Two Hawaii job training centers are trying to increase enrollment and awareness of their continued operation amid a Trump administration effort to shut them down.
The operator of the Job Corps centers on Oahu and Maui wants the public to know that the facilities didn’t close at the end of June as directed by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Stakeholders in many of the roughly 125 Job Corps centers nationwide filed a federal lawsuit in New York June 3 and obtained a preliminary injunction June 25 preventing the shutdown.
The litigation remains pending, and although the outcome on the merits of the case is uncertain, the nation’s largest career training program continues to provide vocational training and schooling for low-income youth and young adults on campuses with housing, meals, transportation and support services all at no cost to participants.
“We are continuously accepting applications, and encourage anyone ages 16-24 and interested in learning a skilled trade to apply,” Emily Lawhead, a spokesperson for Management &Training Corp., the Utah-based operator of the Hawaii Job Corps centers and 14 on the mainland, said in an email.
After the Labor Department announced May 29 that Jobs Corps operations nationwide would cease by June 30, a temporary pause in processing new student background checks occurred, affecting enrollment.
When the shutdown plan was announced, there were 209 students enrolled between the Oahu and Maui campuses, with an additional 50 awaiting acceptance. Today, 129 students are enrolled, and the operator has been trying to add more.
“Job Corps is open and ready to train young workers in skills that are in high demand,” Jeff Barton, MTC senior vice president of education and training, said in a statement. “This is an incredible opportunity for young people to launch stable, rewarding careers — and we need the community’s help to get the word out.”
At the Oahu Job Corps center in Waimanalo, which has a capacity of 211 students and 100 enrolled, there are training programs in construction, health care, automotive and machine repair, finance and business, homeland security, hospitality, and renewable resources and energy.
The Maui Job Corps center in Makawao, which can serve 128 students but has only 29, offers programs in construction, finance and business, and hospitality.
Labor Department officials under President Donald Trump contend that the federally funded program operated by contractors has high costs and doesn’t produce satisfactory results.
“Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training, and community,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement announcing the shutdown move. “However, a startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve. We remain committed to ensuring all participants are supported through this transition and connected with the resources they need to succeed as we evaluate the program’s possibilities.”
The department in April released results from an analysis of Job Corps operations nationwide for the program’s fiscal year that ended in June 2024. The National Job Corps Association disputed the report.
Study results included a finding that participants nationwide earned $16,695 annually on average after leaving the program.
The association contends that Job Corps students were placed in jobs earning an average wage of $17.13 in the study year, more than twice the federal minimum wage of $7.25, and that graduates earned annualized wages of more than $31,000.
Another study finding was that 39% of students graduated from the program, which the association said was still depressed in the study year due to COVID-19 policies and is higher now, while historical rates have been over 60%.
The report cited high program expenses averaging $155,601 per graduate. The association said the cost per enrollee is under $50,000, and that the figure was inflated by COVID-19 capacity restrictions.
The Labor Department and the association also clashed over 14,913 “serious” safety infractions, which the study said included 2,702 reports of drug use, 372 reports of sexual harassment or assault, 1,808 hospital visits and 1,764 reported acts of violence.
The association said the tally included power outages, inclement weather, athletic injuries and adult students leaving campus without prior approval.
The federal program was established 61 years ago as part of the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act under a “war on poverty” initiative of President Lyndon Johnson.
The first Job Corps center in Hawaii opened in 1966 as a regional center serving Hawaii residents as well as people from Pacific islands with ties to the federal government, including Guam, Micronesia, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
At one time there were satellite campuses on Kauai and Hawaii island.
MTC said the Hawaii Job Corps centers have consistently been among top- performing centers nationally, and for the most recent program year ranked first for academic and career technical training programs, while placement services ranked in the top five.
Hawaii Job Corps cost $4.3 million in the study year, according to the federal report. The Labor Department said Job Corps overall cost about $1.8 billion in the study year and was projected to incur a $213 million deficit in the most recent program year that ended June 30.
Source: The Garden Island
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