Western Pennsylvania officials are banding together to oppose Trump administration cuts, following the loss of funding to a job training program for vulnerable youth.
The U.S. Labor Department last week paused the Job Corps program, which gives free education, housing, and meals to low-income people aged 16-24. The Pittsburgh campus serves more than 400 students.
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato on Thursday announced she is signing an executive order to create a federal disruption response team, made up of representatives from the county, labor and workforce development groups, the private sector, and the Community College of Allegheny County.
The team will look into the impacts of federal cuts, find new options for people affected, and plan ways to mitigate the damage.
Innamorato said the sudden end of Job Corps was the catalyst for the task force, but it’s just the latest example of federal action causing local problems.
“Whether it's been yanking funding for approved refugee families, ending Job Corps, or firing federal workers that test N95 masks to make sure they're up to standard, this government likes to give us little notice and cause maximum chaos,” Innamorato said.
Robert Cherry, CEO of workforce development group Partner4Work, said many Job Corps students now feel like their American dream has been taken from them.
“I stand in solidarity with all our partners here to commit to completing that dream for these young people, to commit to making sure that they have whatever transitional services that they need, that their training is complete,” Cherry said.
Pittsburgh Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said the city will support the task force’s work to make sure people most in need are not left behind by the federal government’s actions.
“Ultimately, I think what we're seeing here is a model for local governments to step up and step in as the federal government retreats from its commitments and obligations to our residents,” he said.
Students face uncertainty
Through Job Corps, students can get a GED, on-site training for jobs in the construction, medical, and culinary fields, and enroll in community college.
Students who relied on the program for education and housing are now scrambling to find new options.
Destiny Smith, 21, said she was not able to complete high school. She said she missed a lot of school to take care of her grandmother, who had cancer.
“She passed away, then I was like, ‘OK, I need to try to do better for myself,’” Smith said.
Smith’s goal is to go to college and become a registered nurse.
“My grandmother was a nurse, my mom was a nurse,” Smith said. “And I love taking care of people.”
Job Corps Pittsburgh organized a resource fair for students and staff Thursday. Smith said she planned to attend, hoping to find housing or any kind of assistance to stay on track.
“I don't know what's going on, what date everything's just going to stop, or if they're going to tell us just get out,” she said. “It's kind of scary.”
Trinity Baden started at the Pittsburgh campus nearly three months ago, studying to become a physical therapy rehab tech.
She said she might have to live with a friend and go back to work, but she hopes to finish her education.
“I feel like I'm going to get through it. I'm gonna have to go through it to get through it,” Baden said. “But right now I'm still processing mixed emotions.”
Menelik Wyre was about halfway through his training to become a residential electrician when the announcement from the Labor Department came down.
The 18-year-old said he graduated early from Woodland Hills High School and wanted to find something to keep from being stagnant. Wyre said the center has become like a second home over the past four months.
He planned to go to the resource fair mainly to help other students.
“A lot of people are facing homelessness and a lot of people are going back to toxic households when they came here to escape that in the first place,” Wyre said.
Wyre plans to go into the U.S. Army after finishing his trade education. He said he’s feeling pretty good about his options. But he’s pessimistic that Job Corps will be allowed to continue.
