A Legal History of the Job Corps

Purpose. The purpose of this dissertation was to construct the legal history of the Job Corps. I focus on five basic questions that guide the study: (1) What were the statutes that created the Job Corps? (2) What was the mission of the Job Corps? (3) How did the Job Corps change over time? (4) What effect did legal challenges have on the Job Corps? and (5) What changes were brought about by recent legislation? Method. This study involved three basic activities: review of available sources of data to secure information relevant to the five focus questions in the purpose of the study, application of consistent and appropriate methods of analysis of the information obtained, and organization and interpretation of facts. The historical method was employed to show that the present state of things is the consequence of thepast. Therefore, the review sources included five statutory enactments, seven case laws; bibliographic materials; official documents and reports; personal conferences; phone interviews with selected officials of the Job Corps; and consultation with librarians and university staff at the Department of Labor Law Library, University of the District of Columbia, George Mason Law Library, and the Library of Congress. Conclusion. Whereas, the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s was a Depression-era job-creation program involving adult enrollees, the Job Corps model focused on youthful clientele and provided residential training programs with a support necessary for successful jobs as an adult. While the mission of the Job Corps did not change over time, the statutes did. For example, the responsibilities of the Job Corps were transferred from the Office of Economic Opportunity to the Department of Labor. Increasing the age limitation from 16 through 25 provided heightened levels of maturity and a longer period of preparation. The Department of Labor, through its operations, linked the Job Corps with businesses and industry, which allowed enrollees to experience the real work community. The Job Corps became more responsive to its geographic environment. The court decisions encouraged the management of the Job Corps to carry out its functions. It also changed the requirements of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act for the selection oftraining sites. No longer was any contract awarded to religious and sectarian organizations.