The US Department of Labor quietly ended its only nationwide job training program for low-income seniors just as tens of thousands must meet new work requirements to tap into Medicaid and food assistance.

National organizations funded by the DOL’s Senior Community Service Employment Program, including Goodwill Industries and the National Council on Aging, say the program stopped giving them money after June 30. The agency released nearly $86 million for state and local entities, but hasn’t made available the roughly $300 million set aside for national grant recipients, a process that’s previously taken place in May.

Programs to assist Americans 55 and older in finding work are already being scaled back or paused because the cash hasn’t been made available, according to those who have received the grants in the past.

Cutting the program—which connects out-of-work seniors to community service work at schools, hospitals, and other facilities as well as other resources to help them find jobs—will likely push some participants onto unemployment.

Some “40,000 low-income seniors are about to lose their jobs due to the unexplained pause in grant payments from SCSEP, taking a very real toll on their lives,” said Kendra Davenport, president and CEO of Easterseals, a long-time grantee.

Cutting Benefits

The impact could be particularly dire for the thousands of participants who will have to find work...

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