Senator Collins Urges Secretary of Labor to Reverse Halt on Job Corps Enrollment in Maine

WASHINGTON D.C. (WAGM) – Senator Susan Collins is pressing the Department of Labor for answers after both of the state’s Job Corps centers had their enrollment frozen earlier this year, and now the future of the program is being questioned on Capitol Hill.

The Loring and Penobscot Job Corps centers serve nearly 500 students in Maine each year. Loring alone employs 129 staff, making it one of the largest employers in rural Aroostook County according to Senator Collins. During a Senate Appropriations hearing, Senator Collins challenged the department’s decision to halt enrollment in Maine while proposing the elimination of the entire Job Corps program nationwide.

“Did you consider the potential impact that halting enrollment at the two centers in Maine and then which you did only in the state of Maine and also proposing the elimination of the program on peoples whose life was changed, and I would argue, saved by Job Corps?”

“First and foremost, I want to say at the front end: We agree that this population is somebody we all care about. That is not the essence of what we’re here to talk about, but we do have to discuss the sustainability of Job Corps… It’s a $1.7 billion program with a 38% graduation rate when oftentimes the cost of almost $50,000 per student and to get out about $156,000, we are in the hole now. I would have to come to the Appropriations Committee and ask for more money to just get us back to baseline to have a graduation rate of 32%. So can we do better? I think we can.”

The Department of Labor says no final decisions have been made about closures, but Senator Collins is calling for an immediate reversal of the enrollment freeze in Maine.

The Department of Labor recently released a detailed report analyzing the financial performance and operational costs of the Job Corps Program.

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