A government program that offered San Bernardino-area students training for careers in a variety of industries abruptly closed last week after the U.S. Department of Labor announced it was pausing the program, citing “significant financial challenges” and “serious incident reports” at centers nationwide.
Several Job Corps center closures across the nation have left students uncertain about their futures, including at the Inland Empire Job Corps Center at 3173 Kerry St. in San Bernardino. Students there were able to train for jobs in the automotive, construction, finance, healthcare, homeland security, hospitality, information technology, manufacturing, renewable resources and transportation industries — and they are now at a loss.
All centers will be “paused” by June 30, according to the Department of Labor. In a May 29 announcement, the department said the decision aligned with President Donald Trump’s budget priorities and the administration’s “commitment to ensure federal workforce investments deliver meaningful results for both students and taxpayers.”
The closures have come as a shock to some students. Petra Romero, 19, who was enrolled at the Inland Empire center to finish her high school credits and become a clinical technician, also lived on campus. A few days after learning the center would close, she had to leave campus, she said.
“As you can imagine, a lot of students were devastated by this situation,” Romero said Monday, June 2.
Romero had been enrolled for just a week when she was told she had to leave. She was driven in a van, given a bus ticket and had to hop on a bus to Nevada. Romero said she’s from the countryside and had never taken a bus before, making the situation even more confusing for her to navigate.
She had to pay $60 out of pocket to take her luggage with her, she said, but some of it was left on the van that transported her. She still has not gotten her belongings back.
“I’m pretty hurt about it because I wanted to start at this school and be involved in a trade,” Romero said. “They told us we would have 30 days to leave the campus, so I was hoping I could at least get something done there.”
She said it was a rough situation for students and staff alike.
“The decision follows an internal review of the program’s outcome and structure and will be carried out in accordance with available funding, the statutory framework established under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and congressional notification requirements,” according to a news release from the Department of Labor.
Romero’s mother, Sheila Romero, said the department’s decision to close the center traumatized her daughter and other students there.
“Some of these kids are homeless, they’ve come from all different walks of life,” Sheila Romero said. “These kids were just being dumped at the bus station. My daughter almost didn’t make it onto the bus.”
Romero said her daughter has ADHD and a learning disability and didn’t know what to do when the campus closed and she was force to leave.
“I’m a determined mom,” she added. “My kid will not fail … but otherwise, we don’t know what the outcome of her future will be now.”
Though grateful her daughter made it back to Nevada, Romero said the Inland Empire center also was home to younger students, some of them minors, and she worried for their safety.
“This is just the most reckless decision the government has made,” she said.
According to the Department of Labor, the Job Corps program has faced significant financial challenges. In 2024, the program operated at a $140 million deficit, the department said in a news release. The deficit is projected to reach $213 million in 2025.
In recent years, Job Corps has seen an average graduation rate of 38.5% and 14,913 “serious incident reports,” according to a 2025 Job Corps Transparency Report, including 372 reports of sexual misconduct and assaults, 1,764 reports of acts of violence, 1,167 reports of safety or security breaches, 2,702 reports of drug use and 1,808 reported hospital visits.
“Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training, and community,” Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in the news release. “However, a startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve. We remain committed to ensuring all participants are supported through this transition and connected with the resources they need to succeed as we evaluate the program’s possibilities.”
