Latest news with #youthTraining
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Judge and lawmakers question the Trump administration's plan to gut Job Corps centers
Members of Congress and a federal judge are questioning the Trump administration's plan to shut down Job Corps centers nationwide and halt a residential career training program for low-income youth that was established more than 50 years ago. The Department of Labor last week announced a nationwide 'pause of operations' for dozens of Job Corps centers run by private contractors . The department cited an internal review that concluded the program was costly and had a low success rate.
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Judge and lawmakers question the Trump administration's plan to gut Job Corps centers
Members of Congress and a federal judge are questioning the Trump administration's plan to shut down Job Corps centers nationwide and halt a residential career training program for low-income youth that was established more than 50 years ago. The Department of Labor last week announced a nationwide 'pause of operations' for dozens of Job Corps centers run by private contractors. The department cited an internal review that concluded the program was costly and had a low success rate. The review also identified safety issues at the residential campuses. The Department of Labor said it would transition students and staff out of the locations by June 30. The program was designed for teenagers and young adults who struggled to finish high school in traditional school settings and then go on to obtain training and find jobs. Participants received tuition-free housing, meals and health care. Critics have argued that closing the campuses would leave young people homeless and deprive them of opportunities and hope. They also maintained the Trump administration did not have legal authority to suspend Job Corps because it was created by Congress. Lawmakers asked Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the decision when she appeared before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Thursday. 'Job Corps, which you know has bipartisan support in Congress, trains young, low-income people, and helps them find good-paying jobs and provides housing for a population that might otherwise be without a home,' U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott said. Scott, a Virginia Democrat, read from a letter Chavez-DeRemer wrote in support of Job Corps last year. The letter said the program increased participants' employment and wages, and decreased their reliance on public benefits. 'You've made a starkly abrupt shift from a champion to a destroyer of this important program,' said Democratic Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, adding that students in her district were distraught. In response, Chavez-DeRemer said she recognized that only an act of Congress could eliminate Job Corps. She said the Labor Department had instead used its authority to halt the program's operations but planned to comply with a federal court order that temporarily blocked the action. U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter of New York issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday that prohibited the Labor Department from terminating jobs, removing students from the 99 contractor-run centers or eliminating the Job Corps program without congressional authorization. The order was sought as part of a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the National Job Corps Association, a trade group which includes business, labor, volunteer and community organizations. The group alleged the Labor Department's decision would have disastrous consequences, including displacing tens of thousands of vulnerable young people and forcing mass layoffs. During Thursday's House committee hearing, Scott asked several Job Corps students in attendance to stand. 'These students were on their way to getting a good job and earning a living wage. On behalf of them, I urge you to immediately reverse the decision to effectively shut down all Job Corps centers,' Scott said. Chavez-DeRemer responded that the Trump administration wanted to eliminate ineffective training interventions. The report released in April by the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration said Job Corps operated at a $140 million deficit during the last fiscal year and had an average graduation rate of under 39%. 'Our recently released Job Corps transparency report showed that in 2023 alone, more than 14,000 serious incidents were reported at the Job Corps centers, including cases of sexual assault, physical violence, and drug use,' Chavez-DeRemer said. 'This program is failing to deliver safe and successful outcomes our young people deserve.' The National Job Corps Association maintained the statistics were misleading. It said the 14,000 serious incidents included power outages, inclement weather, athletic injuries that required treatment and adult students leaving campus without prior approva. The group also said that Job Corps' graduation rates have historically been above 60%, but were depressed by COVID-19 policies during the year the Labor Department reviewed. Seth Harris, senior fellow at the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University, said in an interview that Job Corps is wildly popular on Capitol Hill. He recalled having to slow down Job Corps due to funding challenges when he served as acting secretary of labor during former President Barack Obama's administration. 'I got angry calls from elected members of the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle,' Harris said. The Job Corps program was designed to help young people who were not succeeding in school or who had left school without a place to go, placing them in a residential setting outside their community and providing them with vocational training, he said. The Labor Department shutting down Job Corps would be illegal because there's a process outlined for closing down the centers which includes publishing performance data, justifying the closure and allowing time for public comment and remediation, he said. 'This is plainly illegal,' Harris said. 'But it is entirely on brand for Donald Trump to beat up on poor kids, largely kids of color, who are trying to make their lives better.'
Reuters
6 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Judge blocks Trump administration's effort to eliminate Job Corps
NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday temporarily stopped the Trump administration from moving ahead with an effort to eliminate the Job Corps, the largest U.S. job training program for low-income youth. U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter in Manhattan issued a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit filed by a trade group representing contractors that operate Job Corps centers. Carter ordered the government not to terminate Job Corps contractors or stop work at Job Corps centers until a further ruling in the case, and he ordered the Labor Department to appear at a court hearing on June 17. The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. Department of Labor is violating federal law and its own regulations by abruptly shuttering the program, a plan the agency announced last week, opens new tab. Job Corps was created by Congress in 1964 and allows 16-to-24-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds to obtain high school diplomas or an equivalent, vocational certificates and licenses and on-the-job training. The program currently serves about 25,000 people at 120 Job Corps centers run by contractors. The Labor Department in announcing the end of the program said it was not cost effective, had a low graduation rate and was not placing participants in stable jobs. The department also said there had been thousands of instances of violence, drug use and security breaches at Job Corps centers. The National Job Corps Association and other plaintiffs in Tuesday's lawsuit said the Labor Department does not have the power to dismantle a program established and funded by Congress. Shuttering Job Corps is a small piece of a broader effort by Trump, a Republican, and his appointees to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy, including by getting rid of some offices and agencies altogether.
CBS News
7 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Long Beach and Inland Empire Job Corps centers close
A longtime federal program that provides job training, housing and second chances to hundreds of at-risk youth nationwide is shutting its doors in Long Beach and the Inland Empire today. "I'm kind of nervous going back out there," 20-year-old Jacob Moan said after visiting the Inland Empire Job Corps Center. "I got permission to go back with my family in Los Angeles. The thing is my whole family is gang-related except me, and I didn't want to deal with that." Moan is one of the hundreds of Job Corps students left in limbo. He has until Thursday to find another place to live. "I'll be in a motel for about two weeks until a bed opens up at the shelter," he said. "I don't know where I'm gonna go. It sucks." Dominik Rodriguez just graduated from the certified medical assistant program, but now wonders how he'll actually land a job and get money for his son. "Society just like gave up for people in my situation," he said. "It hurts." Last Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it would suspend operations at its 99 Job Corps centers due to budget constraints. The federally funded centers provide housing, job training and careers for students 16 to 24 years old. "Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training, and community," Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer stated. "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." According to the Job Corps transparency report from 2023, the program had an average of 38.6%. The total number of serious incident reports at centers was 14,913. On average, one student costs the federal government more than $80,000 a year. "The transparency report that was released was generated by someone from DOGE, who doesn't know the program, who used statistics from 2023, which were statistics that were coming out of the pandemic," said Luis Ramirez, director of the Long Beach center. "We had just over 30% enrollment at the time." Ramirez added that the center went from helping 257 students to 37, all of whom have no place to go. "They're asking if they can come home and the situations are not possible for these students and parents," Ramirez said. "The students that did leave, we're hearing they are reaching out to community services and are struggling." Ramirez is one of the 140 staff members who will be laid off in Long Beach. "When you walk through our center, we're changing lives every day," Ramirez said.
Reuters
7 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Job Corps contractors sue to block Trump's program closure
June 3 (Reuters) - The administration of President Donald Trump was hit with a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to block it from eliminating Job Corps, the largest U.S. job training program for low-income youth. A trade group representing contractors that operate Job Corps centers and some of its members claim the U.S. Department of Labor is violating federal law and its own regulations by abruptly shuttering the program, a plan the agency announced last week, opens new tab. The lawsuit, opens new tab was filed in Manhattan federal court. Job Corps was created by Congress in 1964 and allows 16-to-24-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds to obtain high school diplomas or an equivalent, vocational certificates and licenses and on-the-job training. The program currently serves about 25,000 people at 120 Job Corps centers run by contractors. The Labor Department in announcing the end of the program said it was not cost effective, had a low graduation rate and was not placing participants in stable jobs. The department also said there had been thousands of instances of violence, drug use and security breaches at Job Corps centers. The National Job Corps Association and other plaintiffs in Tuesday's lawsuit said the Labor Department does not have the power to dismantle a program established and funded by Congress. "Shuttering Job Corps will have disastrous, irreparable consequences, including displacing tens of thousands of vulnerable young people [and] destroying companies that have long operated Job Corps centers in reliance on the Government's support for the program," they said. The Labor Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shuttering Job Corps is a small piece of a broader effort by Trump, a Republican, and his appointees to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy, including by getting rid of some offices and agencies altogether. But the lawsuit filed on Tuesday said Congress in creating Job Corps also limited the Labor Department's ability to shut down the program. Federal law, for example, allows the department to close individual Job Corps centers only after seeking public comment and notifying local members of Congress, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks to block the Labor Department from closing Job Corps centers and otherwise eliminating the program. The plaintiffs said they would seek an order requiring the program to continue pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
