Updated Methodology for Selecting a Job Corps Center for Closure and Center Proposed for Closure: Comments Requested, 44842-44846 [2017-20482]

Agencies

• Employment and Training Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44842-44846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20482]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Updated Methodology for Selecting a Job Corps Center for Closure 
and Center Proposed for Closure: Comments Requested

AGENCY: Office of Job Corps, Employment and Training Administration 
(ETA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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[[Page 44843]]

SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. 
Department of Labor (the Department or DOL) issues this notice to 
revise the ``additional considerations'' for selecting Job Corps 
Centers for closure, and to propose the closure of Golconda Job Corps 
Center (Golconda) in Golconda, Illinois, based on low-performance. This 
notice seeks public comment on the proposal to close Golconda.

DATES: To be ensured for consideration, comments must be submitted in 
writing on or before October 26, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket Number ETA-
2017-0004, by only one of the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
Web site instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail and hand delivery/courier: Submit comments to Lenita Jacobs-
Simmons, National Director, Office of Job Corps (OJC), U.S. Department 
of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 200 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Room N- 4459, Washington, DC 20210. Due to security-related 
concerns, there may be a significant delay in the receipt of 
submissions by United States Mail. You must take this into 
consideration when preparing to meet the deadline for submitting 
comments. The Department will post all comments received on https://www.regulations.gov without making any changes to the comments or 
redacting any information, including any personal information provided. 
The https://www.regulations.gov Web site is the Federal e-rulemaking 
portal and all comments posted there are available and accessible to 
the public. The Department recommends that commenters not include 
personal information such as Social Security Numbers, personal 
addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses in their comments 
that they do not wish to be made public, as such submitted information 
will be available to the public via the https://www.regulations.gov Web 
site. Comments submitted through https://www.regulations.gov will not 
include the email address of the commenter unless the commenter chooses 
to include that information as part of his or her comment. It is the 
responsibility of the commenter to safeguard personal information.
    Instructions: All submissions received should include the Docket 
Number for the notice: Docket Number ETA-2017-0004. Please submit your 
comments by only one method. Again, please note that due to security 
concerns, postal mail delivery in Washington, DC may be delayed. 
Therefore, the Department encourages the public to submit comments on 
https://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: All comments on the selected Job Corps Center for closure 
will be available on the https://www.regulations.gov Web site. The 
Department also will make all of the comments it receives available for 
public inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the 
above address. If you need assistance to review the comments, the 
Department will provide appropriate aids such as readers or print 
magnifiers. The Department will make copies of this methodology and the 
selected Job Corps center for closure available, upon request, in large 
print and electronic file on computer disk. To schedule an appointment 
to review the comments and/or obtain the notice in an alternative 
format, contact the Office of Job Corps at (202) 693-3000 (this is not 
a toll-free number). You may also contact this office at the address 
listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lenita Jacobs-Simmons, National 
Director, Office of Job Corps, ETA, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue NW., Room N-4463, Washington, DC 20210; Telephone 
(202) 693-3000 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with 
hearing or speech impairments may access the telephone number above via 
TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1 
(877) 889-5627 (TTY/TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background on the Job Corps Program and Center Closures

    Established in 1964, Job Corps is a national program administered 
by ETA in the Department. It is the nation's largest federally-funded, 
primarily residential training program for opportunity youth, ages 16-
24. With 125 centers in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of 
Columbia, Job Corps seeks to change lives through education and job 
training for in-demand careers. Job Corps serves at-risk young people 
who seek to overcome barriers to employment, which can include poverty, 
homelessness, or aging out of the foster care system, by providing them 
with the academic, career technical, and employability skills to enter 
the workforce, enroll in post-secondary education, pursue 
apprenticeship opportunities, or enlist in the military.
    Large and small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and Native 
American tribes manage and operate 99 of the Job Corps centers through 
contractual agreements with the Department of Labor awarded pursuant to 
Federal procurement rules. Twenty-six Civilian Conservation Centers 
(CCCs) are operated through an interagency agreement with the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA). Job Corps receives annual funding to 
operate centers, administer the program, and build, maintain, expand, 
or upgrade a limited number of new and existing facilities.

II. Closure Criteria

    The Department is continuously taking steps to ensure that Job 
Corps' resources are used to deliver the best possible services to 
students. As part of these ongoing efforts, the Department may 
determine that closing a center or centers will allow for the more 
effective, efficient provision of high-quality services to its 
students. Since 2014, the Department has closed two centers and 
proposed a third center for closure.
    The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which became 
effective on July 1, 2015, directs DOL to ``establish written criteria 
that the Secretary shall use to determine when a Job Corps center 
supported under this part is to be closed and how to carry out such 
closure[.]'' 29 U.S.C. 3211(c)(1). The Department has published three 
criteria upon which it may propose to close a center:
    1. A methodology for selecting a center for closure based on its 
chronic low performance, first described in an August 2014 Federal 
Register Notice (FRN) (79 FR 51198), and updated in a March 2016 FRN 
(81 FR 12529);
    2. An agreement between the Secretaries of Labor and Agriculture to 
close a CCC, as described in the March 9, 2016, FRN; and
    3. An evaluation of the effort required to provide a high-quality 
education and training program at the center, as described in the March 
9, 2016, FRN.
    Closure may be based on any one of the three criteria, and a single 
criterion may be applied independently of the others. Thus, while a 
center may qualify for closure under more than one criterion, DOL may 
choose to rely on only one criterion when deciding to propose a center 
for closure.
    Prior to making a decision to propose a center's closure, the 
Department also applies the relevant additional considerations first 
discussed in the August 2014 notice. One of those considerations, Job 
Corps Services for

[[Page 44844]]

Residents in Each State, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, is 
being revised, as described below in Section D.

A. Long Term Center Performance

    Chronically low-performing centers, as described in the August 2014 
FRN and the updated March 2016 FRN, do not benefit the population of 
young people Job Corps aims to empower and are a poor use of Job Corps' 
limited program dollars. DOL uses the following performance-based 
criteria against which all centers are measured in evaluating whether a 
center should be closed:
    1. Five-year Outcome-Measurement System (OMS) performance level;
    2. Five-year On-Board Strength (OBS); and
    3. Five-year Facility Condition Index (FCI).

A short description of these three factors is included below.
1. Five-Year (OMS) Performance Levels
    OMS is a collection of 15 metrics that provide a comprehensive 
assessment of center performance, which allows for comparison of 
performance among centers and supplies enough data for decision makers 
to identify trends over time. These published performance metrics have 
driven center performance and programmatic decisions for more than a 
decade. Accordingly, the primary performance-based factor in selecting 
a center for closure is a center's OMS data.
    In applying this factor, the Department will evaluate each center's 
overall OMS ratings for the five most recent full program years to 
derive a weighted five-year average performance rating, with recent 
years receiving a greater weight than earlier years. Further, the 
original OMS ratings for each of the five program years, which exceeded 
100% for some centers, were normalized at 100% to be consistent with 
OBS and FCI. ``Normalized'' means the data has been placed on a 100-
point scale. The calculation formula for the methodology also contains 
normalized data for OMS.
    The year-by-year weighted method is as follows (with the identified 
years being annually updated to reflect the five most recent full 
program years for which data is available):

 
 
 
PY 2016.................................................             30%
PY 2015.................................................             25%
PY 2014.................................................             20%
PY 2013.................................................             15%
PY 2012.................................................             10%
                                                         ---------------
  Total.................................................            100%
 

    The calculation formula for five-year performance for the 
methodology is as follows:

Center's five-year weighted average rating x 90% = Overall Performance 
Rating
2. On-Board Strength (OBS)
    On-Board Strength is an efficiency rating that demonstrates the 
extent to which a center operates at full capacity. The measure is 
reported as a percentage, calculated by the center's actual capacity 
for student slots divided by the planned capacity to fill those slots 
(daily number of students that a center is authorized to serve). The 
national goal for OBS is 100% in order to operate the program at full 
capacity, maximize program resources, and fulfill the mission of 
serving the underserved student population.
    This factor evaluates each center's end of program year OBS rating 
for five full program years to derive a five-year average rating. As 
explained above in the context of OMS data, the closure methodology 
uses OBS data from the most recent five-year period. As noted in the 
August 27, 2014, FRN there were anomalies to the OBS data for PY 2012 
caused by temporary enrollment suspensions. The January 31, 2013 (PY- 
COBS) report will be used as the basis for assessing center-level OBS 
performance for PY 2012. The methodology weights each of the last five 
program years' OBS data, with more recent years receiving more weight 
to incorporate performance improvement. Finally, the OBS ratings for 
each of the five program years were normalized at one hundred percent 
(100%), so as to be consistent with the OMS and FCI data.
    The year-by-year weighted structure is as follows (with the 
identified years updated annually to reflect the five most recent full 
program years for which data is available):

 
 
 
PY 2016.................................................             30%
PY 2015.................................................             25%
PY 2014.................................................             20%
PY 2013.................................................             15%
PY 2012.................................................             10%
                                                         ---------------
  Total.................................................            100%
 

    The calculation formula for five-year OBS for the methodology is as 
follows:

Center's five-year weighted average cumulative OBS x 5%= Overall OBS 
Rating
3. Facility Condition and Physical Plant
    Facility quality is critical for a residential educational program 
that houses its students on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for 
much of the year. Each Job Corps center is a fully operational complex 
with academic and career technical training facilities, dining and 
recreation buildings, administrative offices, and residence halls (with 
the exception of solely nonresidential facilities), including the 
surrounding owned or leased property on which the center is located.
    To properly manage the program's facility and condition needs, Job 
Corps uses the FCI and gives each center an annual rating. This rating, 
which is expressed as a percentage, accounts for the value of a 
center's construction, rehabilitation, and repair backlog, as compared 
to the replacement value of the center's facilities. Facility 
conditions affect the outcomes of the Job Corps program because good 
outcomes begin with facilities that contribute to a high-quality, safe 
and productive living and learning environment.
    For this factor, the Department evaluated each center's FCI, which 
takes into account all construction projects completed over the same 
five-year period as the other two factors.
    As with the performance and OBS criteria, the methodology applies 
weights to each of the five latest program year's FCI data, with more 
recent years receiving more weight to incorporate any recent 
improvement. The year-by-year weighted structure is as follows (these 
years are automatically updated to reflect the five most recent full 
program years):

 
 
 
PY 2016.................................................             30%
PY 2015.................................................             25%
PY 2014.................................................             20%
PY 2013.................................................             15%
PY 2012.................................................             10%
                                                         ---------------
  Total.................................................            100%
 

    The calculation formula for FCI for the methodology is as follows:

Center's five-year weighted average FCI rating x 5% = Overall FCI 
Rating

    Applying the three performance-based factors above yields an 
overall rating for each center, allowing DOL to rank all centers based 
on historical performance, with the lowest performing center receiving 
the lowest rating. The calculation formula for the overall rating is as 
follows:

[[Page 44845]]



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                                                                                              Overall rating for
  Overall OMS performance rating    +    Overall OBS rating    +    Overall FCI rating   =    primary selection
              (90%)                             (5%)                       (5%)                    factors
 
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B. Agreement Between the Secretaries of Labor and Agriculture To Close 
Civilian Conservation Job Corps Centers (CCCs)

    Independent of the other two criteria, the Secretaries of Labor and 
Agriculture may jointly agree to close a CCC. As with other Job Corps 
centers, these CCC facilities provide skills training for disadvantaged 
young people to aid their entry into the American workforce, but with 
additional focus on conserving the United States' natural resources and 
providing assistance during natural disasters.
    This joint decision to close a center will take into account past 
efforts to improve the center's deficiencies, the prospect for 
improving those deficiencies, the impact on the mission and workforce 
of both departments, and the purpose and goals of the Job Corps 
program. The rationale behind the Agriculture and Labor Secretaries' 
decision to close a CCC will be detailed in a notice proposing the 
action. The Secretaries' decision to propose a CCC for closure under 
this criterion also will take into account the relevant additional 
considerations, detailed below. This basis is independent of other 
performance improvement and restructuring and reform efforts initiated 
by either Department or mandated by WIOA to address performance 
challenges at the CCCs. Finally, this criterion does not limit the 
Department's authority to propose closing a CCC based on the other 
closure criteria, regardless of whether the Secretaries jointly agree 
to close the center.
    This criterion was not used to propose the closure of Golconda. 
While Golconda is a CCC, the Department is proposing to close the 
center based on chronic low performance.

C. Evaluation of Continuing Center Operations

    The Department has determined that it may be necessary to close a 
center for reasons other than chronic low performance or agreement 
between the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Agriculture. Job 
Corps constantly evaluates the needs of each center it operates. Some 
centers, for a variety of reasons, face more difficult challenges than 
others in providing a safe, secure environment where participants can 
receive high-quality education and training. Some challenges develop 
over time, while others arise more rapidly. Challenges may involve the 
condition of the facility; its proximity to relevant job markets; the 
ability of the center to attract students; the impact of one-time 
events; or a host of other factors. Addressing these challenges may 
require sustained efforts that involve significant programmatic, staff, 
capital, organizational, and/or other investments and resources. Even 
with such a commitment, it may be difficult to achieve positive 
outcomes for students. In such a situation, Job Corps will carefully 
assess: (1) The ongoing needs of the center against those of the 
program overall; (2) the effort required to provide and maintain a 
high-quality, safe and productive living and learning environments; and 
(3) whether that effort is likely to ultimately produce an outcome that 
contributes to the program's overall strength and integrity. After 
reviewing all relevant information the Department may decide to propose 
a center for closure.
    This criterion was not used to propose the closure of Golconda.

D. Additional Considerations for Center Closure

    After applying any of the three closure criterion identified above, 
the Department will consider the four factors below, as appropriate, 
when deciding whether it should propose a center for closure.
1. Job Corps Services for Residents in All Geographic Areas
    The consideration Job Corps Services for Residents in Each State, 
Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia is being amended to Job Corps 
Services for Residents in All Geographic Areas. While the Department is 
committed to providing service across a broad geographic area, it will 
no longer ensure that it maintains at least one Job Corps center in 
each state, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of 
Columbia. The Department will continue to ensure adequate training 
opportunities for eligible individuals in or near the area where they 
reside. However, the Department has determined that promising to 
maintain a center in each state unduly restricts its ability to ensure 
alignment with local and regional labor market opportunities and ensure 
that supply aligns with demand for the program. Furthermore, it may 
limit the Department's ability to close centers which on their merits 
deserve to be closed. Despite this change, Job Corps will continue to 
be available to all eligible individuals regardless of where they 
reside and the program will continue to maintain a nationwide outreach 
strategy.
    Accordingly, when applying this consideration, DOL will take into 
account whether a center's closure would have a disproportionate impact 
on the training and post-enrollment opportunities for students in any 
one geographic area and ensure that it does not too rapidly reduce Job 
Corps' presence in any one geographic area.
2. Sufficiency of Data Available To Evaluate Center Performance
    When proposing closure for chronic low performance, the Department 
will not consider any center for which it does not have sufficient data 
to evaluate that center's performance. The centers in Pinellas County, 
Denison, Wind River, New Hampshire, Cascades, Homestead, Treasure Lake, 
and Ouachita Centers are not included for consideration for closure. 
For each of these centers, there is not enough OMS data to evaluate the 
center's performance over the full five-year performance period. The 
reasons for the lack of five years' continuous data for these centers 
include: Two new centers were opened during the five-year performance 
period (Wind River and New Hampshire); two centers were excluded 
because of their selection as Center for Excellence (CFE) pilot sites 
(Pinellas County and Denison); one center was excluded due to its 
current pilot designation (Cascades); one center was excluded due to 
suspension of operations (Homestead); and two centers were permanently 
closed (Treasure Lake and Ouachita).
3. Indication of Significant Recent Performance Improvement
    When applying the performance-based methodology, the Department 
will consider evidence of recent performance improvement. Therefore, a 
center will be removed from closure consideration based on performance-
based closure criteria if it is performing in the top half of centers 
in the most recent full year of performance data.
4. Job Corps' Commitment to Diversity
    Job Corps currently serves a diverse student population and remains 
committed to serving disadvantaged youth from all backgrounds. In 
making final closure decisions under any of the three criteria 
identified in Section A

[[Page 44846]]

above, we will consider whether a center's closure would result in a 
significant reduction in student diversity within the overall Job Corps 
system.

III. Temporary Closure of the Golconda Job Corps Center

    On July 19, 2017, the Department of Labor temporarily closed 
Golconda. Section III(I)(1) of the Interagency Agreement between DOL 
and USDA governing the operation of the Forest Service-operated CCCs 
authorizes DOL, in consultation with USDA, to ``temporarily close a Job 
Corps CCC managed by USDA, based upon a concern for the health, safety 
and well-being of students, staff, and/or nearby community(ies).''
    Golconda has a long history of discipline and safety issues on 
campus, including an inability to comply with Job Corps' discipline 
policy; failure to adequately notify the Department of serious 
incidents; and an inability to ensure that students are provided a 
safe, healthy, and secure learning environment. Over the past several 
years, DOL has made numerous attempts to partner with the Forest 
Service and center leadership to address these issues. However, despite 
the introduction of multiple new procedures on center and the efforts 
of numerous different center directors, the operation of the center has 
not improved and there has been no improvement in the safety of the 
students at Golconda. After careful assessment, DOL, after consultation 
with USDA, determined that Golconda's problems were so intractable that 
the center was temporarily closed to ensure the health and safety of 
the students and staff currently on center.

IV. Proposal to Permanently Close the Golconda Job Corps Center

    Based on the performance-based criteria, and after applying the 
additional considerations described above, the Department proposes to 
permanently close the Golconda Job Corps Center.
    In applying the performance-based criteria, the Department first 
calculated the five-year OMS performance level, the five-year OBS, and 
the five-year FCI and then calculated the Overall Rating for Primary 
Selection Factors, as described above, using data from PY 2012-2016. 
Golconda received the lowest Overall Rating for Primary Selection 
Factors and, therefore, the lowest ranking.
    After ranking the centers based on the primary criteria, the 
Department then applied the additional considerations. The Department 
determined that these considerations did not preclude closure of 
Golconda. The Department is requesting public comments on the selection 
of Golconda for closure.

V. The Process for Closing Job Corps Centers, as Outlined in the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

    The Department's process for closing Job Corps centers will follow 
the requirements of section 159(j) of the WIOA, which include the 
following:
     The proposed decision to close a particular center is 
announced in advance to the general public through publication in the 
Federal Register or other appropriate means;
     A reasonable comment period, not to exceed 30 days, is 
established for interested individuals to submit written comments to 
the Secretary; and
     The Member of Congress who represents the district in 
which such center is located is notified within a reasonable period of 
time in advance of any final decision to close the center.
    This Notice serves as the public announcement of the decision to 
close the Golconda CCC. The Department is providing a 30-day period--
the maximum amount of time allowed for comment under WIOA sec. 159(j)--
for interested individuals to submit written comments on the proposed 
decision to close these centers.

Byron Zuidema,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.
[FR Doc. 2017-20482 Filed 9-25-17; 8:45 am]
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