Vergennes, Vt. - A special investigation by FOX 44's Louisa Moller.
The Job Corps program is a free GED training program that the U.S. Department of Labor provides for under-privileged kids. The cost is about $1.8 billion to the American tax-payer. There are more than 100 campuses across the country, serving roughly 50,000 students, and in many cases, giving opportunities to kids who would not otherwise have them.
However, when my investigation came out telling disturbing stories about the Job Corps site in Vergennes, Vermont, people around the country called and emailed me saying that disturbing things are happening elsewhere too.
CULTURE OF COVER-UP
"It was a matter of keep your mouth shut. A no gag order," a former Northlands Job Corps academy employee said.
Even after losing his job at the Northlands site in Vergennes, a former employee, who I will call Bob, was too nervous to speak to me without remaining anonymous.
Bob is one of several employees at the Department of Labor funded campus who were fired in the last few months. He turned to me because he is concerned about student safety. That was also an issue brought up by a former colleague of his in my first investigation.
"If we call the police, we have to have permission from someone higher up," another employee, I will call Sarah, said.
I interviewed Sarah after we heard about a brutal fight that left one Northlands student with a broken neck and nose. The Vergennes police chief told me his department was not informed about it until almost a full day after the incident.
But Bob says, there is a lot more to it than that. He says staff cannot call police even in cases of inappropriate sexual relationships.
"In most cases, that staff member is immediately briefed to leave center, tipped off to leave center, before there's any investigation," Bob said.
Bob, Sarah, and other former and current employees I spoke with place most of the blame for these policies on an Alaskan company called Alutiiq. That is the private corporation that the department of labor contracted to operate the Northlands site.
JOB CORPS PROBLEMS AROUND THE U.S.
But while Northlands faces allegations of violence and secrecy, several sources told me that other Alutiiq contracted sites have much bigger problems, including a mismanagement of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
In fact, three of Alutiiq's six sites are ranked in the bottom ten among all 125 Job Corps sites in the country.
But are these problems isolated to Alutiiq alone? A quick search on the Internet would suggest not. I found allegations of rape in Joliet, murder in L.A., porn and drugs as well.
A 2010 audit by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Labor says the then contractor of the Cleveland Job Corps site over-charged the Federal government by $1.8 million.
Plus, another 2011 audit finds that ,"long-standing deficiencies persist," in the Job Corps program. And, the audit plainly says this,
"We believe that if Job Corps improves oversight to better recruit, train, and place these students, an estimated $61.18 million would be put to better use."
Bob says one possible solution would be for the Department of Labor to have more oversight.
"Absolutely. Incredibly. They should have an office there. They should really be more hands on. A lot more oversight because a lot is going on that if Mom or Dad walked into a dorm and saw how their son or daughter were living, there would be havoc," Bob said.
FEW ANSWERS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Since my first investigation aired, I have repeatedly called and emailed the Department of Labor. All of my requests for an on camera or phone interview were ignored.
The Department of Labor did tell me that it decided not to renew Alutiiq's contract at Northlands. A new contract should be in place by January of 2013. There is no word on what company could fill that slot.
Our sources also told me that two other Alutiiq contracted sites lost their contracts in the last two months. That information has not been confirmed by the DOL.
