MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
At least 90 federally funded Job Corps centers run by contractors across the country are closing. That is, unless a lawsuit against the Trump administration goes their way. As Maggie Ryan with Little Rock Public Radio reports, some historically Black colleges are finding ways to help students impacted by the closures.
MAGGIE RYAN, BYLINE: Samantha Reyes enrolled in Job Corps because she didn't have any other option. She was interested in going to college but couldn't afford it. She heard about Job Corps and joined a program in Little Rock, Arkansas, last August.
SAMANTHA REYES: I feel like it was definitely meant for me. It was a blessing in that I could just go and pick up a trade, whatever that looked like.
RYAN: Reyes decided to become a certified nursing assistant. Like Reyes, most Job Corps students are between the ages of 16 and 24. They take classes to earn their high school diploma, driver's license or learn skills to prepare for a range of careers. Job Corps also provides free housing, meals and health insurance. The whole program is free, meant for low-income people without other options. For many students, it's the only thing that keeps them from being homeless. But in late May, the center director called a meeting for the 120 Job Corps students. Reyes said he told them to hurry up with their programs as the center would be shutting down.
REYES: Now, everybody who's here for your high school, here for your driver's license, here for your trade, like, whatever you're here for, you need to get it now, by the end of this year.
RYAN: The news shocked Reyes and her classmates who have to finish by the end of the year. Then they learned they had even less time to leave the center.
REYES: And then, like, a few hours later, he sat us all down one more time, and he said, I'm sorry, it's shutting down this week.
RYAN: The Department of Labor says the centers run by contractors weren't achieving the intended goals and cost too much per student. Reyes said the next few days were chaotic. Suddenly, all the students had to find a new place to live. She says that she was lucky. She has a high school degree and was able to enroll in summer classes at Shorter College, a nearby, historically Black college. She, along with 19 other Job Corps students, were eligible for free tuition with the help of state and federal scholarships. Shorter College President Jeffery Norfleet says he wanted to help the displaced students find stability.
JEFFERY NORFLEET: Then along with becoming a student here at Shorter, room and board is an option.
RYAN: But it needs to be paid for. So Norfleet asked for help from the community for things like bedding, hygiene products and clothes for the new students.
NORFLEET: And so therefore, these individuals would have a place to lay their heads. They would receive at least three meals a day, possibly snacks and more.
RYAN: Norfleet says he also has buy-in from the greater college community to help out.
NORFLEET: The staff, the faculty, the administration are willing to make this a success because we do believe in the future for these individuals.
RYAN: In Georgia, another HBCU is also trying to bridge the gap for Job Corps students. Morris Brown College in Atlanta is inviting former Job Corps students to apply to their program for the fall. Morris Brown President Kevin James says he's seeing a worrying trend in program cuts across the country.
KEVIN JAMES: Some of the changes that have been made have affected negatively Black and brown students directly. Job Corps is just one example that many students of color will negatively be impacted.
RYAN: He says the news is personal to him. His first job out of college was teaching at a Job Corps center. James says he understands these students are going through a traumatic shift, which means they'll need a wide range of support.
JAMES: So we're not just going to throw you in the deep end of the pool. We're going to make sure that you have all the resources that you need to be successful.
RYAN: Meanwhile, Samantha Reyes says she's grateful to have found a place at Shorter to continue her education. But she's still processing the sting of having her life plans change in a moment. And she's worried about the rest of her Job Corps cohort, those who didn't or couldn't enroll at Shorter.
REYES: I'm living out the best possible outcome of this shutdown, but there's a lot of people who don't get to say that.
RYAN: The government still operates 24 Job Corps centers directly through the National Forest Service, but the future of those run by contractors is pending litigation. For NPR News, I'm Maggie Ryan in Little Rock.
(SOUNDBITE OF 9TH WONDER'S "9TH'S JAZZ") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.