ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Students at a local Job Corps training facility have already started relocating.
Job Corps is the largest nationwide residential training program in the country with locations all over, including in St. Petersburg.
But students and staff recently learned the program is being paused, meaning all program operations are suspended.
Some of the staff and students there say many are scrambling to figure out what’s next.
The staff members aren’t federal employees. They are hired through a private contractor, and now they have to find new jobs.
As for the students who live on campus, many of them have aged out of foster care and group homes, so many are facing homelessness.
“It’s a place where those students who couldn’t afford to go to college, may have aged out of group homes. Also, those who may have dropped out of school. May have went through a drug rehab program. May have been court remanded to come and gain a trade,” said Job Corps Instructor Debbie Garrett.
Those affected include 18-year-old Aislinn Johnston.
“I’ve been here at Job Corps for a few weeks I wasn’t in a good situation, so I needed to come here,” Johnston said.
She started the certified medical assistant program a week ago. Days later, she learned it was coming to an end at Job Corps.
Samiya Martin finished her program but was working and staying on campus. Like Johnston, timing is part of why she’s there.
“Honestly, I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do as an adult. I thought I had all the time in the world, and I had to do something cause time was running out, so I was like, ‘Might as well come here, get my life together,’” Martin said.
For almost 14 years, Garrett has worked at Job Corps as an instructor, watching students like Martin get their lives straightened out.
“The sad part about it is we were creating taxpayers and now we don’t have the taxpayers,” Garrett said. “And then I’m concerned the government says, ‘We need more electricians and more plumbers and more carpenters.’ Well, that’s what we were graduating from this program.”
She said she is not only devastated that the job training facilities are closing, she is devastated about how it’s being handled and its potential impact on the students. Many of them don’t have a home to go back to.
“We will have students living in the streets. We will have them back in your community. And my concern is if your community doesn’t have a program for them, your community is going to suffer as well,” said Garrett.
Officials at the Department of Labor said Job Corps has been in a financial crisis for years and they released a Job Corps Transparency Report highlighting where the programs at their 99 facilities came up short. The report detailed the average cost for each student yearly was $80,284.65 in 2023. It also outlined the average graduation rate for someone in the program with a high school diploma was 38%.
Many of the programs at Job Corps take longer than one year, so some staff members worry the numbers and the time measured don’t show a full picture.
U. S. Rep. Kathy Castor challenged that report and the closures. In a letter, she questioned the data. “The report claims that the graduation rate is less than 38.6 percent. Why was the analysis not performed on a date range larger than July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024?”
“Really, it’s bordering on illegal because these are monies that congress has appropriated, they’re supposed to follow under contract,” Castor said.
The back and forth brings little comfort for students like Martin and Johnston, who have to find new options for their futures.
On Jobs Corps website under FAQ’s, when asked about students being relocated, a document says, “The Department will arrange transportation and cover costs to transfer students back to their homes of record by June 30, 2025.”
Job Corps is relocating students back to their homes. They are also connecting them with education and employment opportunities.
