Job Corps is a federally funded career training program for low-income young people aged 16-24, which also provides housing, meals, and support services.
The Department of Labor states the pause in operation is designed to improve cost-efficiency and effectiveness in the program, but critics say it abruptly cuts training, housing and employment for thousands of students and employees nationwide.
In Michigan, the decision affects more than 700 students and a thousand employees at three locations including the Gerald R. Ford Job Corps Center in Grand Rapids.
“The staff have told me they have students who will be sent back to homes without food. That is if they have homes to go to. Students who have aged out of foster care and truly have nowhere to go.”
Democrat Congresswoman Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids is one of four representatives in Michigan sending a joint letter to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, arguing the move gave no advance notice to training centers, leaving staff and students scrambling at a time of worker shortage in the state.
“Here in West Michigan, we believe in the dignity of work. We believe a good job is the foundation of a strong family, a stable neighborhood, and a hopeful future. That’s what the Job Corps. delivers and has delivered since its founding in the 1960’s.”
The letter outlined urgent questions about how the transition will be implemented, when centers will be notified of changes, and what plans are in place to support displaced workers.
