National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Condemnation of the Dismantling of Job Corps

WHEREAS, in May 2025, the United States Department of Labor announced that it would eliminate Job Corps, in its entirety, seeking to shutter all Job Corps centers, and displace approximately 25,000 existing residential students without regard to their safety or ability to secure alternative housing and educational training by June 30, 2025; and

WHEREAS, Job Corps is the largest nationwide residential career training program in the country, operating since 1964, and has successfully helped eligible young people ages 16 through 24 complete their high school education, training them for meaningful careers, and assisting them with obtaining employment; and

WHEREAS, approximately 4,500 of the students who will be impacted by the closing of the Job Corps program are homeless before joining the program and will likely lose housing again if the program ends; and

WHEREAS, in the first months of 2025, Job Corps served nearly 30,000 students, affording them valuable educational and job skills training, providing valuable assistance in underserved communities, particularly economically disadvantaged Black and Brown communities; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Labor rationale for dismantling the program is based upon faulty analysis, including citing the false premise of poor outcomes by Job Corps students; and

WHEREAS, because of the dismantling of Job Corps, there are more than 14,000 applicants nationwide left in limbo due to the abrupt so-called "pause" in the program for supposed budgetary reasons; and

WHEREAS, the dismantling of Job Corps will have a devastating impact on low-income and middle-class young people, and will have a disproportionate impact on Black and Brown communities.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People strongly condemns the actions to dismantle Job Corps and calls for the immediate reinstatement of the Job Corps program in all jurisdictions; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that all NAACP units should advocate for the continuation of Job Corps with their respective members of Congress, federal officials with jurisdiction over appropriations funding, the U.S. Department of Labor, and other officials of the Executive Branch to maintain and properly fund this vital program through the 2026 budget and beyond.