{"id":370214,"date":"2026-08-13T09:58:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/370214\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T09:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:58:15","slug":"pinellas-job-corps-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/370214\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinellas Job Corps settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Attorneys for plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s order to pause operations at Job Corps centers nationwide say a settlement filed this week<\/a> means the program will continue, bringing relief to supporters of the Pinellas County Job Corps Center<\/a> in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Public Citizen Litigation group, which represented seven Job Corps students in the case, announced the settlement this week. Public Citizen Litigation Group posted the settlement, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, on its website.<\/p>\n

The filing says the Department of Labor must unconditionally rescind its pause and \u201ctake no further action to terminate Job Corps operations contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Labor announced in May that it was pausing operations<\/a> at all 99 Job Corps locations nationwide.<\/p>\n

At the time, the agency cited concerns including the average yearly amount spent on each student, which it said was more than $80,000, and the national average graduation rate, reportedly 38% for students with a high school diploma.<\/p>\n

The Pinellas County Job Corps Center performed above that national average, according to a Job Corps transparency report. The report showed the Pinellas center had a graduation rate of nearly 55% in 2023.<\/p>\n

Victoria Atwood, a Pinellas County Job Corps student, said the program helped open doors for her to pursue opportunities in the medical field and the Navy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has given me the opportunity to expand my educational horizons,\u201d Atwood said.<\/p>\n

Atwood said that the residential part of the program also made a difference in her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get a free bed, free hot showers,\u201d Atwood said. \u201cI used to take those things for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atwood did not want to detail the circumstances that brought her to the center, but said Job Corps helped her move forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was homeless,\u201d Atwood said. \u201cI had friends who supported me, but I wanted to find my own way, to make my own way in life. Job Corps allowed me to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Job Corps is the largest nationwide residential training program in the country. St. Petersburg City Council member Corey Givens Jr., who previously worked at the center, said the program serves young people who are looking for a second chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have between about 250-275 students over here on campus who are at-risk or low-income youth between the ages of 16-24 who are looking for second chances,\u201d Givens said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more than just Job Corps being saved,\u201d Givens said. \u201cLives are being saved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Askia Aquil, president of the Pinellas County Job Corps Community Relations Council, said the program has challenges but also fills a need in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always some issues with any program, especially federal program operating in a local environment, but the success stories are there,\u201d Aquil said.<\/p>\n

Cranstan Cumberbatch, an instructor at the center, said that as a community member, the uncertainty around the program\u2019s future had been difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that uncertainty being there, it was kind of frightful for a little bit, but at the same time positive hope because we know what the program does,\u201d Cumberbatch said.<\/p>\n

Cumberbatch said he was \u201csuper ecstatic and elated\u201d about the settlement. Aquil said the Department of Labor\u2019s order initially affected enrollment because the pipeline of new students closed when it looked like centers would shut down.<\/p>\n

He said that the center is now continuously enrolling students, and people can reach out to the center to sign up.<\/p>\n

The Department of Labor referred a request for comment to the Department of Justice, which is representing the agency in the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Attorneys for plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s order to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[274,558,2287,115,596,2718,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278,835],"class_list":["post-370214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-top-stories","tag-business","tag-local-politics","tag-news","tag-pinellas-county","tag-sarah-blazonis","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}