CW: Poverty
The layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services reduced the staffs of major government aging, disability, and anti-poverty programs, making their future uncertain.
At least 40% of staff received layoff notices and many were turned away at the front door Tuesday when they showed up for work at the Administration for Community Living, or ACL, which coordinates federal policy on aging and disability. That’s according to the agency’s former director under the Biden Administration, Alison Barkoff, who says she talked to multiple members of her former staff.
The Administration for Community Living was founded in 2012 to bring together aging and disability programs across HHS, recognizing that the majority of these individuals reside in the community and wish to stay there. the agency funds and collaborates with over 2,500 community organizations across the country, including centers for independent living, protection and advocacy systems, developmental disabilities councils, and many others.
The programs funded by the ACL include Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels is a non-profit organization that provides seniors with home-delivered meals across the United States.
The purpose is to help elders maintain their independence and health. Thus allowing them to age in their own communities. Meals on Wheels programs primarily assist individuals aged 60 and over who have limited mobility and find it difficult to shop for or prepare meals.
Furthermore, according to Andrew Germain and Vikki Pretlow, two employees who lost their jobs on Tuesday, the Division of Energy Assistance laid off all of its employees. The office oversees the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. The program assists 5.9 million low-income households with paying their heating and cooling bills as well as making home modifications to improve energy efficiency.
Staff members said the layoffs of roughly 20 people surprised them, and they were concerned about whether the program will continue once financing runs out at the end of September. People often face escalating heating prices in the fall and winter months.
LIHEAP delivers “life-saving services,” according to Germain. One way the funds are used is to assist people with low incomes in paying electric bills when they rely on oxygen or other medical devices or need to keep the refrigerator running to hold insulin or other medications. Germain oversaw compliance monitoring to ensure that states used the LIHEAP funds effectively. He said that fraud is infrequent.
Project 2025, however, analyzed LIHEAP. It identified a “loophole” that was closed by Congress more than ten years ago, in 2014. It was exploited by around ten states to provide little energy assistance in a way that qualified low-income individuals for a larger SNAP, or food stamp, payment.
In fiscal year 2024, Congress authorized $4.1 billion for LIHEAP. Germain adds that without federal employees to oversee the program, it’s unclear how it will continue until the current authorization expires in September. Pretlow, who lost her job as a program specialist in the LIHEAP office, said: “You can be paid much more in a different place, you can be praised more in a different place, you can be appreciated more in a different place. But the people I worked with have a great heart for service.”
Independence is essential. The United States prides itself on independence. The layoffs are a major step backward for disabled, low-income, and elderly people.
Sources:
Cho, Jinmyoung. ‘Meals on Wheels (MOW)’. Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging, edited by Danan Gu and Matthew E. Dupre, Springer International Publishing, 2019, pp. 1–3, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_302-1.
Diament, Michelle. “Trump Administration to Close Agency Promoting Community Living for People with Idd.” Disability Scoop, Disability Scoop, 31 Mar. 2025, http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2025/03/31/trump-administration-to-close-agency-promoting-community-living-for-people-with-idd/31384/.
Métraux, Julia. “RFK Jr. Moves to Close Administration for Community Living.” Mother Jones, Mother Jones, 28 Mar. 2025, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/rfk-hhs-acl-community-living-shutdown/.
Shapiro, Joseph. “HHS Layoffs Hit Meals on Wheels and Other Services for Seniors and Disabled.” NPR, NPR, 1 Apr. 2025, http://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/01/g-s1-57716/hhs-layoffs-seniors-disabled-liheap-acl.
Inhuman.