Members of Congress in the House and Senate distributed two separate Fiscal Year 2014 Dear Colleague letter April, calling for full Job Corps funding in 2014. Due to outreach led by long-time and bipartisan Job Corps champions in the House and Senate and endless efforts from Job Corps supporters throughout the county, 134 total signatures were collected.
Long-time and bipartisan Job Corps champions, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and John Hoeven (R-ND), co-authored the letter signed by 38 senators.
Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH), Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Pedro R. Pierluisi (D-PR) and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) co-authored the House Dear Colleague letter, collecting 96 signatures from House members.
The letters both praise the long-time success of Job Corps as the nation’s largest and most successful technical training and career preparation program for economically disadvantaged youth. The letters call for full funding of Job Corps in PY 2014 so the program can effectively serve as many students as possible.
In light of the recent enrollment freeze and its devastating effects on the Job Corps program, securing a sufficient appropriation for Job Corps in FY 2014 will be critical to reversing significant capacity or enrollment reductions and averting future enrollment suspensions.
