Students Receive Job Corps Assistance

Tammy Polanco, 17, of Piru is the first in her family to graduate from high school.

In a few years, with the help of a federal program, she hopes to be the first to graduate from college as well.

Tammy is one of a handful of Ventura County students selected for an educational and vocational training program that she hopes will change her life.

The Job Corps will pay her educational and living expenses for six months to two years so that Tammy can learn some business and clerical skills. At the end of the program, she will be placed at a job, where she hopes to save money to attend college later.

“As long as I know some basic secretarial skills, I can work my way up to management,” Tammy said. “I’ve always wanted to do something with my life. This is a chance to go to school and not worry about finances.”

Marissa P. Mach, the Job Corps representative for Ventura County, said the purpose of the program is to help at-risk youth and students from poor families. The free education and vocational training “helps break the cycle of poverty,” Mach said.

According to Mach, about 40 students from Ventura County are sent to Job Corps centers each year. They are under no obligation to stay in the program, and do not have to repay any loans. About 76% complete the program, she said.

“We end up spending more money incarcerating a young man or young woman or putting them on rehabilitation,” Mach said. “This way, they become taxpayers, and they’re not draining the social system.”

Students are required to finish high school during the program, and must be 16 to 24 years old. Depending on field they select, the program can run from six months to two years. During that time, students are placed in dormitories throughout the country.

Today, Tammy will take a bus to San Diego and enroll in the job center there. At the same time, Marisol Flores, 18, of Ventura will say goodby to her 3-year-old daughter and take a plane to Utah where she will visit a job center in Clearfield. Flores said she is sad about being separated from her daughter, but thinks the eight months spent with Job Corps will help her get a job and thus give her daughter a better future.

“I want a job,” said Flores, who is considering becoming a medical assistant. “Every time I fill out an application, I know I’ll never get a job because I have no training.”