Collins measure addresses Job Corps budget deficit

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced bipartisan legislation on Tuesday that would take steps to address Job Corps’ $60 million budget deficit and restore program functions.

The Securing Job Corps Centers Act would establish an advisory board to collaborate with the Department of Labor, which administers Job Corps, on policy and program recommendations.

“It is clear that the Department of Labor has mismanaged this program and students suffered the consequences,” Collins said. “There are two Job Corps centers in Maine that do excellent work to help young adults become productive members of society. The Penobscot Job Corps Academy and the Loring Job Corps Center have the capability to serve nearly 800 at-risk youth on a daily basis. These centers put these young men and women on a path to earning their high school diploma and to gaining the necessary skills to enter the workforce or the military or go on to college.”

Collins added that mismanagement of the program has led to Job Corps staff layoffs. Every job center is operating at 21 to 25 percent below capacity.

The DoL suspended new student enrollments earlier this year to address the current budget shortfall. The program also had a $39 million deficit last year.

The issues were caused by unchecked expenditure growth that resulted from a weakened financial management process, according to the DoL.

“There has been financial mismanagement with this program – and that mismanagement has been exacerbated by a lack of adequate oversight,” McCaskill said. “The program needs to be reformed, and it’s my belief that this bill will put it on the path to providing Americans with the expanded job opportunities many folks still need.”