DOL Freezes Job Corps
Youth services across the state are currently panicking over the Department of Labor pausing all operations related to Job Corps programming. The move comes after a transparency report showing concerning data over the effectiveness of the program, which has been in existence for 60 years.According to a recent press release from the DOL website, the DOL will begin a phased pause in operations at contractor-operated Job Corps centers nationwide, initiating an orderly transition for students, staff, and local communities. The decision follows an internal review of the program’s outcome and structure and will be carried out in accordance with available funding, the statutory framework established under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and congressional notification requirements.
The move comes as a result of a recent release from a transparency report, one of the first of its kind, that quantified the success or failure of Job Corps centers across the country, giving an overall average with some starling statistics.
The Job Corps program is a live-in, residential workforce development program where participants, who come from “needs-based” backgrounds are trained in CTE based programs with the goal of being connected with job opportunities upon graduation. There are several within the state of Ohio, with one located in the Cleveland area, which serves counties across the northern section of the state, from Geauga to Lucas county. These centers are typically operated by private and non-profit subcontractors. Due to significant drops in enrollment numbers in recent years, the Cleveland location has opened up services to non-residential based customers to hopefully boost enrollment numbers. Many individuals at the facility meet the definition of homeless or have limited avenues for shelter.
According to the report issued by The Department of Labor, Job Corps centers have been plagued by diminishing performance and involuntary dismissals from behavioral issues, assaults and more. The total number of Serious Incident Reports for program year 2023 included 14,913 infractions nationally which comprised of 372 reports of Inappropriate Sexual Behavior and Sexual Assaults, 1764 acts of violence, 1167 breaches of safety or security, 2702 reports of drug usage and 1808 total hospital visits. The program nationally only has a 38.6% graduation rate as defined by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which offers a far more lenient definition of graduation than traditionally understood.
According to a DOL official who spoke with TOR, the WIOA definition of graduate actually permits some leniency than what would traditionally be understood to be a ‘graduate.’
“ Sec. 116 and Sec. 142 [of WIOA] counts individuals who do not complete the full program, the DOL official said, “The WIOA definition of graduate is “an enrollee that 1) receives a High School Diploma (HSD) or High School Equivalency (HSE), and/or 2) completes the requirements of a career technical training (CTT) program. In other words, a traditional graduate is exactly what the public would assume when they hear the word “graduate” – someone who successfully completed the full program and finished in good standing. However, by the WIOA definition, students can be involuntarily separated from the program – even for disciplinary actions or violations – yet can still be marked as a ‘graduate’ upon their separation if their administrator deems that they completed the minimum training requirements before they were removed from the program.”
Within Ohio, The Cleveland location experienced 191 total customer separations with 74 graduating, based on WIOA definitions, meaning they technically completed requirements of the programming, with a 39%graduation rate. Cincinnati had a total separation rate of 217 with 59 graduating, for a graduation rate of 27%. Dayton Job Corps had 78 graduates with 172 total separations for a graduation rate of 45%. Based on the transparency report, the average placement rate, meaning percentage of Job Corps graduates who maintain employment, after graduation is 76% across all Job Corps locations in Ohio. This means that for Ohio, on average only 37% of Ohio Job Corps participants are graduating, or completing the program despite dismissal and of that 37%, 76% of those customers are maintaining job placements through the second quarter after graduation. The average cost in Ohio per Job Corps graduate is $160,580, based on WIOA definitions, which includes customers who are involuntarily dismissed as ‘graduates.’ The average annual wage of those job placements was $10,805.33
Nationally, the Job Corps program costs an estimated $1.7 Billion. TOR has inquired on if the larger WIOA program will be evaluated as well as part of the DOL’s general cost cutting and evaluations, however nothing is known at this time. The WIOA act has been up for recertification from Congress since 2020 and has been operating on temporary extensions since.
