3 days ago
Career counselor at Little Rock Job Corps says federal pause on operations nationwide leaves students with nowhere to go
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – When hearing the news that Job Corps centers nationwide will no longer operate after June 30, career counselor Rickeisha Babbs first thought of the high-risk students currently enrolled in the career-training and educational programs.
'For a lot of them, that's tragedy. A lot of them have nowhere to go. A lot of them have nowhere to turn to,' Babbs said.
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She said around 75% of the 160 students enrolled in the program live at the center.
'Those are going to be youth that have an income that's below the federal poverty level. We see a lot of youth that did not succeed in traditional youth settings,' Babbs said.
Because of the pause of operations set by the U.S. Department of Labor, Babbs says by June 5th students living at the center will have to be gone. And all operations paused will be paused by June 30th.
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Temporary or not, Babbs feels this experience will have a long-lasting effect.
'I think for a lot of them it feels like a repeat of what they've already experienced in their lives. And that's abandonment,' Babbs said.
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