Latest news with #jobtraining
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Turner Job Corps in Albany gets passing grades from alumni
ALBANY – When students and alumni gathered at Turner Job Corps in August 2024, there was a massive celebration for the national Job Corps organization that helps individuals 18-24 further their education and receive job-training skills. The festivities included a parade, pep rally and motivational speeches from those who had graduated from the program years earlier. Now there is a big question mark over whether any such future birthday celebrations will be held as the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees the Job Corps, put a sudden 'pause' on the organization. In the short-term, that means that the current 510 students and 271 staff members are scheduled to be off the campus on Schilling Avenue in Albany by Friday. Long-term, the educational opportunities will disappear if the pause becomes permanent. President Trump has indicated he wants to eliminate Job Corps. Critics point at the graduation rate, which the DOL reports at 38.6% overall and concerns about the safety of participants on campuses. The Job Corps budget is about $1.7 billion annually. However, the overall effectiveness of the program is under debate, and the Job Corps has previously enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress. Recently, The Albany Herald interviewed several former participants who shared their experience in Albany. One pointed to some safety concerns, but overall the three viewed their experiences as positive. For Krista Monk, making the trip from metro Atlanta to Albany in 2005 was transformative. Today, she is the public information officer for the city of Albany, and along the way she spent time in radio and television in the city. Home-schooled for six years, Monk was floored when she began the college application process and found that her dreams of attending the University of Georgia were dashed, or at least would be put on hold indefinitely. 'For six years, (parents) did not turn anything in to the board of education,' she said. 'I found out there was no record of my being in school after sixth grade. By their (state) records, I was a middle-school dropout. When I found out I couldn't go to UGA, my heart was broken.' Monk, who had a brother and sister who had participated in Job Corps, looked into it and was given a choice of Atlanta or Albany. She arrived on campus there the week after her 19th birthday in October 2005. 'I wanted to do Albany … new scenery, new environment, somewhere I could really get my life back on track,' she said. 'They put me on a Greyhound, and I arrived down here with very magenta luggage. That was about it. All I had was a bunch of clothes. 'I had three of the best years of my life. I met so many friends at Job Corps. You had people from everywhere, from different states. They gave me experiences I never had in school. They had dances. It's a great way to get people integrated into a community.' Monk was able to receive her GED, allowing her to apply to college, and she received a certificate in culinary arts. She entered Darton College, now part of Albany State University, in the summer of 2006 and remained at the Job Corps' dorm. She was able to get a job at Campus Life, organizing events and working in the game room. 'I'm living in the (Job Corps) dorms for free,' she said. 'You get three meals a day. I'm earning my own income, was able to save some, while I'm going to college and getting the experience I always wanted. We'd have movie nights in the group room. It was that college experience that I always wanted that I thought I could never get.' At Darton, Monk's counselor reviewed her test scores and steered her into writing. She took her first journalism course and continued with a major in journalism and mass communication, earning an associate's degree. 'I decided to get another associate's degree in criminal justice because I loved that stuff,' she said. 'Once I got that, I went to ASU to get my master's in mass communication. I did still take art classes, too.' At one time, while attending college, Monk was still working at Darton, on the radio at Albany State, and was hired as a production assistant at the local WALB television station, where she worked her way up to digital content producer. When former Albany PIO Phyllis Banks left the position in 2022, Monk knew that was the direction she wanted to follow. Discussing the president's statement about eliminating the Job Corps, Monk said it would be a mistake. 'That breaks my heart because it is such a wonderful program,' she said. 'A lot of people think it's a place for troubled kids, or whatever. It definitely is not. It is a super stepping stone to your destination. It's a fantastic program. The idea of that going away … where do those people go? 'I didn't have control of my circumstances, and I needed the help. I don't know that I would have been able to get into a college with just my GED and with my (lack of) records. That's what Job Corps did for me. When I got to Job Corps, I was told it would be what I wanted it to be. If you want it to be your prison, it will be. If you want it to be your stepping stone, it can be. It's 100% up to you.' For Triquenski Hicks, his arrival in Albany was a 180-degree different circumstance than Monk's. Hicks, currently the assistant city clerk for the city of Albany, completed high school with a 4.0 grade-point average and graduated with honors, was president of the Beta and Visa Clubs at his high school in a small town near Augusta. Then, during his first year in college, tragedy struck. 'My best friend was killed, and it just kind of threw me into … I idn't know what to do with my life,' Hicks said. 'I had one best friend. I didn't know what I was going to do. I just went home. 'For the next five years, I stayed home and worked. Then I found out I was going to have a kid, and I knew I wanted to do something different.' Searching online in 2009, Hicks came across Turner Job Corps. 'I had the same perception everybody else had at that time, that it as just bad kids,' he said. 'What I learned about Turner Job Corps is it gives you the best experience of the real world. There are all kinds of people … people who don't know what to do with themselves, kids who this is their last shot. 'Then you had kids like me who thought they had it all together, but now they need something to put their life back together. Turner teaches you everything you need to know about life. They teach you how to save money. They teach you about your living conditions, cooking, cleaning, all that stuff. On top of all that you get to learn a trade.' A basketball player in high school, Hicks played for the Turner Wildcats. He also was impressed that everyone had chores to do on campus like cleaning and keeping a schedule while attending educational and trade classes. 'It's kind of like they teach you how to live your life within parameters so your life doesn't unravel,' he said. 'It teaches you how to go out into the real world. It provides a different perspective for each person. I don't think everybody has the same experience at Job Corps. They assess what you're good at and what you're not good at, and help you develop those areas. It helps you develop in areas where you may be falling short.' Hicks' stay at Turner came with some surprises and opportunities he never expected. His basketball skills came into play throughout his time there, including being the team's head coach from 2018-2023, but before that he got a chance to play for another team. 'During my tenure, my favorite person was Coach (Charles) Holmes,' Hicks said. 'He took me over to Albany Tech's signing day, but didn't tell me why I was there. My mom was already there. I was signed to play at Albany Tech that day. 'Two days later (Albany City Clerk) Sonja (Tolbert) asked me how I would like a job with the city. It was like a snowball effect. It kept getting better and better.' For Hicks, his start with the city came when a student who was supposed to apply for an internship backed out. Because Turner needed a certain number of internship applicants, Hicks was enlisted, and he thinks Tolbert picked him because the job entailed moving heavy boxes of records around. After working on the team that started the city's archives at the Thronateeska Heritage Center, Hicks later was hired to a full-time position. 'All this happened while I was in college at Albany Tech,' he said. 'I had two jobs that were full-time, and I played basketball. I don't know how I did it.' During his collegiate career, Hicks earned an associate's degree in computer networks at Albany Technical College and a Computer Science degree at Georgia State University, where he spent two days a week at the campus and doing other work online while still working with the city. Since earning his bachelor's degree, Hicks has worked on his clerk's certification and in 2023 earned municipal clerk certification. He also is working on a master's degree, lacking only one credit toward that accomplishment. Former Turner Job Corps student Iyana Knighton pointed to some issues she noticed while on campus in 2023 and 2024, studying office administration. But overall, she said her experience was positive. 'Everybody said it was bad kids, and it really was not like that,' she said. 'I had no stability at home, and with the moving around, it was so hard for me to stay in high school. I heard about it from some people. There was nothing good said about it. I'm glad I took a chance.' Since leaving Turner, Knighton enrolled at Albany Tech in October 2024. She is currently working part-time at the Central Dougherty County Library location in downtown Albany. Some of the areas where the former student sees room for improvement is keeping the younger students separated from those who are much older. During her time on campus, Knighton said, there were instances where younger girls got pregnant with fathers who were older. Some students also acquired sexually transmitted diseases. Some of the dorms were in dilapidated condition, with mold and mildew on some floors, Knighton said, and there were sometimes issues with air conditioning failures. And with only two meals on weekends students were sometimes hungry and thirsty. 'I feel like a lot of people take advantage of the 16-year-olds, boys and girls,' she said. 'Job Corps gives too many chances to the wrong people, and those people are the problem.' Still, she said she feels the overall performance at Turner was positive in terms of students being able to receive education and training. 'As for trades and high school diploma, that part is good,' she said. 'Getting a diploma and a trade, I can't express that feeling. I'm glad I went there. I never thought I'd say that. I feel like Job Corps toughened me up a lot. 'Every day, I wanted to go home. But it was 'I've got to get this diploma. I've got to learn to drive.' You walk out of that campus feeling like a million dollars. I have two cats now. I'm happy. I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. I'm just living my little life.'
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Officials respond to Job Corps 'pause' that will impact almost 800 in Albany
ALBANY – The abrupt announcement of a 'pause' of Job Corps operations across the country will be a big blow to Albany, where the current 510 students and nearly 300 staff members are looking at being off the campus by the end of the week. On Friday morning, all web pages related to Turner Job Corps had been scoured, replaced with a single entry that appeared on all, titled 'Beyond Job Corps,' giving referrals to other options including the U.S. Department of Labor's CareerOneStop, federal Pell grants and the military. The DOL has told Job Corps locations to have students 'transitioned' off campus by June 6. Job Corps provides free residential education and job training program for students ages 16-24. 'It's very devastating,' Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard, in whose Ward II the sprawling center is located, said. 'Those are people that are going to have to find somewhere to go and to find jobs. That's not as easy as people think, especially for those that are homeless. I'm depressed and sad it's happening.' Of the student contingent, 19% are listed as housing-insecure or homeless, placing them in a potentially precarious position. Coming on the heels of the announcement two weeks ago of the layoff of 535 workers at the Georgia-Pacific container board plant in Early County, the news is grim, state Rep. Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert, said. 'It's another shock in southwest Georgia,' he said. 'With the closing of the Turner Job Corps … that organization has been there for a long time and it has had great success for a lot of individuals. It really is a blow for the Albany area and the region, and it's going to affect us again.' After hearing about the announcement on Thursday evening, the legislator said, he has been in touch with Dougherty County officials as well as the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.. 'We've got to find out what's going on and see if there's anything we can do other than say we support them,' he said. 'We need to see how we can support them and be effective. We've just got to get together with our chamber folks and county and city and see what we can do.' The number of students and employees affected in such a short-time frame is particularly concerning, Greene said, especially with the closing coming so unexpectedly and with so little time to prepare. State officials were completely caught off guard by the Department of Labor's announcement. 'We have a lot of individuals who are going to end up in a bad posture, especially those homeless individuals, because we have no place to house them at this particular time,' Greene said. While Job Corps has been targeted by President Trump, who has expressed his desire to eliminate the program, it has support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, said U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, who serves as co-chair of the bipartisan Job Corps Caucus in the U.S. House. A letter of bipartisan support for the Job Corps sent to the House Appropriations Committee had 130 signatures, he said. And DOL Secretary Lori Chavex-DeRemer was also supportive during her time in the U.S. House. 'It's enjoyed bipartisan support for 60 years,' Bishop said. 'We have one of the most successful Job Cops in the country in Albany. I'm concerned. I think Job Corps is a very good program that has a good track record.' The bipartisan support is not surprising, as the Job Corps is a program that reflects the conservative values of work, the legislator said. 'I don't quite understand, particularly when the emphasis is on work, that they would want to destroy (this) program that provides job training and turns people's lives around,' Bishop said. 'This is a program that employs people and has upward mobility and provides the kind of work force development we want across the economy.' In a statement issued last week after the announcement of the pause, Bishop said that the program has provided academic opportunities and career pathways in business and industry to at-risk young people for six decades. 'The Job Corps program is the embodiment of a hand-up and not a handout,' the statement said. ' It provides work force skills and training that empower participants to become self-sufficient and productive citizens. 'Today's foolish action by the White House and the United States Department of Labor to close the Job Corps program will shatter the dreams and aspirations of tens of thousands of promising students. I intend to work with my Republican colleagues to protect and improve Job Corps to ensure its continued success.'
CBS News
a day ago
- Business
- CBS News
Philadelphia high school students get job training and opportunities at Jefferson Health
Jefferson Health is filling some job openings with a special free training program for Philadelphia high school students. The joint venture from Jefferson, the School District of Philadelphia and Esperanza College is providing some much-needed job training and opportunities. Aleycha Peralta, who's now a student at Esperanza College, was part of the Jefferson Workforce Development Program. She says it was life-changing. "I thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime," said Peralta, who wants to become a doctor. The program provides free training to Philadelphia high school students, who can then apply for jobs at Jefferson Health. "The mission of this program is to provide talent streams for entry-level workforce in the technical space, whether it's a patient care tech, medical assistant, surgical tech," said Theresa Fortner, who oversees the workforce program. The program helps fill jobs in the Jefferson system and benefits the community. "These are students that represent undeserved communities, and securing a full-time job here at Jefferson helps stabilize them economically and helps support their families," Fortner said. The students in the program get 1,000 hours of classroom instruction and hands-on training. Batoul Ayyash said that through the program, she's decided to become a nurse. "Our main focus is the patient, so we take care of the patient, we bathe them, we talk to them, we listen to them," Ayyash said. "This allows us to understand the root of health care before we actually go into the medicine." So far, 38 students have completed the workforce program, including many who now work at Jefferson.
CBS News
a day ago
- General
- CBS News
Philadelphia families react to sudden shutdown of Job Corps, which provides job training, education
A longtime federal program designed to give young people a second chance through job training is now on the chopping block. The U.S. government plans to shut down Job Corps centers across the country by June 30, and some Philadelphia-area students and graduates are expressing concern. Before joining Job Corps, 17-year-old Sincere Shaw said his future was uncertain. "I didn't know what I was going to do, I was skipping class," Shaw said. That changed when he was accepted into the carpentry track of the program. The federally funded initiative established in the 1960s helps teens and young adults earn a high school diploma while receiving hands-on job training in fields ranging from plumbing to health care. Shaw said he was just months away from graduating and said for the first time, he was thriving. "I just feel like it's a big difference for me, and I really love it here, and I hope it [doesn't] change," he said. But recently, everything changed. Shaw says his program email, payment card and account access were all deactivated without explanation. His mother is devastated. "To wake up one day and — no more Job Corps? It's like really bad," said Tamica Shaw, Sincere's mother. "I don't want my son to return back to these streets for no reason." The U.S. Department of Labor says officials conducted a transparency report analyzing the program's results in 2023 and cited serious safety incidents, high costs and a graduation rate of just under 39%. Officials say they will help current students transition, but families say they've been left in the dark. "You never know where these children come from. And now it's like, close the door and put them back in the streets," Tamica Shaw said. The news is also troubling to program graduates who say Job Corps changed the trajectory of their lives. "I was a problem child," said 38-year-old Charles Marshall, who graduated from the program in 2004. Now 38, Marshall is self-employed in the construction industry. "It kind of made me more responsible," he said. Armstead King, who works with students entering Job Corps, said he worries about the consequences of ending the program. "I think it will be a really misfortune to the community," King said.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
National Job Corps 'pause' will affect nearly 800 in Albany
ALBANY – The abrupt announcement of a 'pause' of Job Corps operations across the country will be a big blow to Albany, where the current 510 students and nearly 300 staff members are looking at being off the campus by the end of next week. On Friday morning all web pages related to Turner Job Corps had been scoured, replaced with a single entry that appeared on all pages titled 'Beyond Job Corps,' giving referrals to other options including the U.S. Department of Labor's CareerOneStop, federal Pell grants and the military. The Labor Department has told Job Corps locations to have students and staff 'transitioned' off campus by June 6. Job Corps provides free residential education and job training program for students ages 16-24. 'It's very devastating,' Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard, in whose Ward 2 the sprawling center is located, said. 'Those are people that are going to have to find somewhere to go and to find jobs. That's not as easy as people think, especially for those that are homeless. I'm depressed and sad it's happening.' Of the student contingent, 19% are listed as housing-insecure or homeless, placing them in a potentially precarious position. Howard said on Friday afternoon that he was reaching out to city staff to determine if there is anything that it can do on an emergency basis to assist those who are in need of a place to stay. Coming on the heels of the announcement two weeks ago of the layoff of 535 workers at the Georgia-Pacific container board plant in Early County, the news is grim, state Rep. Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert, said. 'It's another shock in southwest Georgia,' he said. 'With the closing of the Turner Job Corps … that organization has been there for a long time and it has had great success for a lot of individuals. It really is a blow for the Albany area and the region, and it's going to affect us again.' After hearing about the announcement Thursday evening, the legislator said he has been in touch with Dougherty County officials as well as the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.. 'We've got to find out what's going on and see if there's anything we can do other than say we support them,' Greene said. 'We need to see how we can support them and be effective. We've just got to get together with our chamber folks and county and city and see what we can do.' The number of students and employees affected in such a short timeframe is especially concerning, Greene said, especially with the closing coming so unexpectedly and with so little time to prepare. State officials were completely caught off guard by the Department of Labor's announcement. 'We have a lot of individuals who are going to end up in a bad posture,' Greene said, 'especially those homeless individuals. We have no place to house them at this particular time.'
