Narrative: b. 3.

 In Colorado there was no significant change in service to minorities over the last 4 years. Currently 62.2% of SCSEP participants in the counties served are minorities.  Colorado SCSEP has been successful at serving the minority population in its regions; however, the program  will continue to initiate strategies that encourage minority populations to participate. SCSEP staff have begun to develop an annual outreach and recruitment plan using census information, demographic mapping, and scanning of local businesses.  It includes specific actions to overcome barriers such as language, social isolation, and cultural variances.  Posters, brochures, and flyers are placed in strategic locations throughout communities specifically to encourage people to consider SCSEP when seeking employment. Local resources include American Job Centers, Area Agencies on Aging, senior centers, low-income senior apartment complexes, Food Stamp/Medicaid and Social Security offices, aging and disability resource centers, veterans’ organizations, social services agencies, libraries, grocery stores, medical facilities, and other places that older adults frequent.  The program materials and interpreting services are available in Spanish and English. Social Service agencies and medical clinics in the counties have referred people to SCSEP who are in need, specifically minority populations and people with disabilities. The State will work with the local human services offices to help overcome the misleading belief that SCSEP employment will cause the loss of public benefits, such as Medicaid or SNAP.  Advertisements will continue to be  placed in the local newspapers to market the program, provide eligibility requirements, identify benefits, and promote the emphasis on recruiting minority populations and persons with disabilities. 

The State SCSEP program partners with several workforce centers that serve minority populations. The Older Workers Specialist at the workforce centers will continue to provide information and assistance to the enrollees of the workforce centers, focusing on the programs that serve the elderly populations, minorities, and people with disabilities. 

With the Asian population being the smallest minority group in Colorado, and the most difficult to reach, the SCSEP program will continue to contact Asian organizations in the Denver area to become host agencies or to recruit potential participants. While the number of Asian participants in SCSEP has slightly increased over the past four years, the percentage sits at approximately 3%.  The State will consider new approaches to raising that percentage, such as locating and targeting neighborhoods throughout Colorado in which Asian populations reside or frequent.  A barrier to recruiting the Asian population is finding appropriate host agencies with the potential language differences; often the agency does not have resources to provide interpreters.  The Colorado SCSEP program will research and seek out strategies and/or technology to assist with translation, in hopes to break down the barriers in recruiting the Asian minority population.

Naturally, similar barriers apply to other communities as well, if there are dialects that the SCSEP managers are not familiar with. To address these barriers the sub-grantees must be familiar with the different cultures. Therefore, the State will continue to strategize measures to overcome these challenges, such as becoming more engaged in cultural sensitivity initiatives that are taking place within State Departments or social services agencies.