Reader’s Comments

-from Glenn

I recently stumbled upon this site, just a few weeks ago, and have been trying to read all the various posts and comments. I retired a couple years ago from an organization that is very involved in the Job Corps Program. In my opinion, there are to many program and contractor related inaccuracies on this site for it to be considered credible, or taken seriously.

-from Job Corps Fraud

Thanks for your comment.  We rely heavily on Office of the Attorney General Reports (OIG) that are printed in semi-annual Reports to Congress, statements from former and present Congressmen/women, Senators during Legislative Hearings, and official published statistical analyses that prove Job Corps success rates were inflated in the past and are continuing in the present and, in fact these reports also assert Job Corps students are little or no better off after completing the program.  Washington D.C. economists have also published reports in journals that state the same information. Without these published reports, this site would not exist. You may access most of the these reports on this site. (The audit reports from the Office of the Inspector General kowever, only go back a few years instead of all the way back to 1978).  It appears that the organization you were involved with did not have access to “behind the scenes, actual goings-on” in Job Corps as many of the students and staff commenting here.  You, as an outsider looking in, are obviously not in the position to to give any first-hand, eye-witness accounts as many of us are able to.  We actually experienced the “trickle-down” effects of contractor’s greed and were unwilling parties to false reporting to the DOL. I encourage you to carefully read more of the website and especially look at OIG Reports, Legislative Reports, Research Reports and Books.  After you read the factual, statistical information thoroughly on this site, please write back.  It’s so important to know the facts before sharing hasty opinions. You may also access the OIG Reports going back to 1979 here: After clicking on any year, type the words “Job Corps” in the “Find” box.  Some of us are the employees who made those complaints. Hope this helps.

-from Howard

Specifically, which comments were inaccurate? If you have not actually worked at a Job Corps, then you don’t have a very good reference point from which to speak. I agree with Andrea on that point.

I know that my posts are accurate. I have worked in the Job Corps system for many yrs, at five different centers for four different contractors. I have visited many centers and know a lot of staff, present and past. I know the workings of a center and what goes on behind the scenes, at the center, corporate and government levels – I have written contract proposals and Job Corps curricula and have held responsible positions.

What, in your opinion, are inaccuracies on this site?

Filed under: Reader's Comments, Comments, Job Corps, OIG

Anti-Job Corps Protests at Center (2008) Iroquois Job Corps Center

Read the news article here:

Back in 2008 former employees, students, others and an attorney picketed outside the Iroquois Job Corps Center in Medina, New York.  The center is managed by ETR (Education and Training Resources).  Some of the complaints involved mismanagement by high level staff, discrimination and unfair discharge policies.

Six former employees and one student  from Iroquois had filed charges in the past against the center with the New York State Office of Human Rights and the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Attorney Michael O’Keefe, representing the former plaintiffs was present at the protest. All cases were allegedly investigated” and discharged with a ruling of no probable cause. Attorney Michael O’ Keefe said:

“In my opinion Division of Human Rights did not investigate properly.”

Rhett Dallas, with corporate support from the Boston Regional Office of the Department of Labor said:

“Since ETR — Educational and Training Resources — took over the center on Jan. 1, 2005, the Iroquois Job Corps has climbed from the 117th ranked position to 40th. “When the numbers come out next week, we’re going to be higher,” Dallas said, attributing the center’s success to good management”.

In my opinion, such a meteoric rise in three short years can also be attributed to high pressure on employees to produce more, and new ways to manipulate numbers on the part of the contractors.  If we are to believe all the published newspaper reports and Office of the Inspector General’s Audit Report findings of number manipulation and fraud posted on this website and the internet it appears that something seriously has gone awry here. Shouldn’t someone have questioned what methods the center used to rise above the ranks so quickly?

Job Corps is in the business of protecting it’s image at all costs, and it is a well known fact that many Job Corps Centers have incestuous relationships with their local press and DOL authorities.  It is our hope that someday, all of Job Corps’ wrongdoing will be brought to light to the American public.  For me, having seven claimants hire an attorney and having all seven cases dismissed is a cause for suspicion and great concern.  When will someone wake up and investigate the investigators?

Filed under: Contractors, Department of Labor, DOL, Education and Training Resources (ETR), Employees, Fraud, Iroquois, Job Corps, Lawsuits, Newspaper Reports, Education and Training Resources, EEOC, ETR, investigation, Iroquois Job Corps, protest