Recent layoffs within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have significantly impacted major federal programs dedicated to aging, disability, and anti-poverty efforts. At least 40% of staff received layoff notices and were denied entry upon arriving at work at the Administration for Community Living (ACL), according to Alison Barkoff, the former director under the Biden Administration. Barkoff communicated with several former colleagues regarding the situation. The ACL is responsible for coordinating federal policy on aging and disability and funds programs facilitating senior centers and delivering 216 million meals annually through the Meals on Wheels initiative.
Barkoff, who now directs a health law program at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, emphasized that ACL’s programs are crucial for tens of millions of older adults, individuals with disabilities, and their caregivers. She expressed concern that the reductions in force (RIFs) would inevitably affect the programs and those dependent on them.
The announcement regarding the looming layoffs at HHS indicated that the responsibilities of ACL would be redistributed within other areas of HHS. However, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, aimed at restructuring government functions, had earlier proposed that ACL would oversee special education services once the Department of Education is dismantled. It remains uncertain how these responsibilities will be managed moving forward.
Additionally, all staff members from the Division of Energy Assistance were laid off, former employees Andrew Germain and Vikki Pretlow reported. The division administers the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which supports 5.9 million low-income households in managing heating and cooling expenses and home energy efficiency repairs. Both Germain and Pretlow expressed surprise and concern regarding the layoffs of approximately 20 workers, especially about the program’s future sustainability once current funding ceases at the end of September, as economically disadvantaged individuals prepare for increased heating costs in the colder months.
Germain noted that LIHEAP offers critical services, such as assisting low-income individuals with maintaining power for essential medical devices and medication storage. He formerly ensured states appropriately used LIHEAP funds, stating that fraud was uncommon, although Project 2025 had previously scrutinized the program for exploiting a “loophole” closed by Congress in 2014. This loophole had permitted some states to provide minimal energy aid to secure larger SNAP benefits for needy recipients.
In fiscal year 2024, Congress appropriated $4.1 billion to LIHEAP. Germain expressed uncertainty about the program’s operation post-September without federal oversight. Pretlow, a former LIHEAP program specialist, remarked on the dedication of her colleagues, underscoring the fulfillment derived from service despite possible better opportunities elsewhere.
