Editing Job Corps (section)

== History ==
===Founding===
The Job Corps was originally designed by a task force established by Labor Secretary [[Willard Wirtz]] reporting to Manpower Administrator [[Sam Merrick]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2015-10-23|title='Monday Memo' is still the CEO's very best friend!|journal=Board & Administrator for Administrators Only|volume=32|issue=3|pages=4|doi=10.1002/ban.30164|issn=1525-7878}}</ref> In 1962, the youth unemployment rate was twice the non-youth unemployment rate and the purpose of the initiative was to create a program whereby Youth members of the program could spend half of their time improving national parks and forests and the other half of their time improving their basic education skills which were severely limiting their occupational accomplishments.  The Job Corps Task Force initially recommended that Job Corps programs be limited to Federal National Parks, National Forests, and other Federal Lands.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

By the time of the Kennedy assassination in 1963, the Job Corps' operational plans, costs, and budgets had been well developed, including coordination with the U. S. Forest Service and the National Park Service, and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) executed among the agencies. Initiating legislation and budgetary authorizations were drafted by the Kennedy Administration and introduced in both houses of Congress.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=United States Department of Labor|date=1963|title=Youth Unemployment Act of 1063|journal=Introduced but Never Voted Upon}}</ref>

In 1964, [[Lyndon Baines Johnson|President Johnson]], facing military manpower shortages for the [[Vietnam War]], suggested that the Job Corps could be useful in preparing young men to meet the mental and physical requirements for military enlistment.<ref name="cost_2014_05_19_wapo" />

When President Johnson and his planning staff decided on the [[war on poverty]], most of the proposed programs would take more than a year to even start. However the Job Corps idea was well along in the planning stage and could be deployed rapidly, so the Labor Department Job Corps Task Force was appointed to the Task force for the War on Poverty,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Keppel|first=Francis|date=December 1963|title=Appointment of the Labor Department Job Task Force to the Task Force for the War on Poverty|journal=Executive Order}}</ref> and the Job Corps was slated to be the initial operational program.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

Job Corps was therefore initiated as the central program of the [[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson Administration's]] War on Poverty, part of his domestic agenda known as the [[Great Society]]. [[Sargent Shriver]], the first Director of the [[Office of Economic Opportunity]], modeled the program on the [[Great Depression|Depression]]-era [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC). Established in the 1930s as an emergency relief program, the CCC provided room, board, and employment to thousands of unemployed young people. Though the CCC was discontinued after [[World War II]], Job Corps built on many of its methods and strategies.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

The first national director of the Job Corps program was S. Stephen Uslan, who was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson and reported directly to Sargent Shriver.  The current national director of the Office of Job Corps is Rachel Torres. <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jobcorps.gov/aboutjobcorps/administrator.aspx |title=Job Corps Administrator |date=July 17, 2014 |access-date=August 1, 2014 |publisher=Job Corps |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704234029/http://www.jobcorps.gov/AboutJobCorps/administrator.aspx |archive-date=July 4, 2014 }}</ref> The Job Corps program is currently authorized under Title I of the [[Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/part-686 |title=20 CFR Part 686 - THE JOB CORPS UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT  |date=August 19, 2016 |publisher=Cornell Legal Information Institute |access-date=April 4, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100119013234/http://www.jobcorps.gov/AboutJobCorps/authority.aspx |archive-date=January 19, 2010 }}</ref>

===20th century===
President [[Richard Nixon]] sought to shrink the program, and President [[Ronald Reagan]] sought to eliminate it, but the program continued with bipartisan Congressional support.<ref name="cost_2014_05_19_wapo" />

===21st century===
A series of audits, studies and investigations -- public and private --  starting in the late 1990s, and extending through to the early 2020s, cast doubt on the safety and cost-effectiveness of the program, and have brought calls for the program's end. But bipartisan Congressional support has kept the program alive.<ref name="cost_2014_05_19_wapo" /><ref name="failng_2018_08_26_nytimes" /><ref name="questions_2014_10_22_cbsnews" />

With a $1.7 billion annual budget (in 2014 and 2018), it is the U.S. Department of Labor's largest-budget training program, providing about 37,000 training slots for young people annually.<ref name="cost_2014_05_19_wapo" /><ref name="failng_2018_08_26_nytimes" />

Starting in 2020, the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] triggered the closure of Job Corps physical sites, and the organization attempted to shift to [[online education]].  Enrollment dropped by about 75 percent.<ref name="washingtonmonthly">Kim, Anne: [https://washingtonmonthly.com/2021/04/04/out-of-school-out-of-work/ "Out of School, Out of Work,"] April 4, 2021, ''[[Washington Monthly]],'' retrieved June 7, 2024</ref>

Since its inception in 1964 under the [[Economic Opportunity Act]], Job Corps has served more than 2 million young people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Job Corps? |url=https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/jobcorps |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224203807/https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/jobcorps |archive-date=December 24, 2023 |access-date=December 24, 2023 |website=Employment and Training Administration}}</ref> As of 2019, Job Corps serves over 60,000 youths annually at Job Corps centers throughout the country.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Job Corps Program Year (PY) 2019 Annual Performance Report |url=https://jobcorps-gov.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2023-04/PY%202019%20WIOA%20Job%20Corps%20Annual%20Report%20and%20Appendix.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224203414/https://jobcorps-gov.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2023-04/PY%202019%20WIOA%20Job%20Corps%20Annual%20Report%20and%20Appendix.pdf |archive-date=December 24, 2023 |access-date=December 24, 2023 |website=Job Corps}}</ref>

In May 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a nationwide pause of Job Corps center operations by June 30, 2025, following a review of the program’s outcomes, financial structure, and safety concerns. The decision, costing taxpayers up to $1.8 billion annually, drew bipartisan pushback, with supporters highlighting its role in training 50,000 low-income youth aged 16-24 each year. Critics, however, pointed to persistent issues, including violence at centers and mixed economic returns.<ref>{{cite web |title=US Department of Labor pauses Job Corps center operations |url=https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20250529 |website=DOL |access-date=30 May 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Folley |first1=Aris |title=Labor Department suspends Job Corps centers operations, drawing bipartisan pushback |url=https://thehill.com/business/budget/5325826-labor-department-job-corps-centers/ |website=The Hill |access-date=30 May 2025}}</ref>