Narrative: c. 4. B.

The rural counties are challenged through geographic distance as well as the lack of employment opportunities and host agency training sites. The site managers in the rural areas will continue to serve on the local chamber of commerce committees as well as speak at service organizations. The site managers will be a visible presence in the community educating business owners, nonprofits/government agencies and potential participants of the benefits of SCSEP. 

The State will continue to recruit participants in the rural areas. SCSEP recruitment forums will take place in low income senior housing areas, senior centers, libraries and churches.. The needs of rural areas can vary throughout Colorado, therefore the State will focus its attention on the specific needs of each geographical region.  In the Urban areas the State will continue to partner with businesses and educational institutions to assist in the placement of individuals who are not able to enroll in SCSEP due to the cap on enrollment in over-enrolled areas of the State. The State will continue to work towards creating a more equitable balance of participation between the rural and urban areas of the State. 

Additionally, the state will continue to work with the state sub-grantee and the national grantees to ensure rural areas in Colorado are served and maintained at the level needed to ensure all seniors have access to the SCSEP program.  Meeting the needs of the participants in rural areas is and will continue to be a challenge, for several reasons, the geographic distance is one which makes it harder to reach the participants readily and on a regular basis. Reliable transportation can be an issue for participants, to get to host agencies or meetings with potential employers. Finding and maintaining hosting is difficult in many rural areas; there are either no host agencies available or there is not the willingness from the non-profits in the areas to become host agencies. The strategy that is currently being used and will continue to be used is to work with a variety of people and government agencies to fill the needs. There is and will continue to be a strong working relationship with the Area Agencies on Aging (AAA’s) in all our rural areas, this relationship not only helps participants find out about the SCSEP program, but it also helps create some host agencies within the rural communities. SCSEP grantees will continue to work with government agencies like the district attorney’s offices in the various rural areas to be host agencies and a strong partner for the SCSEP program.