Several Job Corps centers could shut down in the Mountain West next year.
The federal vocational program for young adults avoided closures from the Trump administration early this summer thanks to lawsuits, but now Congress could slash funds.
The U.S. House of Representatives’s appropriations bill proposes funding only the top 50% of Job Corps centers based on the 2023 graduation rate. But program advocates have taken issue with using this metric saying the numbers were impacted by Covid-19.
But if the House bill passes as is, the centers that performed poorly that year, such as the Wind River center in Riverton, Wyo., could be on the chopping block.
Centers in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Nampa, Idaho; Phoenix, Arizona; and Roswell, New Mexico could also lose funding, according to a Mountain West News Bureau analysis of federal data.
Under the proposed legislation, funding for Job Corps would drop from $1.7 billion to about $880 million.
“Cutting the program's funding in half would be detrimental to improving the program,” said Sam Gilboard, a lobbyist for the National Association of Home Builders, which is affiliated with what he says is the largest Job Corps workforce training contractor.
Gilboard said there are issues at some Job Corps centers, such as low graduation rates. That’s one of the reasons the Trump administration and congresspeople have tried to cut funding. But Gilboard said the answer isn’t to get rid of a key pipeline for construction workers.
”We're not in any position right now, as a country, to be eliminating or drastically reducing the capacity of our workforce pipeline,” Gilboard said. “Our housing market can't sustain it. The housing supply can't sustain it. Consumers can't sustain it.”
Currently, the Senate’s appropriations bill keeps Job Corps funding stable at $1.7 billion, rather than cutting it like the House. The chambers have until late January to decide on a final number.
Gillboard said he’s hopeful Congress will opt for the higher number. He said some members of the House have expressed interest in raising funding back to previous numbers, along with supporting an amendment to limit the Department of Labor’s ability to close Job Corps centers, as was attempted earlier this year.
“All of these things are leading us to believe that Congress really does not want to see Job Corps fade into the night,” Gilboard said.
There are 13 Job Corps centers in the Mountain West. They are overseen by both the Department of Labor and the Department of Agriculture, which uses them as Civilian Conservation Centers.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
