In Georgia, plan to shutter Job Corps training program sparks opposition

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Janita Beckles

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Janita Beckles

“I have been working very hard trying to get this completed as fast as I can because now it seems like we are in a crunch,” said King, 24, who is set to graduate this fall. “This is really saddening.”

Started in 1964, Job Corps was created when President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Economic Opportunity Act, the centerpiece of his “war on poverty.” Funded by the federal government, it helps low-income people, ages 16 to 24, complete their high school education and learn job skills.

There are about 25,000 students enrolled in the Job Corps program at 123 centers nationwide, according to the Labor Department. Of those centers, 99 are operated by federal contractors. The program has campuses in Albany and Brunswick. Construction of a new campus in metro Atlanta has stalled.

President Donald Trump’s administration has underscored that the program’s deficit is expected to reach $213 million this year and that its average annual cost per student has reached about $80,000 while its average graduation rate is just under 39%. The Labor Department says participants on average go on to earn $16,695 annually, or only about 11% above the federal poverty threshold of $15,060 for individuals.

The program has previously drawn scrutiny. In 2018, for example, the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General released an audit report concluding, “Job Corps could not demonstrate the extent to which its training programs helped participants enter meaningful jobs appropriate to their training.”

Hundreds of Job Corps employees in Georgia could lose their jobs if the program were canceled, Janita Beckles, a Job Corps admissions services manager in Marietta, said during a June 4 interview. Beckles added that she worries about the fate of Job Corps students, some of whom experienced homelessness before they enrolled in the program.

“No one chooses poverty. No one in the United States should be sleeping on concrete,” she said. “To do this in such a short amount of time with no plan of action is devastating and, in my opinion, it is inhumane.”

Karla Harris, 24, of Decatur, said she was homeless before Job Corps found her a place to stay at its center in Albany last year. The program trained her to become a plasterer, helping her land a job in the construction industry.

“Everybody was devastated. Staff, students, everybody,” Harris said of her classmates’ reaction to the Trump administration’s decision. “I just hate that this is happening.”

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

In May, U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced her agency was pausing Job Corps, noting a “startling number of serious incident reports” in the program, including sexual assault and drug use.

“Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training and community,” she said. “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.”

The National Job Corps Association, a nonprofit trade group, pushed back, saying the Labor Department’s decision is based “on incorrect and misleading information and, at best, lacking necessary context.” This month, the association joined a coalition of plaintiffs in suing in a federal court to block the Trump administration from eliminating the program.

“Shuttering Job Corps will have disastrous, irreparable consequences,” the lawsuit says, “including displacing tens of thousands of vulnerable young people, destroying companies that have long operated Job Corps centers in reliance on the government’s support for the program, and forcing mass layoffs of workers who support the program.”

Andrew Carter Jr., a U.S. district court judge in New York City, issued an order on June 4, temporarily blocking the Trump administration from suspending the program. On Wednesday, Carter went further, granting a preliminary injunction to stop the government from shutting down Job Corps until the lawsuit is resolved.

A Labor Department spokesperson had said earlier the administration would “evaluate and comply with the temporary restraining order. We remain confident that our actions are consistent with the law.”

The Trump administration’s move to end the program has drawn opposition from both sides of the aisle in Congress. U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr., a Democrat from Georgia and the co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Job Corps Caucus, said eliminating the program would “shatter the dreams and aspirations of tens of thousands of promising students.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine who leads the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Job Corps centers in her state “have become important pillars of support for some of our most disadvantaged young adults.”

Meanwhile, South Fulton city officials are seeking to draw attention to a stalled construction site for a new Job Corps center southwest of Atlanta near the intersection of Washington Road and Roosevelt Highway.

Projected as a $50 million investment, according to the city, the 25-acre project was designed to serve 500 students. Construction stopped in 2019 following a dispute between the building contractor and Job Corps officials.

Meeting with reporters next to the site earlier this month, South Fulton City Councilwoman Helen Zenobia Willis appealed to Trump, saying, “If you want to make America great again, restore the funding to the Job Corps. Allow this facility to continue to be built.” She added: “How is it that your goal is to re-create manufacturing in the USA and create tariff wars and you won’t invest in job training for our youth to be able to be a part of the job market?”

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez