Latest news with #JobCorpsTransparencyReport
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Angus King, Susan Collins ask Trump administration to reverse 'illegal' Job Corps cuts in Maine
Jun. 9—Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins are pushing back against the closure of two Jobs Corps centers that they say will leave 500 students "in the lurch" and eliminate one of rural Maine's largest employers. King and 39 other senators on Monday asked the U.S. Department of Labor to rescind "unconstitutional and illegal" cuts to Job Corps that they say are harming communities in Maine and across the country. Collins, who has repeatedly pushed to keep the program running, sent a separate but similar letter May 28. The Trump administration last month indefinitely paused operations at 99 Job Corps sites, including two in Maine, citing budgetary and performance issues. "Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training and community," Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in the announcement. "However, a startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve." Chavez-DeRemer said the administration would support students in advancing their training and connecting them with education and employment opportunities. The centers will close by June 30. The Loring Job Corps Center in Limestone and the Penobscot Job Corps Center in Bangor serve a combined 500 students in Maine. The Bangor location opened in 1980 and the Loring center opened in 1997, just a few years after the closure of the Loring Air Force Base. The Loring Job Corps Center is now one of the largest employers in rural Maine, with 129 employees, according to Collins, R-Maine. They're both large "feeder" programs for Bath Iron Works and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and the Penobscot center has the Job Corps' only advanced marine pipefitting training program. The center directors said they are not permitted to speak about the closures and directed all media inquiries to the Department of Labor. In a letter Monday to Chavez-DeRemer, King and the other senators said the administration's decision to terminate Job Corps center operations has left 25,000 students and thousands of staff members "in the lurch." "The sudden 'pause' of operations at Job Corps centers puts young people's lives at risk, especially a significant number of students who were experiencing homelessness before arriving to the program," they wrote. "Local communities will pay a steep price, especially the thousands of individuals who work at the centers and will lose their livelihoods." Job Corps, established in 1964, is the largest free residential education and job training program in the country. It helps young people ages 16-24 in rural communities finish high school, learn technical skills and get good-paying jobs. But according to the Department of Labor, it also has serious flaws. In April, the department published its first Job Corps Transparency Report, based on the financial performance and operational costs from 2023. The report found that Job Corps only had a 38% graduation rate and cost more than $80,000 per student, per year. It also found almost 15,000 infractions, including drug use and acts of violence. Collins said that while Job Corps isn't perfect, it still works. At a budget hearing last month, Collins questioned Chavez-DeRemer on the decision to eliminate the Job Corps. "I, for the life of me, do not understand why the administration wants to eliminate this valuable program. And I know we've had a discussion on the cost. It is so much more expensive if someone, because of the influence and lack of support, ends up addicted, or sex trafficked, or in jail, than it is to have them go to a Job Corps Center and receive the guidance and skills that they need to turn around their lives," she said. She spoke of Adais Viruet-Torres, a graduate from the Loring Center (and later Husson University) who now works as a nurse practitioner. Viruet-Torres had been experiencing homelessness and living in a dangerous situation in Connecticut when she learned about the Job Corps program by chance, Collins said. 'LITERALLY SAVED HER LIFE' "Job Corps literally saved her live, and she has been in the medical field ever since," Collins said. The Department of Labor announced in April that it would not take new enrollments at the Penobscot and Loring Job Corps centers in Maine, saying the facilities "continue to face ongoing sustainability issues due to rising costs." The announcement said the department would continue to evaluate those and other facilities. Collins also sent a letter to the secretary in April, asking the administration to reverse the decision to pause enrollment. "Penobscot and LJCC have both supported the economic vitality and community development of their respective areas for decades and losing these centers would be detrimental to both communities as well as to the young people they serve," she said at the time. Now, King, I-Maine, and the other senators — all Democrats, plus Vermont independent Bernie Sanders — are asking the administration to immediately reverse its decision to prevent a lapse in education and services for students. They also asked the Department of Labor to restart enrollments, resume background checks and make any contract extensions or modifications needed to ensure there are no interruptions or delays. Collins sent a similar request late last month. Congress passed the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025, which includes $1.76 billion for Job Corps and ensures that Job Corps Centers are funded for the new program year that begins on July 1. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Job Corps centers' operations to pause by end of month nationwide
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a phased pause in operations at Job Corps centers nationwide. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The Labor Department made the announcement Thursday, according to a media release. The decision was made in compliance with President Trump's 2026 budget proposal and the Administration's 'commitment to ensure federal workforce investments deliver meaningful results for both students and taxpayers.' The pause of all contractor-operated Job Corps centers will occur by June 30. State and local workforce partners are working with the labor department to help current students continue their training with other education and employment opportunities, according to the release. TRENDING STORIES: Delta to discontinue longtime non-stop route from Dayton; New flight to replace Man flies off motorcycle after hitting alligator on highway Escaped zebra remains at large after 'wreaking havoc' on busy interstate According to the release, the program operated at a $140 million deficit in 2024, and the Biden administration paused center operations to complete the program year. The deficit is projected to reach $213 million in 2025. In the release, the U.S. Department of Labor cited the first-ever Job Corps Transparency Report, which was released in April. The summarized findings are as listed in the release: Average Graduation Rate (WIOA Definition): 38.6% Average Cost Per Student Per Year: $80,284.65 Average Total Cost Per Graduate (WIOA Definition): $155,600.74 Post separation, participants earn $16,695 annually on average. The total number of Serious Incident Reports for program year 2023: 14,913 infractions. Inappropriate Sexual Behavior and Sexual Assaults Reported: 372 Acts of Violence Reported: 1,764 Breaches of Safety or Security: 1,167 Reported Drug Use: 2,702 Total Hospital Visits: 1,808 'A startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve. We remain committed to ensuring all participants are supported through this transition and connected with the resources they need to succeed as we evaluate the program's possibilities,' U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chaves-DeRemer said. News Center 7 reached out to the Dayton and Cincinnati Job Corps Centers to find out when their exact dates of closure were. Dayton Job Corps Center has not given a statement at this time. The News Center 7 team could not get through to speak to a representative when calling the Cincinnati Job Corps Center. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Little Rock shelters see an uptick amid Job Corps pause
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The national pause on Job Corps Centers came earlier than June 30th, leaving some students who lived on the Little Rock campus with no place to go. William Holloway, director of The Compassion Center, says it feels like a rug has been pulled out from under many youths at a bad time. 'There was a large number of people that used that facility, and they counted on it,' Holloway said. Job Corps closing hits home with Little Rock families He says the center has also been seeing an increase in youth since the Job Corps closed. 'Well, we're seeing a lot of people around 18 years of age coming in and we're seeing maybe 10 to 15 extra people that we had not normally seen,' Holloway said. Holloway says he's always happy to lend a helping hand, but is saddened to see so many youths at once. 'It's bad enough when your family abandons you, but when your education abandons you also, you've got a problem,' Holloway said. The U.S Department of Labor released the Job Corps Transparency Report in April, which found that throughout the Job Corps, a 38.6% graduation rate nationally, along with high numbers in violence, drug use, and sexual assaults. The compassion center has been working to fill in the gap left by the pause with jobs, but outside of the resources the center provides, Holloway says he has a bigger concern. 'What worries me is some of them are only 18 to 19 years old,' Holloway said. 'Where are they going to end up in the next 4 to 5 years?' Labor Department suspends Job Corps centers operations, drawing bipartisan pushback The U.S Department of Labor said they are working with state and local workforce partners to assist current students in advancing their training and connecting them with education and employment opportunities. The reason for the early pause still hasn't been said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
With federal cut, Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps to close after 44 years
Eager to give a young person a shot at his profession and bring in some badly-needed talent, Dave Abbott reached out last year to the Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul in hopes of launching a 'work-based learning' internship program. As a lead carpenter for a group of remodeling contractors, Abbott figured his company could help train three or four young corps members per year, and hopefully hire some on. A year of planning followed. The first recruit recently 'did two weeks with us, helped frame a garage up, and she absolutely crushed it,' said Abbott, a vice president with Terra Firma, a St. Paul-based contracting cooperative. 'She was great.' Then came word last week that the U.S. Department of Labor, citing ballooning costs and mixed outcomes, had pulled funding for more than Job Corps centers across the country. As a result, the Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center — which has operated from the former Bethel College campus across from the State Fairgrounds on Snelling Avenue since 1981 — will close on Tuesday, letting go all staff and releasing more than 170 young people, some of whom literally called the center home. 'I'm so upset about this, I can't even tell you,' said Kaila Broad, business engagement specialist with the St. Paul site, on Monday. 'Haven't slept, haven't eaten.' St. Paul's Job Corps Center, which offered up to 250 young people ages 16 to 24 workforce training in any one of eight career paths as they worked toward their GED and vocational certificates, also provided free housing for many low-income recruits who had landed there through diversion programs or were enrolled by their families. Some members had previously been homeless. As that housing dries up, it's unclear where they'll land. The sudden decision to pull funding has drawn bi-partisan pushback in Congress, given the program's long history in putting young people to work. The Job Corps centers were launched as part of President Lyndon Johnson's 'great society' and 'war on poverty' efforts in 1964, and many a young person has obtained a medical assistant certificate or entered the construction trades while receiving free room and board. 'We had just added a Certified Nursing Assistant certification through St. Paul College,' Broad said. In announcing cuts to workforce training programs last Thursday, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer said the Job Corps centers had proven too costly to operate and fallen short of intended outcomes. In 2024, the program operated at a $140 million deficit nationally, requiring the Biden administration to implement a pause in center operations to complete the year. The deficit this year is projected to reach $213 million, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Labor. Nationally, about 39% of enrollees graduate, according to what the department described as the first-ever 'Job Corps Transparency Report,' released April 25, which analyzed metrics from 2023. Some critics of the report have said pre-pandemic graduation rates were notably higher. The National Job Corps Association maintains that historically, graduation rates were closer to 60%. A previous study of graduation rates, earnings and other metrics was published in sections from 1998 through 2001, though it was unavailable Monday morning from the U.S. Department of Labor website. Citing the most recent report, the Labor Department said earnings for recent Job Corps graduates average about $16,000. The National Job Corps Association has also disputed those numbers, claiming earnings are closer to $31,000. Also troubling, according to the secretary, were nearly 15,000 'serious incident reports,' chronicling everything from sex assaults and other acts of violence to drug use and hospitalizations. The National Job Corps Association has said those reports include power outages, athletic injuries and adults leaving campus without authorization. The secretary said a 'phased pause in operations' is to take place by June 30, but the closures are rolling out in St. Paul and other locations virtually overnight. In response, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, issued a statement last week saying the loss of Job Corps will exacerbate her state's workforce shortage, hurting the economy while locking students out of good-paying jobs. 'Congress appropriated funding for Job Corps, and the Trump Administration can't just decide to not spend it because they want to make room for tax cuts for billionaires,' Baldwin wrote. 'At a time when Wisconsin businesses are demanding more skilled workers, the Trump Administration is cutting vital resources that put Wisconsinites on a fast-track to good-paying jobs in nursing, manufacturing, and the trades. Gutting Job Corps is a step in the wrong direction.' The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service operates more than 20% of the centers on federal land, steering recruits toward forestry work. Abbott said he sees the loss of federal funding as short-sighted decision-making from on high. Construction trades are notoriously understaffed and desperate for labor, which raises prices for clients. Creating a pipeline of young talent would be a boon to workers, contractors and property owners alike, he said. Many of the young people he interviewed sounded like ideal recruits for internships. 'I was hoping to have it be a long-term tradition, that we could just (work with) three or four every year,' said Abbott on Sunday. 'Usually, it's pretty busy in the summer, and there's good work for pre-apprentice level carpenters.' Lynx turn up defense in second half, improve to 7-0 A wild stretch leads to Loons' first win in Seattle Here are five ways to celebrate Pride month, from Pee-wee Herman to F1rst Wrestling St. Paul family nonprofit seeks to break the stigma of addiction in the Hmong community The Woddle: A techy diaper-changing pad with a touchscreen and AI
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Job Corps centers, including one in Central Texas, pausing operations
The Brief Job Corps centers will be pausing operations by the end of June One has operated in Central Texas for decades Dept. of Labor says the decision follows an internal review of the program HAYS COUNTY, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor has announced it is pausing operations at Job Corps centers nationwide, including one that's operated in Central Texas for decades. What we know On May 29, the US Department of Labor announced it would be starting a "phased pause" in operations at 99 contractor-operated Job Corps centers nationwide. The department says that the decision followed an "internal review of the program's outcome and structure and will be carried out in accordance with available funding, the statutory framework established under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and congressional notification requirements." The pause is expected to happen by June 30. DOL says that it is collaborating with state and local workforce partners to help current students advance their training and connect them with education and employment opportunities. Center operations are now implementing transition plans to get students home and funding will then be used to pause operations, including managing facilities and maintaining student records. "The department's decision aligns with the President's FY 2026 budget proposal and reflects the Administration's commitment to ensure federal workforce investments deliver meaningful results for both students and taxpayers," says DOL. By the numbers DOL says that this program has faced "significant financial challenges" under its current operating structure and has been in a "financial crisis" for years. In PY 2024, the program operated at a $140 million deficit, requiring the Biden administration to implement a pause in center operations to complete the program year. The deficit is projected to reach $213 million in PY 2025, says DOL. The recent Job Corps Transparency Report, which is based on an analysis of internal data from PY 2023, says that the highest graduation rate among all the centers was 65.4% and the average cost per student per year is just over $80,000 and the average cost per graduate is about $155,000. Dig deeper Job Corps is the largest free residential education and job training program for young adults aged 16-24. According to the DOL website, Job Corps has trained and educated over two million people since 1964. The program helps eligible young adults complete their high school education and career training, as well as obtain employment. Graduates go on to the workforce, apprenticeships, higher education or the military. Students can earn a high school diploma or equivalent, and college credits and get tuition-free housing, meals, basic healthcare, a living allowance, and career transition assistance. Job Corps also offers training in 10 high-growth industry sectors: Advanced Manufacturing Automotive and Machine Repair Construction Finance and Business Healthcare Homeland Security Hospitality Information Technology Renewable Resources and Energy Transportation There are 99 centers spread across six regions of the US, and four centers are based in Texas: David L. Carrasco (El Paso area), Laredo, Gary (Central Texas), and North Texas (Dallas area). Local perspective Gary, one of the four centers in Texas, has been in operation since 1965, says Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra. The campus sits near the San Marcos Regional Airport on SH 21 and is "long known as the largest of its kind in the country," says Becerra. The facility is operated by Equus Workforce Solutions, based out of Kentucky. The Source Information in this report comes from Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra and the US Department of Labor.
