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Comment by dnadler | Hacker News Reader

I have to say, the "What is Job Corp?" page does not directly answer the question at all. It sounds like some kind of school?

Do students pay tuition? Is it free? What do they learn? How long does it take? Where is it?

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The website reads fine, there's even three FAQs to answer your questions at the bottom of the page you referenced.

Job Corps is a training program for 16-24 year olds as an alternative or supplement to high school or college. Your first touch to this would typically be your high school guidance counselor. Your second touch might be your community college counselor. Your other pathway might be through your parole officer.

It's free. It's listed multiple times on the website.

They learn welding, manufacturing, automative tech, construction, hospitality, healthcare, and the best one is probably forestry. It's listed multiple places on the website.

How long is typically 1 to 3 year stints.

Job Corps centers are located in almost every major city in almost every state. It's a government program since the 1960's. There's an entire program finder on the website.

Thanks for the information. It sounds like an interesting program. The FAQ you mention does do a good job of answering these questions. I wish that was more front and center instead of at the very bottom of the footer.

My comment was more about the fact that the "What Is Job Corps" page is very much a marketing page, and I think it leans too heavily in that direction. I bounced off it pretty hard because it's quite busy and clearly trying to sell me something. That's a red flag for me when I'm looking at education programs.

I had to do a triple take to make sure this was actually a federal program and not a scam.

can scams even get .gov tlds?

congress.gov seems to exist

you didn't see the .gov in the domain name?

I did — that’a ultimately why I decided it was legit.

>Job Corps centers are located in almost every major city in almost every state.

This seems pretty far off the mark. Using their program finder, I find (for instance) that the only one in Colorado is in Colbran. As a Colorado native, I expected that the one in Colorado would at least be in a town I had heard of.

They are in some kind of surprising places. There's not really one in the Seattle metro area, for instance. But there are 2 a piece in Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

I wonder if the weird locations are entirely down to real estate, or if there's a local demographic question or even a correlation between remoteness of location and success rate.

> I find (for instance) that the only one in Colorado is in Collbran

That particular location is run by the US Forestry service. Collbran is very close to a National Forest, so the location seems appropriate.

And in the context of "put the Job Corps Center where the affiliated jobs are", it makes perfect sense. The "Seattle area" center is similarly placed in a lumber town, more than hour's drive (without traffic) from the Seattle.

All I'm saying is that the assertion that there's one in every major city is pretty wide of the mark.

I could have sworn there was one in Colorado Springs, but there isn't one on the map. I wonder if I'm misremembering or if it shut down.

I attended this program about 10 years ago. To answer your questions, It is a school, they pay the student a stipend and lots of other benefits. the courses are mostly "blue collar" related job training. So thing like Welding, Brick Laying, Computer Repair. You will find most of their courses are targeting job sectors that are in need of people. they also house you for the entire time and is a rather good program to get into.

Do you know if they have any partnership or work with foster homes to give foster kids a solid path into adulthood?

So once you join you are housed in a dorm on campus. Once you start to leave they will help you find a job, a home and give you starting money. You will not leave the campus until all of this is done. Once you are out on your own, You can rejoin Job Corps if you are still under aged and do a different program and get all the same benefits

I don't know if they have explicit partnerships, but it's certainly a program that case workers in the foster care system are aware of. My foster daughter's case worker explored it with her as one of a range of options after high school. (She ended up just getting a regular job instead.)

I'd be really curious to know how it works out for former foster youth who try it. On the one hand I can imagine the structure and support to be really valuable to kids who have been in the foster care system. On the other hand foster youth often benefit most from systems that can give them lots of second chances and can work with them to meet their individual needs, and I don't know if that's something Job Corps can offer.

You may be interested in ASMBLY Makerspace in Austin, which has a scholarship program to help foster kids / teens get skills that can help them transition into adulthood and get great jobs: https://asmbly.org/new-maker-scholarship-program/

Computer repair is now considered a blue collar job?

I would certainly consider Geek Squad blue collar type work.

Between this and CNC it is amazing how highly technical and how high the education requirements can be for “blue collar” work

Indeed! Have you look at what's needed to be good at car repair lately?

Most blue collar work has always been technical and required a fairly high level of education. The educational path has historically been different (apprenticeships, trade schools, etc), but no less rigorous.

You can scratch by, get your certs, and stand by a machine for ten hours a day, six days a week. Or you can really apply yourself and focus on attaining SOME engineering-level skills and end up indespensible (usually given a part and asked to make it by coming up with a program, as opposed to working from print or existing process). You can be a glorified monkey or you can make yourself into an engineer. Up to you.

Yep. On top of that you better be fast and generally mistake-free or you will be broke. Oh yeah, don't rock the boat either. You have to accept the level of personal safety (gear/practices) that everyone else has accepted--or you are out the door.

I've always thought of it as such... but it probably falls into that borderline between the two.

Definitely. Just like car repair that requires A LOT more training.

It is a US government program that provides housing, food, and an allowance to people 18-25 that are willing to attend a JobCorps trade school.

Basically an alternative to joining the military if you are disadvantaged and want to learn a skill and build a career.

Its basically vocational training. It doesn't cost anything. Must be 16-24 and meet low income criteria. Its been around since 1964.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_Corps

The program is not only entirely free, it can actually pay the students (this was 2011; YMMV):

Job Corps Living Allowance and Transition Payment

The living allowance (i.e., pay) is based on stay duration (e.g., up to 56 days is $25/pay period or two weeks, 57-112 days is $30/pay period, 113-182 is $40/pay period and 183+ days at $50/pay period).

A transition payment occurs when the student successfully completes a High School Diploma/GED and/or a career and technical certificate. Students receive $250 for HSD/GED, $750 for CTE or $1,200 for completing both.

Source:

https://www.mtctrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Job-Cor...

Yes and in some locations you can get mugged on pay day by fellow students.

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