Publisher's Synopsis
The Job Corps program is a job training and academic program for youth ages 16 to 24 who are low-income and have a barrier to employment, such as having dropped out of high school. It is administered by the Employment and Training Administration's (ETA's) Office of Job Corps in the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Job Corps seeks to provide disadvantaged youth with the skills needed to obtain and hold jobs, enter the Armed Forces, or enroll in advanced training or higher education. The program was established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-452), and was most recently reauthorized under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA, P.L. 113-128) through FY2020. The provisions of the law generally go into effect on July 1, 2015. Until then, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA, P.L. 105-220) specifies how the program is carried out. The FY2015 appropriation was $1.69 billion. This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) report provides an overview of recent developments in the program, including a gap in program funding, a proposal to close a limited number of centers, and changes in procurement practices for the operation of Job Corps centers: Gap in Program Funding: Congress appropriates funding for Job Corps under three accounts: Administration; Operations; and Construction, Rehabilitation, and Acquisition (CRA). Appropriations for the program have been approximately $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion in each year since FY2007. Of the three accounts, Operations is the largest, with funding ranging from $1.46 billion to $1.58 billion annually. Job Corps operates on a program year (PY) basis, which runs from July 1 through the following June 30. In both PY2011 and PY2012, the operations account experienced a funding shortfall. Congress authorized the transfer of funds from the CRA account and other ETA accounts to close funding gaps of $39 million in PY2011 and $64.6 million in PY2012. In addition, ETA implemented cost-saving measures such as suspending enrollment of new students for nearly three months in PY2012. A May 2013 DOL Office of Inspector General (OIG) performance audit examined the reasons for the shortfall in PY2011, and found that several factors contributed. These factors included not planning for costs associated with three new Job Corps centers, and lack of consistent monitoring of costs throughout the program year. Job Corps Center Closure: As part of the budget request for FY2013, DOL proposed to close a small number of Job Corps centers. This proposal was also included in the FY2014 and FY2015 budget requests. The congressional justification for FY2015 cited that some centers are "chronically low-performing" based on students' educational and employment outcomes and have been among the lowest-ranked centers in multiple years. In January 2013 and July 2014, DOL published a proposed methodology and a revised methodology, respectively, for selecting centers for closure. The methodologies included the following three primary criteria: performance rating, the extent to which centers operate at full capacity in regard to student enrollment, and the condition of facilities at each center. The notices specified that some centers would be exempt from closure, such as those that are the only center in a state. In August 2014, DOL published its final methodology, which was the same as the revised methodology, and proposed to close the Treasure Lake Job Corps center in Oklahoma. In October 2014, DOL issued a final decision to close the center.
