by Thomas Showalter
President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget contains a proposal to lump many federal workforce-development programs into a single line item, “Make America Skilled Again” (MASA).
MASA would likely end access to job training for Opportunity Youth (OY) in much of the country. Here’s how.
1. Stripping Protections: Consolidating Funds Means Abandoning the Hardest to Serve
Only a few federal funding streams, all authorized under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), focus on helping OY – young people aged 16-24 who are disconnected from both school and work – gain access to skills and jobs. These include:
- WIOA Youth Activities, which offers formula funding to all U.S. states and territories and requires that 75 percent of its funding be spent on OY;
- YouthBuild, which supports a network of programs that largely help OY enter the building trades;
- Reentry Employment Opportunities, which helps justice-impacted individuals, including many OY, find jobs through locally crafted programs; and
- Job Corps, which offers housing in addition to training to a population of young people who often have nowhere else to turn.
MASA proposes to consolidate many workforce-development programs into one, presumably less restrictive, grant. Block grants like this inevitably lead to “creaming,” the process by which states, localities, and individual programs prioritize the easiest-to-serve individuals in need of services. To ensure that OY – a population of more than 4 million with little dedicated support – have access to services, Congress maintained a separate youth-focused formula program in WIOA and increased the required amount to spend on OY (“out-of-school youth,” in the parlance of WIOA).
Already, 29 states have waivers to serve fewer OY. This is by far the most requested WIOA waiver. Under MASA, services to Opportunity Youth in many states would likely disappear.
2. Gutting Success: Eliminating Proven Programs Like YouthBuild and REO
The MASA proposal eliminates two programs with proven track records serving Opportunity Youth, YouthBuild and Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO). The YouthBuild program funds local sites that offer comprehensive pre-apprenticeship training, serving young people aged 16-24 who have left school without a secondary diploma. It offers a vital blend of vocational skills training (often in construction, but also healthcare, IT, and hospitality), education for a high school diploma or GED, leadership development, and crucial community service through building affordable housing. YouthBuild also provides supportive services, such as transportation and childcare. Evaluations of YouthBuild have consistently demonstrated its effectiveness, showing that participants are more likely to earn high school equivalency credentials, enroll in college, participate in vocational training, and even see modest increases in wages and earnings within 30 months.
The REO program is targeted to serve justice-involved individuals, including youth and young adults. REO grants fund community- and faith-based organizations and government agencies to provide services that range from apprenticeships, case management, job placement, and mentoring. Evaluations of REO and similar reentry programs have demonstrated their success in reducing recidivism and improving employment outcomes for justice-impacted individuals.
The elimination of YouthBuild and REO represents a calculated decision to abandon effective, evidence-based interventions in favor of an untested, consolidated approach that is unlikely to work.
3. False Promise: MASA Cuts Apprenticeship and Undermines President Trump’s Goal of 1 Million Apprentices
The MASA proposal includes a 10% set-aside for apprenticeship. The Congressional Budget Justification for the Employment and Training Administration cites a recent executive order setting a goal of 1 million new registered apprentices, which this set-aside is presumably meant to advance.
However, MASA actually represents a cut to funding for apprenticeship. The 10% set-aside would amount to no more than $297 million in funding. In fiscal year 2025, Congress appropriated $285 million in dedicated apprenticeship funding. In addition, most YouthBuild funds ($105 million in FY25) support pre-apprenticeship pathways, and WIOA formula funds may also be used to support apprenticeship. All in all, current WIOA funds that advance apprenticeship total well over $400 million. MASA undermines President Trump’s apprenticeship goal.
4. Erasing Opportunity: The Closure of Job Corps
The President’s Budget Request calls for the complete elimination of Job Corps, requesting only funds to close down campuses and wind down the program.
Established in 1964 as a cornerstone of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, Job Corps is the only federally funded residential job training program. It’s designed for low-income youth aged 16 to 24 who face significant barriers to education and employment, serving many OY and youth experiencing homelessness. Operating in over 120 centers nationwide, Job Corps provides hundreds of vocational training pathways focused on in-demand sectors (from construction and welding to healthcare and IT). A large proportion of these are pre-apprenticeships that lead directly into good-paying jobs. Job Corps centers are geographically dispersed, as well. The U.S. Forest Service, for example, operates 24 centers in rural and remote areas that focus on careers in conservation, wildland firefighting, and forestry.
While preparing for work, students can earn high school diplomas and learn life skills. Each center provides comprehensive supportive services, including housing, a living allowance, and access to counseling and healthcare.
A randomized controlled trial (RCT) found benefits in wages and employment, especially for those who entered Job Corps aged 20-24 – benefits that persisted in a 20-year follow-up study of the same participants. Another rigorous RCT found statistically significant impacts on high school and GED attainment.
Nonetheless, many efforts to reform and improve Job Corps have been made over the years, including recent pilots that tested two different nonresidential, college-focused implementations of the program.
Sadly, rather than seek to improve or reform the program, the Trump Administration chose to unilaterally shut down 99 centers. A judge paused its implementation, but uncertainty and fear now grip Job Corps students and center employees. Closing Job Corps Centers, and proposing to eliminate them, shuts down hundreds of employment pathways to good jobs and drains opportunities from rural regions of the United States.
5. Sabotaging Reform: Undermining Bipartisan Efforts for WIOA Reauthorization
The extreme budget proposal undermines years-long, bipartisan efforts to reauthorize WIOA. Congress established the different programs and funding streams contained in the law. In our Constitutional system, it’s Congress – and the many constituencies represented within it – that should decide their future. In fact, the bipartisan WIOA reauthorization bill that passed out of the House of Representatives on a hugely bipartisan 378-26 vote last year made the REO program – which the president’s budget proposes to eliminate – permanent. An effort to include a final version in a year-end funding bill fell apart, but the Senate is now working on reviving the bill in the new Congress. Working through Congress is the right way to improve workforce-development programs, not chaotic and unilateral presidential actions.
The president’s MASA proposal would eliminate many of the pathways to education and employment that are working for Opportunity Youth. The proposal also represents an existential threat to organizations that serve Opportunity Youth, as Job Corps center operators are already experiencing. There’s bipartisan interest in improving and expanding opportunities for OY. Let’s encourage Congress to take back its rightful role.
Thomas Showalter is an independent consultant assisting nonprofits with policy change, program implementation, fund development, and communications, as well as a subject matter expert in areas including K-12 education, workforce development, and disability. Thomas was previously executive director of the National Youth Employment Coalition, served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and worked in various roles at public-affairs and public-relations firms.
