EXETER, RI – In an effort to prevent students from being denied admission to Job Corps training programs, U.S. Senator Jack Reed today visited the Exeter Job Corps Center and urged the Obama Administration to take immediate action to get Job Corps nationwide working again. 

At a U.S. Senate hearing this week, high-ranking officials from the U.S. Department of Labor testified that sloppy financial management and a lack of program monitoring at the federal level led to a $61 million cost overrun, causing Job Corps to suspend new enrollments in January at all 125 Job Corps sites nationwide.  As a result, an estimated 100 disadvantaged youth in Rhode Island could be denied the opportunity for critical education and vocational training if enrollment is not resumed before the end of the program year on June 30th.

Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee who, over the years, secured $15 million in federal funding to get Rhode Island’s Exeter Job Corps Academy up and running, stated: “I am really impressed with the work the students and staff here at Exeter’s Job Corps Center are doing.  This is one of the best Job Corps in the country and has helped many young people get back on track, learn new skills, and build careers.  This enrollment freeze is costing jobs and opportunities.  The U.S. Department of Labor must do everything it can to quickly resolve this issue and get the program working again.  Congress needs to get to the bottom of this shortfall and ensure the Department of Labor has the authority and flexibility it needs to lift the enrollment suspension.”

Responding to a January 25 letter from Senator Reed and several of his colleagues, Labor Department Assistant Secretary Jane Oates, who oversees the federal Job Corps program nationwide, outlined several factors that contributed to Job Corps’ financial problems, including growing expenditures after the delayed openings of three new centers in 2010 and 2011, and “serious weaknesses in ETA’s and Job Corps’ financial management processes that led to a failure to identify and adjust to rising costs in a timely manner.” 

The Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor is conducting a review of the Department of Labor’s internal controls over Job Corps funds and expenditures and on the root causes of the funding shortfall.  Reed has requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate the management of the process for implementing cost saving measures and the effectiveness of those measures. 

Exeter Job Corps Center, which opened in 2004, provides free job training in a variety of vocations, including: computers, culinary arts, construction, hospitality, health fields, manufacturing, and other career paths, as well as transportation and dormitory-style housing for those who need it.  Enrollment at Exeter is typically over 200 students, with rolling admissions throughout the year.  Nationwide, Job Corps provides education and job training for about 60,000 disadvantaged and at-risk youths between the ages of 16 and 24.