The influence of employment on older Korean-American economic self-sufficiency, psychological well-being, status, and social support: Impact evaluation of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)

The Senior Community Employment Program (SCSEP) is federally funded through the Older Americans Act. The program subsidizes elder employment and encourages unsubsidized placement of its enrollees. While a few studies examine the program's effectiveness, none address the special needs and outcomes for Korean American (KA) elders. This study evaluates the influences of the SCSEP on KA elders. It uses both quantitative and qualitative methods in the program evaluation of the SCSEP. For a quantitative method, KA enrollees in Los Angeles and New York City constitute a judgement sample (N = 70) and form a bulk of KA enrollees in SCSEP. A comparison group (N = 70) of KA elder non-enrollees was recruited from churches, senior housing, senior schools, and words of mouth and matched by age, gender, and years in the U.S. Five out of 70 enrollees were recruited into the examples for a qualitative research. The respondents represented the range of experiences in the program and a variety of personal characteristics. The program enrollees showed overall satisfaction with their program participation and positive changes in financial independence, emotional stability, status in the family, and status in society, and health status. Bivariate statistics were used to compare the enrollee and comparison groups with each dependent variable. The SCSEP enrollees showed decreased risk of depression and significant less dependence on Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Enrollees showed a mean CES-D score of 10.6 versus a comparison group mean of 17.8, where 16 is the cut-point of risk for depression. Similarly, enrollees showed much less use of SSI (19%) than among the comparison group (63%). Multivariate analysis confirmed these findings. The statistical findings recommend that the SCSEP should be expanded or at least be continued. More attention should be given to job-training, supervision at the workplace, and regular survey from the administration. The strengths, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.