Latest news with #U.S.DepartmentofLabor
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2 hours ago
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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]
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8 hours ago
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Students left scrambling as Shreveport Job Corps is disbanded
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—The U.S. Department of Labor is disbanding Job Corps Center operations nationwide, including the one in Shreveport, which has been serving youth for over 40 years. The Shreveport Job Corps provided housing, basic medical care, meals, books and supplies, a living allowance, and a supportive community. The program's goal was to teach students a trade by teaching skills and providing apprenticeships. Louisiana House acts after Senate fails on Jim Crow reform The Shreveport center served around three hundred students, some of whom had no home to go to. Those who had no home are being placed in shelters and group homes. Some of them were in the middle of training and did not complete their programs. 'Job Corps being closed has definitely disrupted my life, definitely made it a lot harder for me,' said student Rheannan Hall. 'I was planning to leave in July. I was out the door anyway, but then suddenly, I have no money, no home. I don't know what to do.' The Caddo Parish Commission is concerned about the closure, pointing out the center has trained many Caddo workers. 'It has been a direct pipeline for the workforce here in Caddo Parish,' said District 7 Commissioner Stormy Gage Watts. 'We are very concerned about the placement of the students who have lost some temporary to permanent housing while they were here. My biggest concern is making sure that we can keep those kids off of the street and find them safe and habitable dwellings.' Volunteer Louisiana director receives national recognition The Department of Labor cited the following reasons for ending the program as we know it. 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 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
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Governor says cuts to federal funding for upgrading unemployment systems ‘undermine' workers
The Trump administration is terminating $400 million in funds meant for states nationwide to modernize their unemployment systems. (Getty Images) Gov. Phil Murphy criticized the federal government for terminating programs aimed at modernizing the unemployment insurance system, which suffered under the stress of hundreds of thousands of claimants applying for jobless benefits at the height of the pandemic. 'At a time of increased uncertainty about the U.S. economy, the last thing the federal government should be doing is taking away resources from states' unemployment insurance systems,' Murphy said in a statement Monday. 'These cuts undermine American workers.' The Trump administration is terminating $400 million in funds for states across the country to modernize their unemployment systems, money that was authorized in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act passed under the Biden administration. The Murphy administration did not comment on whether any money would be returned to the federal government, or whether the change in funding would cause any disruptions to systems in the process of being upgraded. The state Department of Labor did not respond to a request for comment. New Jersey received nearly $25 million for its upgrades. The grant money was expected to be accessible for tech upgrades through 2028. Murphy said in his statement that the state has used those funds to 'improve the efficiency of our state's unemployment insurance application to ensure that all eligible workers can access the benefits to which they are entitled.' According to Axios, the U.S. Department of Labor notified Congress last week that these grants were being terminated, suggesting that the funds were wasted on equity projects. However, 'equity' in this case refers to efforts to make the system easier for people to use and access, not as a reference to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which the Trump administration has vowed to dismantle. A record-breaking 1.1 million claims were filed in New Jersey during the first two months of the pandemic, pushing the state's antiquated unemployment system past the limits of what it could handle. People saw their claims frozen, received their benefits months after they applied — if they received them at all — and were often told to reach out to call centers for specialists, only to be greeted with busy signals or messages to call back another time. The unemployment system in New Jersey saw major overhauls following the pandemic — and its first substantial update in over a decade — as a result of a federal program with the U.S. Department of Labor. The unemployment application that rolled out in 2024 can be used on mobile devices, is available in multiple languages, can be saved if the applicant needs to return to it later, and includes revised questions to make it easier to understand. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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20 hours ago
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Local student: Hope ‘dropped' as Job Corps paused
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — More than 200 young people in Grand Rapids were left scrambling after the federal government announced it will pause the Job Corps program nationwide. 'I ain't going to lie: It feels like (expletive). It feels like if you had hope and it just dropped all the way,' one program participant in Grand Rapids told News 8 Monday. Nationwide, the Job Corps houses, educates and trains some 25,000 young people ages 16 to 24, with the goal of helping them find a path to a better life. The U.S. Department of Labor announced last week it would pause the program by June 30, citing a 'startling number of serious incident reports' and an 'in-depth fiscal analysis reveal(ing) the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve.' Labor Department suspends Job Corps centers operations, drawing bipartisan pushback There are three Jobs Corps centers in Michigan serving a total of about 700 people. Of those, 212 are helped through the Gerald R. Ford Job Corps Center on Hall Street SE in Grand Rapids, according to U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids. Scholten, who has criticized the pause, also said 113 people rely on the Grand Rapids center for employment. A participant who asked to be identified only by her last name Mayor told News 8 she was set to graduate in September. She doesn't know what will happen next. 'Most students, if they don't have a place to go, they're trying to figure out where to take us,' Mayor told News 8. 'And for students who are almost done or close to being done, they're just going home. They're not getting their certifications. They're just going home. No high school diploma. We're just leaving.' 'But,' she continued. 'I think the program did kind of help me get ready for whatever happens.' It was at that point a man — apparently a Job Corps employee — interrupted Mayor's interview with News 8 and guided her away. 'She's a student, so she has to come with me,' he said. This, despite the fact that Mayor is 19 and the interview was happening on a public sidewalk. With Grand Rapids center affected, Scholten criticizes Job Corps pause In announcing the pause, President Donald Trump's It said data from 2023 showed a nationwide average graduation rate of 38.6%. The Grand Rapids' center's rate was 23.8%. The Department of Labor also counted a total of 14,913 serious incidents including sexual assault, violence and drug at Job Corps centers nationwide. The report listed 121 in Grand Rapids in 2023. The average cost per graduate in 2023, according to the report, was around $155,000 nationwide and $338,000 in Grand Rapids. And, the Department of Labor said, the program is facing a $213 million deficit for 2025. 'We have motivated students. We work hard. Maybe we had little problems, but it wasn't like big enough for it be like, 'Oh, it was a big issue,'' Mayor said. The federal government says it will help the young people transition to other opportunities as they are evicted from Job Corps. Local leaders say they will see what they can do to help. 'It just hurts my heart to see that these kids,' Rev. Darryl Gaddy of Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church said. 'I understand there's restructuring. I understand that there's budgeting things, but we cannot leave our young people in a lurch. We can't leave them with a gap in services.' Kent County Commissioner Robert S. Womack is also seeking support for Job Corps participants. 'I think it's just terrible that these students are not only losing their chance to finish their certifications, but they're losing their housing,' Womack said Monday afternoon. 'That's a bigger picture.' The future of Job Corps students was among the topics to be discussed at a convened by Womack Monday evening at Wealthy Theater. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
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Feds pause operations at 3 Michigan Job Corps centers as part of nationwide move
This story has been updated with new information from the city of Detroit. The federal goverment began pausing operations late last week at dozens of Job Corps centers across the country, including three in Michigan. The "phased pause" by the U.S. Department of Labor started May 29 after an internal review of the program, according to a news release. Job Corps, a federally funded residential career training program that has been around for more than 50 years, helps low-income young people ages 16 to 24 years old finish high school and get jobs. The program provides room and board and skills training for up to three years, alongside other services, such as child care and transportation. More than 700 students were enrolled at three Michigan centers in the 2023 program year, according to federal data. Democratic lawmakers from Michigan pushed back against the move and called for a reversal of the decision. In a June 2 letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit; Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids; Kristen McDonald Rivet of Bay City, and Shri Thanedar, also of Detroit, said the decision was made without advance notice to the centers, and left students and staff scrambling. "This abrupt disruption has destabilized our communities, which rely on these centers. We understand and share the Department's interest in improving cost-efficiency and long-term effectiveness. Indeed, there is much work to be done to enhance the services here," the Michigan delegation wrote. "But an unplanned and abrupt pause in all operations does not support these goals. Instead, it derails the lives of thousands of young people and dedicated staff committed to strengthening our country's workforce, at a time of great worker shortage across the state." Michigan has Job Corps centers in Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids, according to a U.S. Department of Labor website. The Detroit and Flint location is operated by Tucson-based Serrato Corp. The Grand Rapids center is run by Atlanta-based Human Learning Systems LLC. The labor department stopped contracts at 99 contract-operated centers, according to an FAQ, leading to a "suspension of program operations." The pause in operations at all contractor-run centers is slated to occur by the end of June, the news release states. The move, the release said, aligns with President Donald Trump's 2026 budget proposal and his administration's "commitment to ensure federal workforce investments deliver meaningful results for both students and taxpayers." More: 7 questions for Michigan's chief growth officer as state population edges up More: Big impact of tariffs on small Michigan suppliers could mean a loss of thousands of jobs A Labor Department official confirmed that the three Michigan-based centers had paused operations. The Free Press reached out to the Michigan centers and operators for comment on Monday. "Center operators began implementing transition plans to mobilize students safely to their home of record and suspend program activities. Funds will be used to pause program operations, which includes managing facilities, maintaining student records,and ensuring students are connected with necessary employment and program resources," according to the FAQ posted on the U.S. Department of Labor website. Of 217 Job Corps participants in Detroit, 19 were referred to the city of Detroit and indicated needing a place to stay, Deputy Mayor Melia Howard said in a statement Monday. Of those participants, 12 found accommodations themselves or declined help. Six others were put in temporary shelter and the city is trying to make contact with one other person, she said. "Our workforce development and housing teams have been in close contact with the Job Corps office in Detroit since late last week when this issue arose. ... Job Corps youth participants are eligible for similar training though Detroit at Work and we are confident we will be able to provide training opportunities for those that have been displaced from Job Corps," Howard said. "Because we know the closure also affects Detroit job corps employees, we will be providing them with job placement support through Detroit at Work." About 25,000 students are enrolled in Job Corps nationwide. The labor department is working with state and local partners to help current students with their training and job opportunities, according to the news release. Students will get copies of their personal documents, can get connected to job opportunities by the labor department and they will get registered with their nearest American Job Center, a nationwide network of services for job seekers. According to the FAQ, the labor department "will arrange transportation and cover costs to transfer students back to their homes of record," by the end of June. Staff are employed by contractors, not the federal government. The labor department will provide staff information about employment services, job fairs and unemployment compensation. The program was paused because Job Corps has been in financial crisis, according to the federal government. A press release cited a $140 million deficit in 2024 and projected shortfall of $213 million for the 2025 program year. The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration released a report in April on the Job Corp program's performance and cost. The average graduation rate was under 40% and the average cost for a student per year was roughly $80,000, according to the report. 'Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training, and community,' Chavez-DeRemer said in a news release. '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.' More than 4,500 students were homeless before joining Job Corps, according to a news release from the Washington, D.C.-based National Job Corps Association, which represents staff and students. The association published its own "transparency report context" on the government's report, which it called an "unsound analysis of the program based on incorrect and misleading information." 'Job Corps has transformed the lives of millions of Americans. ...This decision, based on a deeply flawed report, needlessly endangers the futures and the lives of thousands and potentially millions more young Americans," said Donna Hay, president and CEO of the National Job Corps Association, in the news release. The Job Corps program was created in 1964 to tackle youth unemployment. Concerns about the program's cost effectiveness have cropped up during various points of its history, according to a 2022 report from the Congressional Research Service. A 1993 study, regarded as the most rigorous, found short term benefits and immediate wage increases, but also said wage increases did not remain over time, except for those enrolled at 20 years old or older, the report says. At the Detroit Job Corps Center on May 30, students were left scrambling and dozens were reportedly lugging garbage bags full of belongings, according to Fox 2 Detroit. "The staff ... they broke the news to us and they had us go to the dorms, pack our stuff," a student told the TV station. Mariyah Louis graduated from Detroit Job Corps Center in 2017. She was in the foster care system and had a turbulent relationship with her mother and needed some guidance and assistance in life, she said. The Job Corps program provided stable housing, allowed her to focus and get her high school diploma, trade certificate, driver's license, health care and mental health resources. Because of Job Corps, she pursued higher education and now owns a car detailing business, she said. "It broke my heart," Louis, 27, said when she found out about the pause in operations. "I can relate to that feeling of not knowing what I'm gonna do next, especially being a young adolescent." In the last few days since the pause, she created a Facebook group for people affiliated with Detroit Job Corps to access resources and is raising $12,000 for toiletries, home goods and bus passes for students left displaced. "Job Corps was a safe haven," she said. Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@ Follow her on X: @NushratR. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Feds pause operations at 3 Michigan Job Corps centers
