Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has joined 21 of her peers in other states to oppose the US Department of Labor’s elimination of the nation’s 60-year-old Job Corps program, a vocational training program for low-income students, according to a filing in federal court in Washington DC.
“For six decades, Job Corps has been a lifeline for young people in Massachusetts and across the country — offering not just job training, but housing, healthcare, and a path to independence for those who need it most,” Campbell said in a statement.
Under the directive of the a labor department, 100 job centers in 50 states would be terminated, leaving tens of thousands of youth in the midst of training nowhere to go, the court filing said.
One of the corps’ six regional offices is located in Boston. The others are in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, and San Francisco.
On Wednesday, Campbell signed onto an amicus brief with attorney generals from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine, as well as Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.
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“The Trump Administration’s attempt to illegally dismantle this critical program is both cruel and unlawful,” Campbell said. “I am proud to fight alongside my colleagues to protect and preserve this critical program for thousands of disadvantaged young people who rely on it.”
The program provides free vocational training for low-income students between 16 and 24 years old, in addition to benefits like housing, medical care, meals, and a stipend.
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“Elimination of the Job Corps program appears to be part and parcel of a wide-ranging campaign by the executive branch to unlawfully dismantle congressionally mandated programs it opposes,” the legal filing said.
Opponents are seeking an injunction to halt the dismantling of the program established in 1964 under President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Last month, Governor Maura Healey objected to the abrupt closure of a portion of the program that provided training and housing to 900 young people in Massachusetts.
“The Trump Administration has just pulled the rug out from under nearly 1,000 young people in Massachusetts who were doing the work to get the training and skills necessary to succeed in today’s economy,” Healey said in a statement at the time.
“Job Corps trains the next generation of workers to fill in-demand roles in industries like carpentry, plumbing, electrical and pharmacy tech,” Healey said. “But now, hundreds of young people are without the training and housing they were relying on, hundreds of employees are facing lay offs, and Massachusetts employers are being left without the talent they need.”
Tonya Alanez can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @talanez.