plus 1, Gadsden students ruled ineligible for Job Corps - Everything Alabama Blog

Gadsden students ruled ineligible for Job Corps - Everything Alabama Blog

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 06:58 AM PST

Published: Saturday, December 18, 2010, 9:00 AM

Nearly a quarter of the students participating in a Job Corps center in Gadsden have been ruled ineligible for the program because they didn't meet its low-income requirements, the U.S. Department of Labor said.

Many of the students in the program there are from Birmingham, the agency said.

Job Corps is a federal program that funds centers across the country to provide free job training, room and board, and college courses at affiliated institutions for students from low-income families. It is geared towards at-risk women and men, ages 16 to 24, and is designed to prepare them for careers.

The problems at the Gadsden Job Corps center were discovered during a routine site monitoring visit that found two students who appeared to be ineligible based on family income.

That prompted a full program assessment, which determined that 73 of the approximately 300 students enrolled over the past year are ineligible, said U.S. Department of Labor spokesman Mike Wald. He said the mistakes were made by Adams & Associates, the contractor that runs the center for the federal agency.

"Job Corps is designed to serve low-income students," said Michael Wald, a Labor Department spokesman. "Recently, we learned that the contractor that runs the Gadsden Job Corps Center had admitted students who did not meet income eligibility requirements.

"Regrettably, Job Corps has no legal authority to waive the low-income eligibility requirements. But we are working hard to look for options to help the students."

To qualify for Job Corps, a student's individual or family income must fall below federal poverty income guidelines, which are based on family size.

Wald said the Labor Department has sent letters to the students -- and to parents if the student is under age 18 -- informing them that they are ineligible according to evidence uncovered during the investigation.

In the letter, Job Corps officials are asking to meet with students or parents over the next two weeks to review the information they submitted to determine if it is correct.

If the student remains ineligible after that review, by statute, Job Corps is not allowed to pay for their tuition or other expenses associated with Gadsden State.

"We have no authority to waive our low-income eligibility requirements, and we have a responsibility to the taxpayer to ensure that Job Corps funds are spent as required by law," Wald said.

Wald said Gadsden State Community College has no responsibility for the activity that led to the students being declared ineligible. Ineligible students currently enrolled at Gadsden State will be allowed to finish this semester, but Job Corps will not pay for their next semester.

Efforts were unsuccessful to reach Adams and Associates, the Reno, Nev.-based contractor responsible for admissions under the program to the Gadsden Job Corps Center.

According to its website, Adams and Associates was founded in 1990 and operates 14 Job Corps center locations across the country for the U.S. Department of Labor.

Job Corps has 124 centers nationwide, each run by a contractor with the U.S. Department of Labor providing funding and oversight of the program.

Job Corps programs vary by center. On some campuses, including Gadsden, Job Corps has a co-enrollment policy with a local educational institution allowing students to take classes and pursue degrees with tuition being paid by Job Corps.

About a third of the Gadsden Job Corps students are either in that co-enrollment program or are planning to participate in it in the future.

Join the conversation by clicking to comment or e-mail Williams at rwilliams@bhamnews.com.

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Job creation in Michigan is focus of WWJ special program - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 06:08 AM PST

As Michigan looks to changes in Lansing with hopes new leadership might inspire a healthier job picture across the state, more people are eying health care as an area that can ease the hemorrhaging of manufacturing jobs.

"We've recently seen growth in health care," said Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, who talked about it and other things in "Reinventing Michigan," a 30-minute TV special airing at 11 a.m. today that examines how the state might find new traction and create jobs.

"Reinventing Michigan," which is the latest special WWJ-TV CBS Detroit's "Eye On The Future" programming looking at changes ahead. The show will be rebroadcast at 8:30 a.m. Sunday on CBS Detroit. It runs in place of "Michigan Matters" this weekend.

"This year we experienced the Detroit Medical Center/Vanguard partnership, Henry Ford Health Systems announcing plans to expand their campus, Blue Cross and Blue Shield centralizing their Michigan operations into downtown Detroit, and IT firm Galaxy Solutions announcing their headquarters in Detroit," he said as more jobs will be created in his county tied to health care.

Ficano appears with Gov. Elect Rick Snyder, Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa, actor Jeff Daniels, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Macomb County Executive-Elect Mark Hackel, businessmen A. Alfred Taubman and Dick DeVos.

Seizing the opportunity in health care, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, dean of the region's "Big Four" political leaders, launched his 'Medical Main Street' effort 18 months ago.

The idea was to have area hospitals, suppliers and medical device makers team up to position Oakland County and the region as a medical destination.

"We want to rival Mayo and Cleveland Clinic," Patterson said.

He mentioned research that showed over 45,000 additional jobs would be created in that industry over the next six years.

And the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine which is scheduled to open in later 2011 will generates another $3 billion in economic impact.

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The focus on health care is a mantra elsewhere in the state.

Dick DeVos and his family and other well known names in Grand Rapids have been working together to grow the impressive billion-dollar "Medical Mile" development in the downtown area.

It started 30 years ago and just added a new children's hospital and Michigan State University medical school.

"Helping make the public-private partnership work in the real world is an expression of the service we believe owed to our community and it is something everyone can do in their own neighborhood in some measure," DeVos said. "It's up to all of us, together, to reinvent Michigan."

Eastern Michigan University just christened its new $90 million Science Complex which will help train researchers for life sciences and other medical and scientific fields.

"We recognize the need to expand our health and human services programs," said EMU President Sue Martin.

"As baby boomers like me age, we need more health services. Job growth is strong in the health professions and Eastern's new science complex will help us prepare students to launch careers in nursing and other health fields," she said.

Patterson said the growing health sector is an elixir that matters. He added as a result of it he expected job growth in his county "to be in the black for the first time in 12 years this coming year."

Carol Cain hosts "Reinventing Michigan" airing 11 a.m. today on WWJ-TV CBS Detroit. It will be rebroadcast 8:30 am. Sunday. Read her columns on politics and business in Sunday's Free Press. She can be reached at 313-222-6732 or clcain@cbs.com