RICHMOND, Va. — The Job Corps program accepted David McDonough at 16 years old when his adoptive parents could no longer care for him.
"I took a look at how all the trades that they offered, and I was like, this is definitely something that I could get a jump start in life with," McDonough recalled.
Job Corps is a no-cost education and vocational training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Their website states that the program helps young people ages 16 to 24 improve the quality of their lives by empowering them to get great jobs and become independent.
Skills training includes advanced manufacturing, automotive and machine repair, construction, transportation, and hospitality.
It’s a residential program, and many of their students are homeless or aging out of the foster care system.
"It gives people the better hand of trying to get their life back on track. A lot of people, when I went to Job Corps, they're homeless. They had no place to go to,” McDonough stated.
On May 29, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a decision to pause operations at all 99 contractor-operated Job Corps centers by June 30.
"I got upset because they put so much emphasis on trade schools. With them putting so much emphasis on trade schools, you would think that they would want to keep this around. It just makes sense,” McDonough said.
Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a press release that the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve.
They cited that only 38.6 percent of students graduate from the program and said it operated at a financial deficit of $140 million in 2024.
In 2023, the department revealed there were hundreds of infractions like drug use or acts of violence. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) said two affected Job Corps centers in Virginia, Old Dominion and Blue Ridge, serve 163 students between them.
"This is an example of the president trying to make unilateral cuts that he doesn't have the legal authority to make. Congress has appropriated these funds. The President doesn't have the unilateral ability to gut them, and so there's lawsuits pending about this,” Sen. Kaine said.
In an email to CBS 6, Republican Rep. Rob Wittman (VA-01) defended the department’s decision to pause operations.
"Finding innovative ways to make the federal government more efficient is essential to ensuring American tax dollars are used wisely. All federal agencies must be working to eliminate duplicative programs, cut wasteful spending, and combat fraud within their departments,” Rep. Wittman wrote.
McDonough now drives a bus within Richmond’s GRTC system, a skill he learned at a Job Corps center. He believes that through sharing his experience, he hopes that leadership will change their mind.
"With them closing this program, you're going to have more kids out on the street. You're going to have more kids that can't have a skilled job,” McDonough explained.
The department stated they're working with state and local workforce programs, like Virginia Career Works, to help students impacted by the decision.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
