By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
While trends in the present economy are causing many people to expect less, there is at least one place in town where young people expect brighter futures: the Long Beach Job Corps Center.
“Our goal here is to help young people get started in life,” said Michelle Allen, the center’s director. “Our program is dedicated to giving them the skills necessary to be productive citizens who can secure and maintain long-term employment.”
Allen explained that the Job Corps assists economically disadvantaged youth. “To qualify for our program, they must be 16 to 24 years old and fall within federal low-income guidelines,” she said. “They also have to be either a citizen of the United States or a person who is here legally.”
Allen stressed, however, that students at the center are not at-risk youth. “Most of them have never been in trouble with the law,” she noted. “Some of them have already graduated from high school; they just see the Job Corps as an alternative to going to college.”
She explained that many young people from low-income families cannot afford living expenses while attending college, and the Job Corps Center solves that problem for them. Students enrolled in classes at the center live on the 17-acre campus and are given three meals per day, a clothing allowance and a small stipend. The center also provides them with no-cost medical and dental services.
“Most of our students, whom we refer to as at-promise youth, are required to participate in our residential program and follow our guidelines,” Allen said. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol, drugs and violence and 18-year-old males must register with the U.S. Selective Service.”
She added that the center is a closed campus. Students who have complied with the rules may get a pass to leave Wednesday evening but must return by 9:45 p.m. All students may, if they wish, stay off-campus from Friday evening to 9:45 p.m. Sunday.
During weekdays, students wake up at 6 a.m., do some chores and then have breakfast. “After breakfast, they have to be ready to go to work,” Allen said. “Everything they do here is geared toward teaching young people habits that will ensure their success in their chosen career path, so everything here is associated with work.”
They learn their trades and study their courses from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with an hour break for lunch. Dinner is served from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Located six miles from downtown Long Beach, the Job Corps Center is a multi-cultural community with students from Long Beach and many nearby communities The campus contains 14 buildings including separate residence halls for men and women, fully equipped classrooms, workshops, a recreation area and a gym. The center accommodates 300 students. All but 40 of them live on campus, with roughly equal numbers of males and females.
The center has a partnership with SIATech, a charter high school in Vista, CA. There Job Corps students can earn a high school diploma through SIATech’s on campus classes or a G.E.D. certificate through Job Corps classes.
“To graduate, our students must meet all the requirements of the local high schools and they must also pass the California High School Exit Exam,” Allen noted.
For those who choose a different path, the center offers training for careers in automotive repair, business technology, culinary arts, glazing, health care, facilities maintenance, telecommunications, and cement masonry.
Additionally, the center offers childcare assistance, driver training, internships, resumé writing and interview skills training and career counseling free of charge to its students.
Currently, about 77 percent of the center’s graduates succeed in their chosen career. Allen said the rate was higher a few years ago, but the downturn in the economy means more people are competing for fewer jobs. Nevertheless, if they relocate, Job Corps graduates are entitled to free career counseling and placement services from any of the Job Corps Centers scattered throughout the U.S. Nationwide, 91 percent of Job Corps graduates enter their career field and go on to college or enlist in the military.
Established in 1964, Job Corps is the largest residential career-training program for low-income youth. The U.S Department of Labor provides 100 percent of Job Corps funding to the tune of about $1.5 billion annually. A private contractor manages each center. Chugach McKinley, Inc. manages the Long Beach Center, which currently has an annual budget of about $8.2 million.
Students at the Long Beach Center reside there for an average of 11 months, but can stay up to three years.
Twenty-year-old Rosanna Mejia lived at the center for about a year and got her high school diploma last August.
“I would absolutely recommend this program to anyone,” she said. “It helped me a lot.”
She explained that while at the center she also completed training in business technology and was placed as in intern in a Culver City public relations firm. “It was a wonderful experience and it made me decide to choose public relations as a career,” she said. Currently, she works as the receptionist for the Long Beach center and will start attending classes at Harbor College next month.
“The Job Corps program is a wonderful opportunity for young adults, but it does take a commitment,” Allen said. “They come here looking for direction and we provide them with a blueprint, which becomes their own personal career development plan.”
The Long Beach Job Corps Center is located at 1903 Santa Fe Avenue. For more information, phone (562) 983-1777.
