LA Job Corps Faces Closure
Over 600 students a year build their best lives in the middle of South Park at a school that helps with their education and job training. LA Job Corps is the city's largest U.S. job training program for low-income youth operating since 1998. Job Corps is the nation’s largest free, residential career training and education program for low-income adults ages 16-24.
Some of us might pass by LA Job Corps every day on Olive between 11th and Olympic without knowing much or interacting with the campus. But many of the students live on campus and are part of our community.
The Job Corps program, established in 1964, is a nationally funded program that is now threatened with closure. In early June, the Labor Department said it would pause Job Corps operations at 99 contract-operated centers by the end of June, leaving thousands of students in limbo. A judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Labor Department from taking steps to close Job Corps.
As a substitute teacher, I've recently spent about two weeks working on the campus in multiple classes. In that time, I've met students and teachers who work hard at what they do. The teachers believe in their students. The students I oversaw did their work and stayed on their coursework goals in quiet classrooms. On campus they have their own cafeteria and store. They can get medical care. There are student organizations and events, even a basketball team that plays against other Job Corps sites.
"A lot of us are anxious," says student Jayden. "The majority of people here are from broken homes and with nowhere else to go, would likely end up getting forced into a shelter." Jayden says he stays because he needs the program in order to keep himself on a good path.
With a year-round rolling schedule, LA Job Corps has 7 training areas, such as licensed nursing and data science and coding, helping young adults who would be left behind the chance to work in salaried industries.
The National Job Corps Association has filed a lawsuit against the Labor Department that says it does not have the power to dismantle a program established and funded by Congress. The lawsuit filed on Tuesday said Congress, in creating Job Corps, also limited the Labor Department's ability to shut down the program. According to the lawsuit, for example, federal law allows the department to close individual Job Corps centers only after seeking public comment and notifying local members of Congress. In addition, a second court challenge to the closure has been brought by students through the Southern Poverty Law Center and Public Citizen Litigation Group.
The campus is less crowded now as many left after a threat of closure at the beginning of May. Those who stayed were the ones who truly had no other options. Another student I talked to felt more pessimistic and had started the process of changing to another program outside of Job Corps in order to reach his career goals.
I think it's very unfortunate there's such a large hole created in the lives of so many of these people I met, and it's created a hole in our neighborhood.
By Justin Orkin