Job Corps is a United States government program that provides job training, education, and other services for disadvantaged young men and women. The basic goal of the program is to teach job skills to people who range in age from 16 to 24 years old. The Job Corps also offers counseling, health care, job placement, and classroom instruction to finish high school. Most of the people who complete the program find a job, return to school, or join the armed forces.
The Job Corps provides its services in residential centers in the United States and Puerto Rico. Most of the young men and women stay at a center for six months of training, but some remain as long as two years. Most of the centers serve people from a particular state or region and design their programs to meet job needs in that locality. At many centers, for example, labor unions offer special apprenticeship programs in such construction trades as bricklaying, carpentry, and the operation of heavy equipment.
The Job Corps was established by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The corps was administered by the Office of Economic Opportunity until 1969, when it was transferred to the Department of Labor.
