An indication for the Senior Neighborhood Service Employment Program on the AARP Basis in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Might 18, 2017.
Laurie Kellman | AP
Ronald Williams was unemployed when a buddy advisable a neighborhood jobs program for older employees.
After he accomplished coaching with Goodwill in 2024, Williams rapidly landed a job as a custodian — a task he nonetheless holds two years later, at age 62.
Goodwill’s job coaching program receives funding by means of the federal Senior Neighborhood Service Employment Program, also called SCSEP.
Williams, who lives in Steubenville, Ohio, credit the federally funded program with giving him confidence in his means to work after dealing with what he describes as his private all-time low, when he was homeless and struggled with drug and alcohol habit. Now eight years sober, Williams stated, he recommends this system to folks he talks to who want cash and do not know the place to show.
“It helps you out, as a result of generally you are stagnated, generally you possibly can see no additional than the job you labored prior to now,” Williams stated. “However they provide you a future.”
This system’s personal future is unsure, nonetheless, because the Trump administration scrutinizes SCSEP funding.
Program ‘ineffective and duplicative,’ funds plan says
SCSEP offers each job coaching and group service alternatives for older adults by means of grantees, together with state companies and nationwide nonprofit organizations similar to Goodwill. Members are paid the best of the state, federal or native minimal wage and work a median of 20 hours per week, in accordance with the Division of Labor.
To qualify to participate, people should be no less than 55 years outdated and unemployed and have household revenue that’s not more than 125% of the federal poverty stage.
SCSEP had greater than 42,000 contributors in 2023, in accordance with the Labor Division’s most up-to-date progress report on this system.
“Within the scheme of issues, it is a comparatively small federal program,” stated Maura Porcelli, senior director of workforce on the Nationwide Council on Growing old, a nonprofit group that focuses on enhancing the lives of older adults. “But it surely has a deep affect within the lives of the older adults it serves.”
SCSEP, which was created in 1965 by means of the Older People Act, has confronted current scrutiny about whether or not its federal funding — totaling round $405 million in fiscal yr 2025 and $395 million in 2026 — is worth it. For perspective, the Congressional Funds Workplace initiatives complete federal outlays will probably be $7.4 trillion in 2026.
Final yr, the Division of Labor held up greater than $300 million of the SCSEP funding. Because of this, suppliers halted their providers for roughly 4 months, prompting “tens of hundreds” of seniors nationwide to be “abruptly furloughed,” in accordance with a class motion lawsuit filed on behalf of 4 program contributors.
Now, the Trump administration’s 2027 funds proposal, launched in April, requires the total elimination of this system’s funding.
The doc refers to SCSEP as “an earmark to leftist, Variety, Fairness, and Inclusion (DEI)-promoting organizations as an alternative of serving to seniors in want.”
The proposal says that efforts throughout federal companies — together with the U.S. Division of Agriculture’s Supplemental Vitamin Help Program employment and coaching, and a number of Division of Labor workforce improvement packages — already deal with SCSEP’s goal. State and native governments have “confirmed observe data of accelerating wages, versus this ineffective and duplicative program,” the proposal says.
The Trump administration has referred to as for the elimination of SCSEP earlier than, beginning within the president’s first time period, and stated in its 2026 funds proposal that this system “fails at its purpose.” Congress, which is in the end chargeable for the funds, licensed $395 million in funding towards this system for 2026, about $10 million lower than it put aside the yr earlier than.
Shopper advocates say the federal government’s evaluation of SCSEP’s worth would not account for the challenges contributors face. SCSEP goals to assist the “very hardest-to-serve people,” Porcelli stated — those that have explored each avenue accessible, together with different federal packages, and have nonetheless not been in a position to reenter the workforce.
Neither is employment the one measure of success, advocates say. At Legacy Hyperlink, a nonprofit group in Oakwood, Georgia, that gives assist to older adults, the eldest SCSEP participant is 86 years outdated, in accordance with Christine Osasu, this system’s director. By SCSEP, Legacy Hyperlink works to assist older adults attain “as near self-sufficiency as doable” with job abilities coaching that brings them in control on know-how, Osasu stated.
“For some folks, that may completely end in employment,” she stated. “For others, that may end in simply instructing them function fashionable know-how in order that they will navigate their life with much less help.”
The proposed elimination of SCSEP comes as folks as much as age 64 face new work necessities for Medicaid and for SNAP advantages, previously often known as meals stamps, as a part of President Donald Trump’s “huge stunning invoice” enacted final yr.
Amid broader affordability pressures, people who find themselves close to or above these age thresholds might must work to maintain up with their bills — though eligibility for Social Safety retirement advantages begins at age 62.
In response to CNBC’s request for remark, the White Home referred CNBC to the Workplace of Administration and Funds, which administers the federal funds. OMB didn’t reply. The Labor Division additionally didn’t reply to requests for remark.
In a written assertion, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., rating member of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees labor points, stated she is “dedicated to stopping Republicans’ misguided efforts to take this program from People in want.”
Penalties of halted funding
The four-month SCSEP federal funding pause final yr led to the elimination of all employees who dealt with this system at Legacy Hyperlink, in accordance with Osasu. The nonprofit, which as soon as had 9 workplaces throughout Georgia, now has only one location.
Its SCSEP program is working at about 30% of what it was in a position to do earlier than the funding pause, Osasu stated — and on account of that misplaced infrastructure, some seniors who had been on this system previous to the pause haven’t been in a position to reenter. Legacy Hyperlink can’t tackle new SCSEP shoppers, both, regardless of an inflow of inquiries from folks all for becoming a member of this system, she stated.
The fee lapse affected shoppers who relied on the coaching program’s paid minimal wage, Osasu stated. Some Legacy Hyperlink contributors had been pushed again into homelessness, Osasu stated, whereas others now not have their automobiles or have seen their well being decline as a result of they could not afford to take their medicines.
“Issues are type of in a darkish place proper now,” she stated.
Porcelli stated the Nationwide Council on Growing old couldn’t present coaching throughout the SCSEP funding pause.
“Very not often did I’ve a day go by when a participant job seeker did not name me, asking with a sure stage of desperation when this system was going to be began up,” Porcelli stated.
These contributors had turn into used to receiving revenue from this system, she stated, and had been gaining abilities and dealing towards getting a job.
“That life-saving stipend was essential for them, so it was actually tough for lots of people,” Porcelli stated.
Goodwill in Zanesville, Ohio, additionally noticed a lot of its contributors wrestle throughout the funding pause, although some had been in a position to get employed by the nonprofit or authorities organizations that present the on-the-job coaching, in accordance with Mike Carpenter, SCSEP program supervisor for the Zanesville Goodwill.
Goodwill’s program returned in November and has since gotten its 84 Zanesville contributors reenrolled and again into coaching, Carpenter stated.
“Now the one factor they maintain asking is, ‘Are we going to be funded subsequent yr?'” Carpenter stated. “[They] don’t desire one other lapse, they need to proceed on.”
Why SCSEP is ‘a lifeline’
Social employee Nathan Singletary, left, listens as Luz Rivera interviews program participant Luis Quinones, entrance proper, on the AARP Basis in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Might 18, 2017.
Laurie Kellman | AP Pictures
The Trump administration has stated it needs to chop that funding altogether — a stance it has taken in each of the president’s phrases.
A September report from the Home Committee on Appropriations, led by a Republican majority, stated SCSEP has “led to unsubsidized employment for lower than half of program contributors accessible for employment with worse outcomes for contributors with a incapacity, older adults, and contributors with decrease ranges of schooling.” The report doesn’t element its supply for that assertion or present any information, and the committee didn’t reply to requests for remark.
SCSEP is just not “excellent,” stated Cal Halvorsen, affiliate professor on the Brown College at Washington College in St. Louis, whose analysis focuses on the intersection of labor and ageing.
“There’s undoubtedly room for enchancment,” Halvorsen stated. “However the reply is to not cancel it, as a result of this program is a lifeline for individuals who may need no different alternatives to get retrained for work.”
In a analysis paper revealed within the journal SSRN in 2023, Halvorsen and fellow researchers stated extra SCSEP funding is required to accommodate a excessive demand from unemployed and low-income seniors who need to work. The demand for work amongst older folks could also be poised to extend: In 2024, the U.S. had extra folks over age 62 than underneath age 18, Halvorsen stated, and the inhabitants will proceed to become old.
Older people who’re out of labor can face a harder time discovering employment, Halvorsen stated. SCSEP contributors are likely to have further obstacles to discovering employment, similar to English as a second language, continual well being situations, homelessness or having been previously incarcerated, he stated.
“Simply taking a look at Division of Labor metrics exhibits that this program is just not that profitable,” Halvorsen stated. “However in the event you type of look a little bit bit deeper and have a look at who the inhabitants is that they’re serving and the way exhausting they’ve it, though they do deserve jobs, it would not shock you the numbers are so low.”
Challenges to getting employed
Vonda Jones, of Valdosta, Georgia, who misplaced her house in Hurricane Helene, is actively in search of full-time work after collaborating within the SCSEP program.
Courtesy: Vonda B. Jones
SCSEP contributors who spoke with CNBC stated they’re longing for the chance to work.
Until you are financially ready, “retirement is just not a complete lot of enjoyable,” stated Vonda Jones, 72, of Valdosta, Georgia, who stated she began working when she was 14. Jones is the lead plaintiff within the class motion lawsuit.
Jones’ month-to-month bills, together with $700 in hire and a $440 automotive mortgage fee, take up most of her $1,800 month-to-month Social Safety examine, she stated. In 2024, Hurricane Helene destroyed her house, and whereas Jones has not been in a position to afford to rebuild, she continues to be paying property taxes and lawn-maintenance prices on the land.
SCSEP helped Jones enhance her pc abilities, she stated, after she retired from the Georgia Division of Labor in 2018 and spent a number of years caring for her grandchildren. Right now, Jones is working part-time as a receptionist, incomes minimal wage, and is actively in search of full-time work that pays extra, she stated.
“In my thoughts, I am nonetheless productive and nonetheless ready,” she stated.
Different SCSEP contributors should navigate the challenges of in search of work whereas managing well being situations.
Tina Williams, 57, who’s in remission from lung and mind most cancers, stated she is in search of a place that enables her to do business from home as she recuperates bodily. Final yr, throughout the funding pause for SCSEP, the Valdosta resident turned to meals supply to complement her revenue.
Taking part in SCSEP has enabled Williams to spice up her typing abilities and work on her resume and job interview preparation. “I have a look at it like school for the aged,” Williams stated of this system. The revenue it offers additionally helps, she stated.
However discovering positions that permit her to do business from home has been tough, she stated, and the truth that she is older would not assist.
“From what I’ve seen, they actually do not need to rent you at a later age,” Williams stated.
Dennis White, of Dublin, Georgia, discovered a job at a neighborhood Georgia library restocking books after collaborating within the SCSEP program.
Courtesy: Dennis White
Dennis White of Dublin, Georgia, had emergency surgical procedure for throat most cancers in January and might now not converse.
White, 73, continues to work at his job as an assistant at a neighborhood library, the place he arranges and restocks returned books and new arrivals. The place, which he discovered by means of SCSEP, was precisely the type of job he had hoped to safe, White advised CNBC through e mail.
“I’ve all the time cherished bodily books, and the additional benefit is that this can be a largely non-speaking place,” White stated.
White stated he first heard about Legacy Hyperlink’s program by means of a category in a homeless program he was enrolled in. SCSEP supplied an opportunity for him to coach and discover alternatives, and the monetary assist was a “godsend,” he stated.
‘It isn’t only a handout’
Theresa Nottage, of Locust Grove, Georgia, says collaborating within the SCSEP program has helped her deal with rising hire.
Courtesy: Theresa Nottage
Some SCSEP contributors stated they’re involved in regards to the penalties if the Trump administration cuts this system.
Theresa Nottage, 67, who lives in Locust Grove, Georgia, stated her month-to-month hire went up by $200 this yr, whereas her Social Safety profit — the first revenue she makes use of to pay the payments — rose by roughly $50, she estimates. She stated the cash she receives from Legacy Hyperlink coaching helps her pay for private gadgets that SNAP advantages do not cowl. Nottage is at present in search of full-time work.
“We simply want a little bit bit extra revenue to assist so we’ll be capable to survive,” Nottage stated. “As a result of if I transfer out of right here, I will be homeless.”
In June, Anita Shelly, 63, will attain the four-year restrict for coaching with Tri-Parish Works’ SCSEP program in Chalmette, Louisiana. This system helped her enhance her pc abilities, she stated, after she spent years working in a deli — a job that led to her want for 2 knee replacements. She is in search of work.
“The wealthy goes to remain wealthy, and the poor goes to remain poor,” Shelly stated of the prospect of chopping the SCSEP program.
Professionals who work on the SCSEP program and older people who’ve participated in it stated they consider this system is efficient.
“This system is a second probability for folks, and it is usually a hand up for folks,” stated Goodwill’s Carpenter.
Not everybody who participates in Goodwill’s program will get employed to a daily job, in accordance with Carpenter. Even so, there are noticeable enhancements in each the person’s life and the group organizations they serve, he stated.
“It isn’t only a handout,” Carpenter stated. “It’s a probability to show your self, make your self higher and make your life higher.”
SCSEP graduate Williams of Ohio stated the Goodwill program supplied a way of household and gave him confidence within the worth he supplied by means of his work. He stated that helped him converse up when he noticed that the property the place he lived could possibly be maintained higher — which resulted in a job supply.
Williams stated work has been “glorious” and that he has no plans to cease.
“You must earn it,” Williams stated. “You must stand up each morning like everyone else, and you bought to punch that clock.”
“While you get performed, you go house, and also you do it once more,” he stated. “However the pleasure of it, you realize?”
— This text was written with the assist of a journalism fellowship from the Gerontological Society of America, the Journalists Community on Generations and the Nationwide Institute for Well being Care Administration Basis.
