Philadelphia families react to sudden shutdown of Job Corps, which provides job training, education
A longtime federal program designed to give young people a second chance through job training is . The U.S. government plans to shut down Job Corps centers across the country by June 30, and some Philadelphia-area students and graduates are expressing concern.
Before joining Job Corps, 17-year-old Sincere Shaw said his future was uncertain.
"I didn't know what I was going to do, I was skipping class," Shaw said.
That changed when he was accepted into the carpentry track of the program.
The federally funded initiative established in the 1960s helps teens and young adults earn a high school diploma while receiving hands-on job training in fields ranging from plumbing to health care.
Shaw said he was just months away from graduating and said for the first time, he was thriving.
"I just feel like it's a big difference for me, and I really love it here, and I hope it [doesn't] change," he said.
But recently, everything changed. Shaw says his program email, payment card and account access were all deactivated without explanation. His mother is devastated.
"To wake up one day and — no more Job Corps? It's like really bad," said Tamica Shaw, Sincere's mother. "I don't want my son to return back to these streets for no reason."
The U.S. Department of Labor says officials conducted a transparency report analyzing the program's results in 2023 and cited serious safety incidents, high costs and a graduation rate of just under 39%. Officials say they will help current students transition, but families say they've been left in the dark.
"You never know where these children come from. And now it's like, close the door and put them back in the streets," Tamica Shaw said.
The news is also troubling to program graduates who say Job Corps changed the trajectory of their lives.
"I was a problem child," said 38-year-old Charles Marshall, who graduated from the program in 2004.
Now 38, Marshall is self-employed in the construction industry.
"It kind of made me more responsible," he said.
Armstead King, who works with students entering Job Corps, said he worries about the consequences of ending the program.
"I think it will be a really misfortune to the community," King said.
