At EPA, an Alternative to Retirement

Last year, Sadie Boone retired from the Justice Department. But she didn't stay home for long.

"After six months, I was going stir-crazy," she said.

So she went back to work for the government, this time through a special program at the Environmental Protection Agency designed for those who are 55 or older.

Called the Senior Environmental Employment (SEE) program, the project is administered through six nonprofit groups that contract with the EPA to provide older workers. SEE has 1,800 enrollees (they don't use the word "employees") who work in EPA offices around the country, 400 of them in Washington.

There are all sorts of jobs -- providing information to the public, estimating levels of pesticide exposure, typing environmental legal briefs. Most clerical and typing jobs start at $8.16 an hour, while professional positions start at $11.81 an hour. All the jobs include health insurance and paid vacation and holidays.

Most participants work 30 hours a week or more; about three-quarters work in technical or support jobs. Participants sign renewable one-year enrollment agreements rather than being offered permanent jobs.

Boone, who is 61 and lives in the District, works as an administrative assistant, helping with correspondence, travel and copying. She said she was interested in the SEE program because she spent 13 years at Justice as a legal assistant working in environmental enforcement.

"I think coming to work here was one of the better decisions I've ever made," she said.

And the EPA says SEE participants have a lot to offer. "We've found these 55-and-above individuals provide the knowledge, wisdom and experience of lifelong careers," said Susan Street, manager of the program.

The oldest SEE enrollee is 84, Street said.

The enrollees say they are also gaining a lot from their later-life jobs. Boone said she has learned new software programs, while Della Sledge said she has gotten a morale boost.

Sledge, who is 57 and lives in the District, retired from the EPA in January 2004 but soon discovered she would rather be working.