The hundreds of young Connecticut residents enrolled in Job Corps face an uncertain future as the program’s funding is being fought over in court.
Job Corps is a federal program run by the Department of Labor (DOL) that provides education and vocational training at no cost to low-income individuals between the ages of 16 through 24. Some participants also live at Job Corps centers and receive meals and medical care.
There are two Job Corps centers in Connecticut: one in Hartford and one in New Haven. In 2023, they had 247 and 202 participants, respectively, according to an April report from the DOL.
Both these locations may close soon.
The House of Representatives passed a budget that cut the Job Corps’ Program’s national budget from $1.56 billion to $0. Even though the budget has not been approved by the Senate, the DOL already announced a “phased pause” in funding on May 29. The pause will go into effect on June 30.
Although the program can only be permanently shut down by a vote from Congress, many Senators are saying that this is as good a death sentence.
“What they’re doing is not pausing, they are shutting down,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said at a press conference on June 6. “They are ending the Job Corps, and they are upending the lives of these young people (at the press conference) who are about to graduate.”
On June 4, a U.S. District Judge in New York halted the suspension of funds. However, the effects of the proposed phased pause are still being felt in Connecticut.
“As of last week, we had to jettison our students,” New Haven Job Corps Center Director Juvenel Levros said at the press conference. “There is some court activity and we are in the process of calling them back, but there was some trauma that was left there.”
Out of the 147 people living at New Haven’s Job Corps Juvenile Center, 140 have moved out. The remaining residents are homeless, according to Levros.
In Hartford, there are around 160 residents and all of them are still at the center, but they will have to move out by June 17, unless the courts either decide end to reinstate funding entirely, or give the program another extension, Hartford Job Corps Center Director Kevin McKee said at the press conference.
In 2023, which was the year that the DOL’s transparency report reviewed, 34 students graduated from the New Haven Job Corps Center. That year’s data from the Hartford Center has not been reported, but in 2018, more than 100 people graduated from the Hartford Job Corps Academy.
“We are producing workers so that every boat can rise in this economy, but it is most important to talk about how Job Corps is saving [and] changing lives,” Sen. Chris Murphy said at the press conference.
Murphy referenced conversations he had with people enrolled with Job Corps about their experiences.
Earlier in the conference, Levros read a statement about Jason Stillwell, a New Haven Job Corps graduate. According to Levros, Stillwell grew up in an unstable environment. He went through the Job Corps’ advanced career training program and became a certified trained nurse. After, Stillwell ended up going to college. While in college, he lived at the Job Corps Center in New Haven.
Stillwell worked as a nurse for eight years as a critical care nurse before returning to school, according to Levros. A few weeks ago, Stillwell graduated from the Yale School of Nursing with a Master’s degree.
“Right now, our economy is crying out for more skilled manufacturing employees. Right now our economy is crying out for more health care workers,” Murphy said. “We don’t have an abundance of trained workers in this country, we have a shortage of trained workers in this country.”
Critics of Job Corps say the graduation rates are low, it is costly, Job Corps is in a severe deficit that is expected to rise, and at times, the programs can be dangerous for the people enrolled in them.
“Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training, and community,” said Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the DOL’s press release that announced the funding pause. “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.”
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which funds the Job Corps program, offers alternative education, job training and work experience opportunities. A student is considered to have fully, or “traditionally,” graduated from the program if they completed the full program in good standing. However, there is another metric of success: students who complete certain milestones, such as earning high school diplomas or GEDs, or completing a career technical training, are considered “WIOA graduates.”
Out of the students who went through Job Corps in Hartford, only 30.3% of enrollees were considered “WIOA graduates,” including 25.7% who graduated from the “traditional program.” In New Haven, those numbers were higher, with 43.5% of enrollees considered “WIOA graduates” and 34.5% graduating from the full programs.
The average graduate, using the WOIA definition, stays for 7.5 months and costs $155,600.
In 2023, there were 90 infractions at the Hartford center and 74 infractions at the New Haven center. The transparency report does not contain information on the nature or severity of those infractions.
The future of the program will be decided in court. On June 17, the DOL will appear in court to make its case in front of the New York District judge.
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