The Trump administration is being sued over funding changes to a “vital program” that helps older Americans find work.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Labor via email for comment.
Why It Matters
The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), run by the Department of Labor, was established by Congress in 1965 to provide grants to states and national nonprofit organizations, helping unemployed older Americans gain training and community-service–oriented job experience as they transition back into the workforce. Participants must be at least 55, unemployed, and have a family income of no more than 125 percent of the federal poverty level.
According to the Department of Labor, the program serves around 60,000 individuals each year.
What To Know
The class action lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts by four users of SCSEP, claims that the Department of Labor unlawfully withheld funding from national sponsors of the program, resulting in lost income for approximately 30,000 former participants.
The lawsuit alleges that “the Department failed to take steps it normally takes to issue new grants to these grantees to continue their four-year projects. Instead, it advised national grantees that it was ‘reviewing’ the funds that Congress appropriated for the project year running from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.”
The Labor Department’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 calls for ending the SCSEP along with several longstanding job training programs, replacing them with a block grant to be allocated to states and local communities.
“The program has been a lifeline for participants, who gain valuable skills training and experience through part-time, minimum wage work aimed at helping them secure permanent jobs,” the lawsuit reads. “For the communities where participants work, SCSEP offers a tremendous positive benefit, as participants contribute thousands of work hours to hospitals, schools, local government agencies, senior centers, and other public and nonprofit organizations in positions that might not otherwise exist.”
In July, a spokesperson for the Department of Labor told CNN: “The Department has given all SCSEP grantees a one-month period of performance extension, so that if grantees have funding available from their Program Year 2024 grant, they can still use these funds to continue program operations.
“The Employment and Training Administration is preparing to award grants shortly after state and territorial grantees submit their required budget documents. The department will support grantees in their operations and services to participants.”
What People Are Saying
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said: “Tens of thousands of older Americans are in dire need of the court’s intervention to save this vital program. The Trump-Vance administration’s baseless and unlawful funding freeze is causing real harm to real people. Democracy Forward is honored to work with our clients to seek a solution that will protect everyone who relies on the Senior Community Service and Employment Program.”
Lynn Eisenberg, of Jacobson Lawyers Group, said: “The Department of Labor is illegally withholding funds that support senior citizens who are simply trying to make a living, gain skills essential to navigating the modern workforce, and serve their communities. We are proud to stand with these participants and the tens of thousands of others they represent in demanding that the government continue this vital program.”
What Happens Next
The Department of Labor has not yet made a public response to the lawsuit.
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