Gary Job Corps Now Under Third Private Management Company Within The Last Year

View Comments

• They are trash just like the other two contractors that ran Gary JCC. It is a shame that they make money off of the poor young people.

• Sadly, Staff and students had high expectations for Adam's & Associates, which have fallen short right out of the box. Major pay cuts to staff, as well as staff cuts in general have created an exodus of people quitting. There is an extremely uncomfortable feeling on campus and instead of addressing staff and working with them, they have a take it or leave it attitude. Most staff is buying time to find other work, myself included. I really wanted this to work for the students sake and truly hope Adam's & Associates get it right.

  • Too bad...they had a chance to make a difference, but to do that means foregoing profits.

• It's very interesting how the coverage and interest in the operations, the activities related to staff and students at Gary Job Corps have literally fallen from any media's radar. The San Marcos Daily Record, since changing editorial leadership, and since Gary Job Corps changed Business Community Liaison personnel, hasn't really run many articles at all about Gary.

  I am not convinced that the news outlet personnel changes, and the Gary staffing made the crime rate, the recidivism rate, the level of corrupt activities related to graduations, assaults, etc., suddenly drop. This is not to indict San Marcos Daily Record...it is to highlight that Gary JCC, as a big facility and employer in San Marcos/ Hays Co., is not running on autopilot, yet most in our communities have ZERO clue what goes on there, good or bad. No one cares! The media holds the information pipeline in their hands.

  But for a staffer to do the right thing - no, that is punishable by threats of termination, or actual dismissal because of whistleblowing, and trying to get departments to comply with the law. Stay tuned, folks. Gary likely isn't going away, and your tax monies are still being misused.

• The Gary Job Corp did not go bad, it was made bad by policy.
  Dr. Shea is correct in saying an outfit like this needs constant media scrutiny.
  Yet because its policy does not succeed, it rightfully shuns the media.
  Success in motion tends to stay in motion supported by media, but this outfit's had nothing but 'candy coat' stories for the last twenty years (hush..!)

  • This is so accurately stated: "Candy Coated" news stories for years. Every week there was a do-good story , pushed out by Gary/Former Managerial Company PR, and glam shots published in the local newspaper. From those blurbs the community was supposed to know all the good Gary does for the world. Meantime, the stories of assaults, rapes, thefts at Walmart, car B&E's, and the drug activity - crickets...no one ever heard about that. Yet the GAO and the OIG of the Department of Labor have been producing reports of insufficiencies regarding Job Corps as a whole, and about specific centers across the nation, for over 15-20 years, some centers of which were managed by the very company that recently lost the Gary contract, held for 18 plus years.

    The information about operational deficiencies is NOT new! But you will not hear about it unless you dig, and even at that, the OIG and DOL only produce "suggestions" for the Job Corps centers to follow - there never is any punitive actions taken. Status quo, and here we are in 2020, not a damn thing different.

    I cannot be persuaded to believe all other Job Corps Centers are the only ones with past and current issues, except Gary Job Corps Center. But since it was the first one, and is the largest, it is the flagship of the boondoggle program, correctly referred to as a fundamental policy failure program, not an inherited poor design. It has been someone's policy to never say bad about Gary, or to even print the truth! If truth were printed, I venture to guess it would not be good.

    I know nothing about the current managerial company of Gary JCC, except from media stories of their operations and failures in other Centers in other states (Homestead, FL). I maintain that the media needs to be investigative and really look at the "big picture" of the particular operations, look at the overall mismanagement of the Job Corps program, connect the dots of past reports and failures to act, and let the public know this is going on in their backyard. Let us know! We need to know!!!

• My wife & I are new to the area; we are both licensed nurses & have applied at Gary JC. It is my understanding that the facility was recently evacuated due to the current pandemic. I have read the articles about the opinions of others regarding the management of the facility.

  It seems to me that this would be the perfect time to turn this Titanic around. If the former operation strategy was not optimal, then what better time to start afresh with a new mindset.

  This program is a very needed commodity in our society. Every day that you can help a young person overcome obstacles in their lives is a good day. An environment with the foundation of love is the answer to success with this type of program. These young people are our future. When they feel genuinely loved & accepted, they will move mountains for you.

  We are hopeful that we can be a part of investing in the lives of these young people. There is nothing more gratifying than being able to help others! That needs to be the mindset in these troubling times that we are currently experiencing as a nation.

  Steve & Teresa Shurden

  • I was a graduate in 1995 from GJC in SM, Tx. Thinking about my past and found this article. I want to let you know there are young people this program may have had its flaws but a route to beginner careers in which living there for so long it was a home to some. A place that long lasting friendships and relationships developed. Great reason to work there if possible.

• But Steve ..the light bulb has got to WANT to change, and to make it worse, even the dimmest of those bulbs are bright enough to savvy how YOU, in your savior mode will be an easy mark. Love is the answer, huh? gosh, if only other others had tried Love...but the problem (sniff) is they just didn't have it in them ...is that what you're trying to imply? Those bulbs at their age have spent more time growing their life-skills than have you, and to their advantage unlike you, they've absolutely no misconceptions about whether they intend to change at the cost of relinquishing the values that got them to the point they are now. In their minds, you want to change them, and you're willing to give them something in return for allowing them to do that.

  Go 'head on, Steve. only because it seems to you "this would be the perfect time to turn this Titanic around." This here sailor has spent enough years at sea to understand you'll never get "there", because you're clueless to your present position. You, on the surface rocking wildly on the swells of ego-induced fog in a rowboat looking turn a thing around that lies about two miles down, on the bottom. Thanks for writing, good luck with the love; and because love to me means never standing between a man and his education, I hereby give you mine, as you will not be cured of your erroneous preconceptions until experiencing them to the fullest.

• Where there is a "will" there is a "way"!

  I do know that there is no room for any more negativity if this entity is to be successful in rebounding into what it was created to accomplish for our society in the first place.

  President Kennedy JFK identified a need & President Johnson LBJ saw it through. That need has increased exponentially since those early years. It was initially a tool to fight the "war on poverty". We can either put the tools in the hands of these young people to make their own way in life or we can add them to the welfare roles & prison rosters.

  These young people can either be a "mountain of turmoil" for our society to deal with or they can be the very tools used to resolve the problem. We have seen what the results are if these young people are left to their own.

  There is so much potential in these young adults; potential for good or for bad. Inherently, they will continue to follow the path that has led them to destruction unless someone intervenes to redirect them.

  There is no doubt that this is a monumental task to accomplish. There is no way of knowing all of the particulars that have led to the state of affairs that are currently in place. But; there is one thing that is an absolute; it will take positive energy & lots of it to turn it around.

  It will take a true passion for the cause; a true passion for the kids & a true passion for our nation to get it accomplished.

  "True love never fails"; this "Sailor" has been around long enough to see that for himself.

  When these young people feel genuine love & know that you genuinely care about them they will respond in a positive manner. Leaders from this population of young people will rise to the top & be exponentially more effective at obtaining the desired results.

  Identifying these leaders will be one of the keys to successfully turning this Titanic around.

  Steve Shurden RN
  918-779-8981

  • Steve, thank you for giving it your best. You are correct about those kids. It is unfortunate that the parents either don't have the time, money or maybe need or desire to raise their children better in recent years.
    One of those kids could have been me and I am thankful for the people in my life to make sure I had the tools to make the best decisions possible. Keep your chin up and let us know how it goes.

    • Steve, I was that close to starting round two with a blow-hard know-it-all when ...let's just call it a "higher power" told me to shut up and look into this relative stranger and his platitudes. (You).

      so knowing how to dig I thus dug dug and dug and now say:
      Nurse Steve does in all good faith believe what he is saying.
      Mind you Steve, unless you completely dismantle the existing outfit, you will lose. Eph. 6:12

• the titanic sails at dawn steve an we're sure with your bushy tail and your newly reinvented wheel onboard that.....

  ......but soft, what light through yon liquor store window doth break ...?

• As a former corpsman at Gary JCC under Thomas Traylor Director. I managed to struggle in my profession as an electrician when I returned to racist Massachusetts.
  LlMy time at Gary was 1977 - 1979 and I was able to bypass at that time weed and the gay world in pursuing my book (j c certi-fication) an my highschool equivalency.
  Yes, there were knuckle heads and nim-cum-poops from parts of Louisiana and Texas. I knew as a teenager then that the name of the game was intelligence.
  I was not a follower and I was only there to get what I came for.
  However, I needed guidance, regulation and most important, the presence of authority. Discipline was vital also we knew what the consequences of our ac-tions we're if we broke any of the rules at the center.
  Those of us who were smart survived and went on to graduate from Gary with honors and those of us who lacked self-control lost out and got kicked out of Gary.
  It was a special time for me and my train-ning instructors: Mr. J Smith in Basic Elect. and Mr. Willie Miller in Advanced Elect. made a man outta me in the process.
  I became addicted to learning because of those two. Now I consult with people who own homes on how to save money on getting electrical installations and repairs done affordably.

• I do wish that Mr Steven do not allow the students to correct themselves. They're not as smart as you think they are. They cannot be trusted to go on their own understanding due to the lack of father's and the poor discipline training from the mothers. Yes I Went There.