Closures leave Treasure Island Job Corps youth, staff scrambling
The Brief
The Treasure Island Job Corps location will be closing next month.
A staff member tells KTVU the Department of Labor is asking youth to be out of all facilities by next week.
Staff tells KTVU some students will have no place to go.
Students and staff members at the Treasure Island Job Corps facility say they are devastated by the plan to close all Job Corps locations by the end of June.
This week, the United States Department of Labor announced plans to close all Job Corps facilities nationwide, citing significant financial challenges.
Operations at all centers will be paused by June 30th, the Department said. However, staff on the ground at the Treasure Island location tell KTVU their students have been given an out date of June 6th, not June 30th.
A staff member tells KTVU that the closure process has not been orderly, and they say rushing students out of the facilities could be harmful, as some have no place else to go. As they scramble to find places for the youth to go, the staff is also navigating the idea of being jobless in a very tough economy.
"I think most of us are so focused on the trainee's safety that we have not even had time to process this for ourselves. Some people have worked here over 20 years, as this center has been open for 40," the staff member said. She says the staff and students are hurting and feel as though their community is being ripped away from them.
"Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training, and community. 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. 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. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer
What they're saying
The Department announced that a Jobs Transparency Report analyzed activities in the program, and found that the high cost per student and low graduation rates no longer align with the President's goal of balancing the budget.
The Department cited the following analysis in its closure announcement:
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: 372Acts of Violence Reported: 1,764Breaches of Safety or Security: 1,167Reported Drug Use: 2,702Total Hospital Visits: 1,808
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
By the numbers
Staff with Treasure Island Job Corps say the report cited by DOL was written by a DOGE employee, and the data laid out above was pulled from the height of the COVID pandemic, when enrollment in the Job Corps program was down to 34%.
Students who headed straight to college or the military from the program were classified across the board as $0 wage earners in the report, which the Job Corps team says is not an accurate description.
The staff member tells KTVU her students are more than just numbers.
"People need to start thinking of our trainees not as a percentage, because they are real human beings with individual stories. Instead of saying, 'Only 38% graduate,' say the whole number. Because even if it was only 300 a year, that's 300 young adults not in jail, not in the streets, not deceased, they all count," she told KTVU.
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