Thousands of low-income older Americans left without pay as federal program faces uncertainty

Forty-two members of Congress are demanding the Trump administration immediately release federal funding for a senior employment program that has left thousands of low-income older Americans without paychecks. 

Pasadena Rep. Judy Chu and Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington led colleagues in a letter to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Budget Director Russell Vought addressing delayed funding for the Senior Community Service Employment Program. 

The program provides job training and paychecks to low-income seniors while they perform community service. In 2022, more than 42,000 seniors contributed over 20.4 million hours of community service through the program. 

The Department of Labor published funding guidance for state and territorial grantees on July 1, the start of the program year. But the agency has not released similar guidance for national grantees and provided no timeline for publication. 

National grantees in California, Washington, Indiana, North Carolina and Oklahoma have been affected by the delay. 

The National Asian Pacific Center on Aging has furloughed 800 low-income seniors due to funding uncertainty, according to the congressional letter. The nonprofit serves limited-English proficient older adults from various ethnic groups. 

“Because there is no clear timeline for when furloughs will end, this uncertainty is causing deep distress among program participants, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck and rely on the income they earn through SCSEP to make ends meet,” the letter said. 

The funding delay also affects communities that lose support from program participants and volunteers during furloughs, lawmakers wrote. 

The letter urges the Labor Department and Budget Office to release program funds immediately and make them retroactive to July 1. 

Thirteen organizations endorsed the letter, including the National Asian Pacific American Center for Aging, Easterseals, Goodwill Industries International and the National Urban League.