Job Corps bills itself as “the largest nationwide residential career training program in the country.”

       But like many organizations, the Labor Department service was not ready for the coronavirus pandemic. Its 29,000 students suffered when they were sent home because operations were suspended at all 121 campuses.

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       A report released Tuesday from the department’s Office of Inspector General outlines a series of serious problems in Job Corps with implementation of covid-19 protocols, inadequate supplies for students, compliance with virus-related requirements and general oversight. The report recommends universal vaccination of all Job Corps personnel.

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       Job Corps assists disadvantaged teens and young adults, ages 16 through 24, with completing high school, skills training and securing employment. It boasts of educating more than two million people since 1964. It started as a core feature of former president Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “War on Poverty.”

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       The coronavirus, however, took a heavy toll on the program, the inspector general reported:

       ？ Enrollment dropped 56 percent from March 2020, when the pandemic shut down much of the nation and new enrollment stopped, to April 2021.

       ？ The number of students who completed trades training dropped to zero by April 2021.

       ？ The average time students took to finish the Job Corps program more than doubled, from about eight months to 18 months.

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       Not only was Job Corps not prepared for the virus but “gaps in Job Corps oversight of covid-19 safety precautions at its centers increased risks,” the inspector general determined. In a 25-page checklist, the program established specific covid-19 mitigation requirements on such things as personnel capacity, individual barriers and physical distancing.

       But the words did not always result in action.

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       Despite the requirements, the inspectors found that 77 centers were allowed to resume on-campus operations without verification checklist requirements being followed. Job Corps officials did not always reject covid-19 related plans that did not meet checklist standards. One center’s plan, for example, was approved although it lacked physical distancing guidelines. Blaming inadequate resources, program officials also did not conduct timely covid-19 monitoring on many campuses. As of July 2021, according to the report, Job Corps had examined only 54 of the 112 centers that had resumed in-person operations at that time. Officials expect all 121 centers will reopen by the end of the year.

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       “This and other oversight gaps will make it difficult for Job Corps to keep students and staff healthy and safe as the COVID-19 pandemic continues,” said the report, which was signed by Carolyn R. Hantz, an assistant inspector general.

       Job Corps, however, trumpets its low student infection rate of 3 percent from November 2020 through August. But the inspector general said poor agency oversight, along with evolving guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, new virus variants and varying vaccine rates around the country “will make it a challenge for Job Corps to maintain” a low covid-19 case rate.

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       Job Corps also was slow to implement remote learning programs, according to the report. Many of its students are from low-income households and lack the resources needed for virtual education. Even when officials announced the move to remote learning, the report said, they were “aware it could not perform key aspects of basic skills and technical instruction programs virtually.” Students at one center waited almost 10 months before getting materials needed to take a basic education test used to determine their skill and academic levels.

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       A lack of technology was a big problem. Students had cell phones but found them unable to access certain applications. More than one-fourth of the students lacked sufficient Internet access, with some reporting standing outside to get a signal.

       Officials ordered 20,000 laptops and portable Wi-Fi hotspot devices after realizing in June 2020 that more than 68 percent of its students needed the equipment. But it took months for Job Corps to establish policies covering the use of that equipment. Then, some policies actually deterred the use of the equipment.

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       Usage agreements required students or their parents to pay up to $500 for lost or damaged equipment. Provisions like that are common in school systems, but it led some Job Corps students to opt out. They could not afford that amount and the inspector general’s document said the agreement “did not align with the rest of the program’s no-cost provisions — free education, training, housing, meals, and health care.”

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       Some students were hindered by troubling living arrangements, because the inspector general found, they were “scrambling to find places to live and could change residences on a daily basis.”

       The report’s conclusions were harsh.

       Like other school programs, the inspector general said “Job Corps was caught off-guard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to resume on-campus operations, while well planned, did not receive adequate oversight. Further, Job Corps was not prepared to transition to remote learning and experienced many challenges.”

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       The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, which oversees Job Corps, agreed with the inspector general’s recommendations, including starting continuous monitoring of Job Corps covid-19 protocols; developing and revising covid-19 safety requirements while seeking a 100 percent vaccination rate for all students and staff; and increasing oversight of remote learning to ensure students have the tools needed for success.

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       In Labor’s response included in the report, Angela Hanks, an acting assistant Labor secretary, said the agency emerged from covid-19 related adjustments as “a more prepared program, which is better equipped to safely serve students in new and innovative ways.”

       The low Job Corps covid infection rate, Hanks wrote, was due to “effective and comprehensive COVID-19 safety protocols,” and resulted from the “significant effort” by students, staff and center operators to meet the requirements.

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       Nonetheless, the inspector general report concluded “the impact of COVID-19 on the Job Corps program may have lasting consequences.”

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