Job Corps receives temporary restraining order, delaying closures for now

The National Job Corps Association (NJCA) was granted a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court Wednesday for the Southern District of New York to stop the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) closure of 99 Job Corps campuses nationwide.

The order, according to a news release, prevents any shutdown, job termination or student removals without Congressional authorization.

The NJCA filed for the order on June 3 in response to the recently announced closures of contract-operated Job Corps, including the Don Young Job Corps Center (DYJCC) in Palmer, on May 29, a move that could terminate the education and training to thousands of students and create a ripple effect of economic challenges for communities and industries that rely on Job Corps graduates.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter Jr. issued the order blocking the shutdowns Wednesday afternoon, preventing the DOL from moving forward with the closings, “from enforcing, implementing, maintaining or giving effect to the elimination of the Job Corps program, including the stop work orders and termination and non-renewal notices delivered to Job Corps center operators starting May 29, 2025, from issuing, enforcing, implementing, maintaining or giving effect to any shutdown tasks, job terminations or student removals; and from taking any further action to eliminate the Job Corps program without Congressional authorization.”

Judge Carter also ordered the DOL to appear in court June 17 to offer any reasons why he should not issue a preliminary injunction extending the ban.

“I have hope that our congressional delegation will be able to reverse course on the shutdown and allow our young kids to continue their educational journey,” said DYJCC Executive Director Bobbie Irwin, who fears what may become of the students most at risk if the closures occur. “I am most concerned about the homeless students we are serving who have no place to turn.”

“For generations, Job Corps has provided life-changing education and hands-on training to young people looking for a pathway to a better future,” said Donna Hay, President and CEO of the National Job Corps Association said in a news release. “These students are often overcoming significant personal and economic challenges and Job Corps gives them the ability to gain the skills they need to build meaningful careers.”

In an interview with Irvin, beyond the opportunities to the students, the closure of these campuses may have a significant economic impact locally and in the communities where the students live and work, as Job Corps graduates enter essential fields including shipbuilding, construction, healthcare, and manufacturing—sectors that are already experiencing worker shortages. Here in Alaska, the DYJCC is the only Job Corps Center for the state, with many students coming from remote villages, and returning upon graduation to help fill much-needed voids in the villages.

The program’s closure would reduce the supply of skilled workers, leaving businesses struggling to meet demand and potentially slowing local economic growth.

The Labor Department announced last week it intended to close the centers, following a report last month finding that the centers have an average graduation rate of 38 percent and spend an average of $155,600.74 for each graduate. The report further claimed graduates earn an average of less than $17,000 a year. Critics have challenged those numbers.

The NJCA, while taking legal action, is also calling on the the White House Administration to reconsider the decisions based on a flawed report that Irvin states contained COVID-19 pandemic information, and is asking for Congress to step in to safeguard the future of Job Corps. As a program with longstanding bipartisan support, Republicans and Democrats alike have expressed alarm at the closing of the campuses and abrupt transition of more than twenty thousand students, thousands of whom were homeless or in foster care prior to Job Corps.

“It has prepared over 7,000 young Alaskans from across the state to become leaders in their communities by equipping them with highly technical skills that can serve as a foundation for their careers,” Senator Lisa Murkowski said in a statement. The senator said she opposed the DOL’s blanket closure of all Job Corps Centers nationwide and am urging Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer to consider the significant loss this would pose, not only for Alaska, but for the administration’s resource development goals in the state.