San
Jose Job Corps Center
Program
Overview
The San Jose Job Corps Center is part of the federally funded Job Corps
system under the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training
Administration, Office of Job Corps. Its legislative mandate is the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, where it is authorized under Title I,
Section C as a national program “carried out in partnership with state
and local communities.”
Job Corps serves young men and women who are 16
through 24-years-old at the time of enrollment. Our enrollment criteria
specify low-income, disadvantaged background, need of training, and the
capacity to benefit from training. In addition, enrollees must take a drug
test at the time of enrollment and must obey a zero tolerance policy for
drugs and violence.
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The San Jose Job Corps Center is primarily a
residential program, and most students live in dormitories at the Job
Corps center in east San Jose. The Job Corps center has 440 students, of
whom 360 are residential students and 80 are day students. Nearly equal
numbers of men and women are enrolled. The program has a child development
center that provides 35 parent-students with free child care during their
training.
The Job Corps center is accredited by the Western
Association of School and Colleges. It is a 1999 PEPNet recipient from the
National Youth Employment Coalition in recognition of its linkages that
enhance outcomes and support services for students. For 14 of the last 15
years the Center has been rated by DOL in the top ten in performance of
all Job Corps centers. In the last program year San Jose was one of four
centers to earn an Exceeds Expectations rating out of 118 Job Corps center
nationwide for exceeding Job Corps’ performance measures.
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Legislation mandates that enrollees generally be sent
to the Job Corps center nearest their home, however, mitigating
circumstances or a trainees’ wishes will allow enrollment at a more
distant center.
At the San Jose Center, residential students live in
comfortable dormitory rooms that house four persons. The program’s
10-acre campus has classrooms, a health and wellness center, TV lounges,
recreation center, cafeteria, career center, computer lab and more. There
are recreation activities, leadership training, full supervision and
social skills training to augment the academic and vocational skills
courses.
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There is no charge for Job Corps training. Students
earn a stipend, a graduation bonus, a clothing allotment and after
appropriate progress may enter school-to-work or leisure time employment
or co-enroll in other programs.
The center has a primary recruitment area of 12
counties stretching from Southern San Mateo/Alameda Counties to Fresno
County. Many students, however, come from Santa Clara County. The center
also recruits students for other Job Corps centers.
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The San Jose Job Corps offer more than 25 vocational
courses in the areas of Automotive, Clerical, Culinary Arts,
Construction/Industrial, Electronic/Technical, and Health Careers.
It also offers GED courses, a high school diploma,
on-campus college courses through De Anza College, ESL, driver training, a
computer laboratory, health education, occupational exploration and
employability courses, as well as social skills training.
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All exiting students are assisted in seeking
employment or enrolling in college or other advanced training or the
military. Legislation mandates measurement of performance by number and
rate of graduation by type of training, the number of graduates who enter
unsubsidized jobs and job training match, the averages wage of graduates
on the first day employed, at 6-months and at 12-months.
Other measures include 6- and 12-month job retention, full-time
employment rates and rates of entry in post-secondary education or
advanced training or apprenticeships, and the number of graduates who
attain job readiness or employment skills. Job Corps also measures the
number of enrollees served, GED or high school diplomas, and number and
percent of dropouts.
The Center has linkages with the
MetroEd and its CCOC
and MAEP programs, which provide the bulk of the vocational and ESL
training to local Job Corps students under long-standing partnerships. Job
Corps also links to CTC, YouthBuild, the California Conservation Corps,
the Northern California Cement Masons, the San Jose YES and other
programs.
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The Center’s
director, Cres Ebarle a member of the
San Jose/Silicon Valley Workforce Investment Board.
The Center has a presence at One-Stop Career Centers throughout its
service area. The Center co-enrolls trainees in partner programs if there
is no conflict with mandated student obligations at Job Corps and if it is
the best interest of the student’s employability outcomes..
The Center has an active and support Community
Advisory Board that includes a school superintendent, students, law
enforcement, and other civic and business leaders.
For more information please call Richard Martinez at
408/937-3201. Email martir@jcdc.jobcorps.org
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