CALLICOON – Even though the Dept. of Labor has been sending out guidance about the demise of the federally-funded Job Corps program, the United States Senate has not yet adopted the new federal budget.

The spending bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week by just a one-vote margin, is now being modified by the U.S. Senate before they vote on it, supposedly this week.

At the Delaware Valley Job Corps in Callicoon, news of the elimination of the program spread like wildfire among the staff last Thursday.

“We had people in tears,” one administrator said. “They had already heard about it [the closing of Job Corps] on Fox News before we could tell our staff.”

The administrator said the students were notified on Friday and “students are resigning already.

“The energy is very weird,” the administrator said. “We hope that something miraculous happens.”

That miracle might come in the form of the U.S. Senate, who are fiercely debating many of the cutting measures in the spending package, including Medicaid.

“We are all in limbo,” the administrator said. “We were told this Friday we may know more.”

In the meantime, the Dept. of Labor did issue a 30-day notice, officially ending the program at the end of June, should the funding be cut.

“Delaware Valley Job Corps is a big part of the [hamlet of Callicoon],” the administrator said. “We have 101 employees and 177 students at present.

“We can only do our best,” the administrator said.

The Job Corps in Callicoon began in 1979 when the federal government purchased the former St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon from the Holy Name Province.

The Job Corps program began in 1964.

There are 121 Job Corps Centers across the nation – seven in New York alone –that teach approximately 25,000 students.

Their yearly budget is approximately $1.7 billion.

The Delaware Valley Job Corps is operated by Adams & Associates.