce.
Examples:
- Friends Village, a small retirement community in Bucks County offers free AARP Senior Planet classes to older adults in the local community.
- RSVP offers volunteer opportunities to provide online training for adults to learn to use email, the internet, Zoom, social media as well as access community resources so they can connect with friends and family, communicate with their child's teacher, access resources, and ease the feeling of isolation.
- Beyond Literacy in Philadelphia offers digital literacy classes senior centers and libraries.
- The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh’s Computer Education & Training Program offers residents access to computer, printing, and internet services right in their own building. With the addition of the Mobile Computer Lab, HACP now has the capacity to offer computer and internet service to all residents of HACP’s senior citizen/ high rise communities.
PA Council on Aging Contact:
Waleska (Wally) Maldonado, waleska.maldonado@jevs.org
Beth Hudson Keller, bhkeller@verizon.net
Aging Our Way, PA Tactic 27:
Fund the expansion of volunteer poll interpreter recruitment to ensure that polling locations have interpreters available to assist older adult voters.
Overview:
A successful language access program for voters includes education of voters on the process to request an interpreter and providing training for poll workers to assist voters with limited English proficiency. Currently, three counties are required to provide language assistance for voting: Lehigh and Berks in Spanish and Philadelphia in Spanish and Chinese (including Taiwanese). Current versions of voting documents are translated in Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and Vietnamese. Voters, in all counties, who experience limited English proficiency can receive assistance at the polling place by completing the Declaration of the Need of Assistance to vote form. Local municipalities must identify and address barriers, including funding, to ensure successful voter access.
Recommended Localized Tactics:
- Educate the local multi-lingual speaking communities on the resources for voting in person or by mail-in ballot which include voter registration and declaration of Need of Assistance.
- Work with local foundations to fund the recruitment of bi-lingual poll workers in areas of municipality with a high population of voters that require assistance to vote.
- Encourage municipalities to participate in the statewide workgroup that meets to discuss language access issues.
- Work to determine the language assistance needs of the populations and collaborate with local universities to recruit volunteers as poll workers and to provide language assistance to voters.
- Provide information to Election Bureaus, poll workers and general public on resources from US Election Assistance Commission
Key Players and Partners:
- PA Department of State
- PA County Boards of Elections
Resources:
- The Department of State provides poll worker training on language access.
- Department of State Guidance on Language Access (for elections conducted in PA) and Guidance on Voting Accessibility and Language Needs
- US Election Assistance Commission Language Access Resources according to the Voting Rights Act.
Examples:
- Philadelphia county actively recruits and trains poll workers to assist voters with limited English proficiency.
PA Council on Aging Contact:
Margie Zelenak, mazelenak@gmail.com
Aging Our Way, PA Tactic 96:
Strengthen workplace flexibilities that allow older adults to continue working and seek new employment through the achievement of Barrier Remediation subgoals from the 2024- 2028 Pennsylvania Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) State Plan.
Overview:
The advantages of hiring and retaining older workers are crucial to maintaining a stable, productive workforce because mature workers bring deep experience, critical thinking and knowledge; they stay in jobs longer, with lower absenteeism and lower turnover rates; and they foster an inclusive, diverse work culture that improves morale and decision-making. This is an opportunity to promote the value of older adult workers by improving access to flexible employment opportunities.
Older adults who want to participate in the workforce are supported primarily through PA CareerLink® and the Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) in each county, senior centers and libraries. However, visibility of these programs varies, they lack flexible job search filters for older workers and local employers vary in awareness and readiness to hire older workers.
Local municipalities need to identify communities with strongest older-adult hiring sectors, address digital inclusion gaps, assess transportation limitations, document best practices in their area and evaluate employer-readiness to hire older workers and educate about older adult strengths.
Recommended Localized Tactics:
In your local community, research/discover the following:
- How do older adults currently access employment resources?
- How well do AAA, SCSEP, and CareerLink® coordinate locally?
- Where are the bilingual or digital literacy gaps?
- What prevents older adults from succeeding in workforce programs?
- What flexible opportunities are most in demand?
- What system changes would improve implementation?
In your local community, advocate for and work toward these initiatives:
- Standardize older-adult employment messaging across AAAs and CareerLink®.
- Improve navigation supports for digital applications.
- Host senior-friendly job fairs and employer roundtables.
- Strengthen bilingual and culturally competent services.
- Enhance transportation solutions for rural counties.
- Expand digital literacy training at senior centers and libraries.
Key Players and Partners:
- Department of Labor and Industry (DLI)
- Department of Aging
- Area Agencies on Aging (AAA)
- PA CareerLink® offices
- Local Workforce Development Boards
- Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) operators (AAAs, municipal, national grantees)
- Senior centers, libraries, adult education programs
- Employers (healthcare, retail, government, hospitality)
- Chambers of Commerce and business associations
Resources:
- Pennsylvania WIOA Combined State Plan (2024–2028) – PA Department of Labor & Industry (DLI) provides Statewide workforce priorities and Goal 5: Barrier Remediation strategies (digital equity, transportation, supportive services, anti-bias, targeted outreach).
- PA CareerLink® (program overview) –official description of PA CareerLink® services, the statewide system, and local office network.
- PA CareerLink® Portal (job search, training search, account access) provides job search tools, training opportunities, and local service access used by jobseekers (including older adults).
- SkillUp™ PA (free online job training) – DLI provides no-cost online training modules and credentials that can be promoted through CareerLink®, AAAs, libraries, and senior centers.
- PA Workforce Development Board (PA WDB) – governance and coordination with State workforce governance structure; helpful for aligning local workforce board efforts and barrier-remediation coordination.
- Bureau of Library Development (BLD)– Office of Commonwealth Libraries (State Library of Pennsylvania) describes library-based digital access and skills supports; a key partner for older-adult digital literacy and job application navigation.
- BLD Contact Page (implementation coordination) helps to find the right state library staff contact for partnerships, programming, and support.
- Pennsylvania Department of Aging – Employment Resources (includes SCSEP overview) provides a plain-language explanation of older-adult employment supports and the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP).
- U.S. Department of Labor (ETA) – SCSEP (authoritative federal program source) is the official SCSEP program description, eligibility framing, and links to find local providers.
- Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) – BEAD program (digital access as a workforce enabler) describes the state broadband expansion strategy that supports access to online job search, training, and remote work options.
- City of Philadelphia – SCSEP (local implementation) is an example of how a major county/city explains and operationalizes SCSEP locally (useful as a “model” reference).
Examples:
- Older individuals (those 55 and older) are identified as a "priority of service” population in Pennsylvania Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA); thus, these individuals should presently be receiving priority services in all PA CareerLink® Offices.
- Some ways Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (DLI) coordinates this tactic: helping implement and sustain statewide plans for equitable access to high-speed internet to achieve digital equity for older populations; improving employment opportunity, workplace inclusion, and professional networking and mentoring opportunities to reduce recruitment and hiring bias towards the older population; awarding funds through grants aimed at expanding digital literacy; and targeting outreach for training and education for older populations so their knowledge and skills meet requirements for available, in-demand, family-sustaining jobs.
- DLI is also working with the Bureau of Library Development (BLD) to advocate for increased funding for digital literacy programs available for older adults and are using local libraries and Senior Community Centers as host sites for outreach and workshop events.
PA Council on Aging Contact:
Waleska “Wally” Maldonado, Waleska.maldonado@jevs.org