Guthrie Job Corps Center part of nationwide Department of Labor cuts

Operations at the privately contracted Job Corps center in Guthrie must be paused by June 30, according to a news release from the Department of Labor. 

The site is one of 99 locations across the country impacted. Cherokee Nation Chief, Chuck Hoskin Jr., also released a statement identifying the location it operates in Tahlequah as also being part of the list of shuttered locations. 

“We really felt like we had found a spot for my son in Guthrie Job Corps,” said Holly Jameson-Birden, referring to her 17-year-old son who previously spent time in the state’s foster system. “And for the first time, he was not a child in crisis. But, a young man. He became a young man ready to navigate and to start planning his own future.” 

Jameson-Birden said her son called her Friday morning to share the news. Despite a June 30 sunset from the Department of Labor, she says she was told her son had to be picked up by Monday. 

“He has a place to come home to,” she said. “A lot of other students don't. Many are in DHS custody, and they don't have foster families or adoptive families to come to. So, this is going to bog down an already immensely bogged down DHS system.” 

In its release, the Department of Labor cited underperforming statistics and burdensome financials for pausing operations at the affected centers. 

Nonprofit founder, Lisa New, who operates Helping Community Paws and Claws in Logan County, has depended on students for help in recent years. 

“It's been a loss for the community because they don't only volunteer for HCPC, but they also volunteer for a lot of the nonprofits here, which means that we're going to lose a lot of support from Job Corps students,” she said. “And what are they going to do?” 

The Department of Labor states it will connect students currently part of Job Corps with other state and local workforce training programs and support the transition period. But, there is no public list of which programs students in Oklahoma are referred to. 

“He was almost done,” Jameson-Birden said, who said her son was 95% finished with a cyber security program. “And now, the school, they can't even log into their schooling program. And to their classes.”