Long Beach Job Corps, Job Corps Long Beach Job Corps CenterLBJC JUST SAY NO!-It's a Trap! Long Beach California

Job Corps is a Department of Labor ran free education and vocational training program for students 16-24. Sounds Good Right?

Well, let me tell you about Job Corps and all of its glory:

Wellness Center: You are required to pass an entrance drug test and no, medical marihuana cannot be used. If you fail, you are required to take a drug cessation program, even for alcohol and cigarettes. If you fail your drug test, twice you are expelled. The Wellness Center makes you get doctor’s note for all prescribed meds and you can only take meds in the Wellness Center, including vitamins. They have basic medical, dental, and optometrist services, but their practices are not up to date and the doctor only comes in once a week.

On Campus Housing: If you like mold infested, water damaged rooms with substandard/shoddy artisanship than perhaps you should stay there. You are put in a Wing according to your trade and you are not allowed to visit any of the opposite sex or other Wings. You room with three random people, who may or may not have social/mental/drug/crime issues, and you have to work out any issues. My books, clothes, money, and food were stolen on multiple occasions, so do not bring anything valuable. The Residential Advisors (R.A.s), who run a Wing, are nothing more than glorified babysitters to the students. The curfew is 9:45pm at nights and wake-up is 6:15am; they come around to tell you to go to bed and wake-up. If you fail to sign in or respond to roll call you will be marked Absent without Leave (AWOL). Every other week you are required to do a choir for the dorm wing and every week you have Super Tuesday, which is a forced hour cleaning event. 

Meetings: Whether you live or campus or not you are required to attend a weekly meeting. If you live on campus, you are required to attend a Wednesday meeting every week in the dorm and if you live off-campus, you meet in a classroom. 

Meals: Three nutritious meals-are available for both on and off-campus students. Another student described it as worse than prison food.... Apparently, if you are overweight, you will lose weight, but it you are not, you will gain 20+ pounds. I got so sick after eating the food and, by that, I mean I got Type 2 Diabetes. 

Campus Life: One time we had a lockdown, because someone was near the school with a gun and that was lame. Most of the staff is useless, but if you need a Driver’s License, they have a program for that, and they do have counseling; some of the counselors are decent.

Behavior Contracts: You fill out forms as a Behavior Contract: if you behave, you get a Positive Incident Report (I.R.) and if you do not you will get a Negative Incident Report. There are security guards at the front gates to keep the campus closed off. After school you are allowed to leave, but only if you have the right card. If you don't sign in or out they will give you a Negative I.R. and 10$ will be deducted your you pay. I have had money deducted because my signature was illegible.  

Recreation: They have a gym with games and sports; it depends on when it is open and what they have. The Rec center is open after school (M-F) from 4:30-9pm, mostly, and weekends from 11am-9pm.

Pay & Allowance: You receive bi-monthly taxed pay of 25$-50$ (Minimum wage is 7.25$/hr. or 1160$/month without taxes). You are also given a clothing allowance of 500$ about. Your uniforms are deducted out of your clothing allowance and your pay. If you did not receive any I.R.s or AWOLS. When you graduate you trade, they will pay you 1000$.

Education: This the real issue. All of the sitting really messed up my back and I do not recommend it. They will tell you it will take 6-9 months for your program it does not. You spend 40 hours a week in the classroom from 8am-4pm, for upwards of 12-24 months in one trade.

 For 3-8 weeks, you are required to attend an entrance program after an entrance exam. This is to get ELL and GED/High School Diploma students help, but also put students you cannot pass a high school graduate level Reading, Writing, and Math Test. Most students could not read above an 8^th grade level. I was in the medical trades and my entrance teacher who taught could not use English grammar or spell very well, was teaching Medical Terminology (they were American-African American).

For 2-3 week, you are required to do campus clean up. You spend 40 hours cleaning outside or in the cafeteria. For

6-9 months: Career Training, with substandard equipment, textbooks, and teachers.

For 1-2 months: Internship: it is wherever they feel like placing you even if it is not in your locality. They only way to get an internship in a local where you live is to find it yourself and demand that you have a family health emergency. In fact, there is an Internship Coordinator, but my classmate and I got all of your class internships.

After your trade, you have 3 options, 1-College, 2-2^nd Trade, or3-Job Placement. Then, with Option 3, you spend 1-3 months: you spend Job-hunting; you sit in a classroom and write a resume/cover letter then you fax/call/email/surf the web looking for a job. The teacher takes you around in a white van looking for a job or other students on interviews. You could do this on your own. I found my job not based on my new trade, but based on my prior skills.

Of course, you size does not fit all in the LBJC, but I will tell you this-there is no such thing as a free lunch. You cannot hope to get something for nothing. Is a lifetime of pain worth a free ride? No. I would only use Job Corps as a last resort, because do your research, because if you passed 12^th grade, you can find other options.

I paid nothing, but I got ill from the contained campus, I got type 2 diabetes, and back problems for 3000$ and a piece of paper that Community Colleges offers.