Little Rock shelters see an uptick amid Job Corps pause
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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Boston Globe
20-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Thousands of homeless students left in the lurch after Job Center closures put on hold
'That was how I was able to escape homelessness,' Kary added. 'My whole life has been defined by loss and poverty and just living on the most precarious knife edge.' Job Corps is a federally funded program for young people between the ages of 16 and 24 that provides free housing, meals, basic medical care, school supplies, childcare, English language instruction, and a small allowance while students earn high school equivalency degrees and trade certifications. The National Job Corps Association sued the DOL shortly after the announcement alleging the department's order to pause the program was illegal because only Congress can eliminate the program and because it would displace thousands of students and lead to mass layoffs. In June, a US District Court judge for the Southern District of New York granted a preliminary injunction against the DOL, effectively halting the DOL's order indefinitely and allowing Job Corps's 123 centers to remain operational. But Kary and the approximately 4,500 other students nationwide who were homeless before joining the program's living and learning spaces are still at risk of displacement. Advertisement As part of its fiscal 2026 budget, the DOL has proposed eviscerating Job Corps, allocating it a fraction of its typical funding for the purpose of closing and demolishing the centers. Congress is expected to begin voting on the proposed budget in September, though it can take months to pass. Advertisement Labor experts in Massachusetts say the state's workforce development system is not designed for a shake-up that would displace many of the 799 students who were enrolled at three centers in Massachusetts in May. 'Whenever we need to put students somewhere, Job Corps is front and center,' Jeffrey Turgeon, director of MassHire Central, said. 'We're losing a major tool.' After the meeting announcing its closure, the Shriver Job Corps Center told students it would remain operational for the time being. Yet, a majority of students who lived at the center left the Shriver Center, opting to find alternative housing in the face of the center's day-to-day uncertainty. After investing months into diplomas and career certificates, students feel mixed emotions about what will come next for them. Kary worries about leaving empty-handed if the court eventually rules that the centers must close, or Congress approves funding cuts to the Job Corps. She started her training program to work in public transportation, which she said typically takes one year to complete, just a week before the DOL order. 'As nice as it is, it still feels uncertain,' Kary said. 'It's a race against the preliminary injunction and the government.' Mohammad Niazy, 18, and Matiullah Kabir, 19, discovered a near-empty cafeteria when they arrived at the Shriver Center for class earlier this month. The two commute to campus from Harvard, MA, where Advertisement Niazy earned his high school diploma from the center in May. Kabir, who had already graduated from his local high school, studied computer technology at Shriver, where he started a football team and received his driver's license. He said he was shocked when he learned that DOL ordered a pause in operations. 'It was so fast, people were not ready for this. A lot of people were living there and working. They were definitely crying, they were saying, 'Where do we go now?'' Kabir said. Facing potential Job Corps closures, students can apply for state-run high school equivalency degrees and vocational training programs, paid apprenticeships, or community college, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD). Governor Maura Healey's housing office had also been developing a contingency plan for displaced students leading up to the preliminary injunction, spokesperson Tara Smith said in an email to the Globe last month. 'Until the lawsuit is resolved, we continue to monitor the situation with EOLWD and other state agencies as it relates to potential next steps with affected students,' Smith added. Until joining Job Corps, Kary, who asked to be identified by her first name because she fears harassment by the government as a transgender woman, was in and out of homelessness. She was kicked out of her childhood home by her family when she turned 18. She crashed on friends' couches and waited in line at food banks for meals. She eventually got a job as a cashier earning $9 an hour, but it was nowhere near enough to make ends meet. Advertisement For four months in the winter of 2022, Kary slept every night in a tent — even in the pouring rain and freezing temperatures. When a friend told Kary about Job Corps's residential program, she applied as soon as she could. 'Job Corps was my only hope,' she said. The DOL says it wants to end the program because it is not achieving its including the 38.6 percent graduation rate it cited in its justification for pausing the program, which comes from the 2023 program year, reflect high dropout rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local politicians in Massachusetts are concerned about the impact shuttering the program would have on their communities. 'The reality is a program like this, which no doubt costs millions of dollars just for the Devens center, is that it's not going to be replaced,' Massachusetts State Senator Jamie Eldridge, whose district includes Shriver, said. In 'Massachusetts industries obviously depend on the kind of technical training the Job Corps provides,' Congresswoman Lori Trahan, whose district also covers Shriver, said. Kary worries that she will not be hired for a job without her trade certification. She does not want to go to a shelter for fear of harassment but no other training programs offer housing. Yet when she thinks about the future, she imagines a quiet life working as a train conductor, a career that she became passionate about while studying at Shriver. Advertisement Kary has one more non-negotiable. She has to live in Massachusetts. 'I love Massachusetts. I'd fully crawl my way out of homelessness and then be in Massachusetts,' said Kary. 'This place is end goal for me.' Jade Lozada can be reached at
Newsweek
16-07-2025
- Newsweek
What Happens When Washington Cuts Workforce Development? Ask New York
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Though the FY2026 budget isn't final, the newly signed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has already triggered devastating disinvestment in New York's workforce and economic stability. Rather than supporting cities in their efforts to build inclusive economic growth, Congress and President Donald Trump have advanced sweeping cuts through OBBBA, eliminating Job Corps (temporarily blocked by the courts), slashing the Department of Labor's budget by 35 percent, and gutting Medicaid. The timing could not be more harmful. Our city and state are making investments in green infrastructure, clean energy, life sciences, and housing. But Washington is pulling critical support from under us. The policies enacted in OBBBA undermine our ability to train workers, support economic mobility, and care for vulnerable communities. President Donald Trump answers questions while departing the White House on July 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump answers questions while departing the White House on July 11, 2025, in Washington, the law cuts $715 billion from Medicaid and ACA programs. In New York, over 6.9 million residents rely on Medicaid, including 2.1 million adults through ACA expansion. Hospital reimbursements will shrink. Safety-net providers already operating on razor-thin margins will be pushed to the brink. In New York City, over 1.5 million residents could see a drop in access to care, just as our health care system is still recovering from the pandemic. OBBBA also strips federal support from New York's Essential Plan, which covers 725,000 lawfully present immigrants. Unless New York finds $4 billion annually, coverage losses will follow, disproportionately affecting working adults who keep the city running. And then there's Job Corps. For decades, Job Corps has helped out-of-school youth—especially youth of color—enter the workforce. In New York City, where income inequality remains among the highest in the nation, it's been a pillar of inclusive opportunity. Its elimination would leave thousands of young New Yorkers without a foothold in the economy. New Medicaid work requirements would add red tape with little benefit. Adults aged 18–64 must repeatedly verify employment or exemptions. Up to 1.5 million New Yorkers risk losing coverage, not for failing to work, but for failing to navigate bureaucracy. This provision will overwhelm a municipal workforce that has seen hiring freezes and attrition, particularly in frontline human services and child care administration. Who will support these recipients when the system demands more documentation but offers no added staff? New York City's public assistance infrastructure—especially TANF and subsidized child care—is already strained by backlogs and delays. These new mandates will push it to the breaking point. Families are losing access to both income support and the services that make work possible, like child care, job placement, and case management. This is disinvestment in America's future, and in New York's. SNAP, Medicaid, and workforce development are economic drivers. SNAP alone injects $7.8 billion into New York's economy annually. Workforce training reduces dependency on public benefits, strengthens small business growth, and boosts tax revenue. In New York City, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)-funded career centers, youth employment contracts, and pre-apprenticeship pipelines are already being destabilized by the cuts enacted in OBBBA. New York has long been a model for inclusive economic growth and smart workforce investments. But no amount of local innovation can offset a $715 billion federal retreat from health care or the gutting of job training infrastructure. What's equally alarming is the absence of a coordinated, targeted response from City Hall and Albany. There has been no unified strategy to protect the infrastructure of opportunity that so many New Yorkers rely on. A hollowed-out municipal workforce cannot respond effectively. Meanwhile, community-based organizations are once again left to absorb the shock, expected to do more with less, even as they face chronic delays in city payments and no assurances of sustained funding. Instead of mobilizing to mitigate the damage, local leadership has offered silence, short-term patches, or fragmented efforts that fail to meet the moment. 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Gregory J. Morris is CEO of the NYC Employment and Training Coalition. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Miami Herald
15-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Boise City Council might ask voters for $11 million tax increase. Here's why
The Boise City Council is set to vote Tuesday on whether to put an $11 million open-space levy on the ballot this November. Council members will decide on a resolution that asks Boise voters for a voluntary tax increase. Property owners would see just under $10 more on their tax bill for every $100,000 of property value, according to a city memo from Mayor Lauren McLean's office. Boise staff have used previous open-space money to acquire property at Table Rock in the Foothills and buy land within the city for new parks. '(Without a new levy) we would have very limited ability to expand our open space, conservation, and parks and pathways program,' Council President Colin Nash said in a phone interview Monday. 'Waiting on new developers to propose new parks that they would dedicate is not a realistic way to acquire new parks.' Only a simple majority of voters would need to approve the levy. Levies in 2001 and 2015 passed with 59% and 74% approval, respectively. As of June, there's only about $1 million of that funding left, according to Doug Holloway, the city's outgoing parks and recreation director. The 2015 levy originally raised $10 million, which the city used to acquire nearly 1,800 acres in the Foothills and purchase three future park sites, Holloway told the City Council on June 10. 'Dirt is hard to come by in this community,' Holloway said. Overall, since 2001, the city has used about $19 million to buy properties worth at least to $43 million, he said. The money has also funded carbon sequestration research and goathead mapping and removal, according to his presentation. People who live in Boise love the parks and trails, Council Member Kathy Corless said in a phone interview Monday. It's healthy not to have all parts of the city developed, she said. 'Once (open space) is gone, we won't have access,' Corless said. Part of the goal is to address a lack of parks in West Boise, according to Corless, Nash and Alexis Pickering, the executive director of Conservation Voters for Idaho. The group is supporting the levy, as it did with the previous tax increase in 2015. Idahoans have been loud in their support for public lands in recent weeks because of provisions U.S. Sen. Mike Lee kept trying to insert in President Donald Trump's so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Lee, R-Utah, proposed selling some public lands, stating the proceeds would help to address housing affordability. However, the bill did not include any language requiring such housing to be affordable. After public outcry, part of Idaho's congressional delegation opposed the bill. The provision was ultimately removed. Pickering said by phone Monday that she believes the widespread opposition to the provision makes it more likely people will approve this levy if the council puts it on the ballot. 'I also think it demonstrates to folks that we can't take these lands for granted,' Pickering said. 'We can't just assume that folks are always going to be looking out for what we believe are inherent values and interests, because clearly, that's not the case.'
