DENISON, Iowa (KMTV) — Center managers at Denison Job Corps have been told by the U.S. Department of Labor to close the campus and move the students out by the end of June. It's a nationwide, residential program that trains at-risk students between the ages of 16 and 24. Students can earn a GED while gaining job skills. In Denison, that includes programs in building trades, electrical work and healthcare.
WATCH KATRINA'S STORY HERE
I spoke with a Job Corps success story over the phone: Silver City native, Dale Fender. He attended Job Corps in the '80s after his grandmother died and he had nowhere else to go. A neighbor took him in and helped him get a place at Denison Job Corps where he earned a GED and studied building trades. Now, 60-years-old, Fender retired early, having built a successful life remodeling homes in Colorado. He told me he's worried other kids won't get the same opportunities.
- Evan Simpson is a student leader on campus. He transferred to Denison Job Corps from Chicago to become a medical assistant: "It's scary for a lot of us. I had a roommate, you know, he just left yesterday. He's, he's boggled by the whole situation. He doesn't know where he's going to go."
- Denison Mayor Pam Soseman: "You know, this is horrible. I lived through COVID as mayor, as a first-time mayor, and I would say it's equally as bad as that."
- State Rep. Steven Holt: "My concern is that there are some Job Corps centers — particularly the two in Iowa — that are performing well. And it's very unfortunate that those are going to be closed when their performance is not indicative of the problems nationwide."
- Another student I talked to who was walking near campus, Timothy Partee, 18, told me he's studying electrical trades and hopes he can find some way to do that if he has to return home to Memphis. He said he knows some of the students who were unhoused before coming to Job Corps. There has been — he told me — a lot anxiety and tears.
- While it's a federal program, Denison Job Corps is operated by a non-profit organization. However, many of the centers around the country are managed by for-profit organizations and not directly managed by the Department of Labor.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
There won't be as much opportunity on Opportunity Drive here in Denison if a federal plan to cut nationwide trade schools goes through.
I'm your Southwest Iowa Neighborhood Reporter Katrina Markel.
And Denison Job Corps provides more than a hundred jobs for this community and hundreds of educational opportunities for youth.
"It's really unjust what's going on," said Evan Simpson.
The U.S. Department of Labor wants to close Job Corps by the end of the month. It's a nationwide trade school program created in 1964 — designed to provide disadvantaged youth with marketable skills.
Evan Simpson is a student leader on campus. He transferred to Denison Job Corps from Chicago to become a medical assistant.
"It's scary for a lot of us. I had a roommate, you know, he just left yesterday. He's, he's boggled by the whole situation. He doesn't know where he's going to go," Simpson said.
During my reporting last June, I learned the Denison campus provides a wide variety of training for more than 200 students — mostly from Nebraska and Iowa. It employs more than 120 neighbors. A worry for Denison Mayor Pam Soseman.
Katrina Markel: "How does it make you feel having to face this as the leader of your community?"
Pam Soseman: "You know, this is horrible. I lived through COVID as mayor, as a first-time mayor, and I would say it's equally as bad as that."
Steven Holt represents the Denison area in the legislature. He told me he can understand closing low-performing centers and supports the administration efforts to reduce federal spending, but, "My concern is that there are some Job Corps centers — particularly the two in Iowa — that are performing well. And it's very unfortunate that those are going to be closed when their performance is not indicative of the problems nationwide."
About eight percent of the 200 students in Denison are considered homeless. Sources with firsthand knowledge told me other students may return to challenging home lives.
"They don't have a lot of other opportunities," said Holt.
"It's like, what can we do? What can we have as a resource for young people to get out here and make a better wage for themselves," Simpson said.
We'll know more about the fate of Job Corps after a federal court date on June 17. I'm your Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel, in Denison.
