Muhlenberg Career Development Center

The Muhlenberg Career Development Center is a Job Corps training center located in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. It serves around 415 students year-round. Offerings include vocational training at an entry level in the health and construction industries. Students are given breaks of ten training days twice per year, once in summer, and once during the holidays.

This center, as well as Whitney M. Young Job Corps Center, the North Texas Job Corps Center, and recently acquired Carl D. Perkins Job Corps Center, are all operated by Horizons Youth Services.

Housing and Center Life

There is housing for around 120 females, and the remainder is reserved for males. There are four dormitories, one of which is split into two separate dormitory systems. The names of the dorms are Lance Armstrong/George Foreman Hall, John F. Kennedy Hall, Wilma Rudolph Hall, and Martin Luther King Jr. Hall.

The recreation department as well as the safety and security department fall under the direction of the Center Life Department. Recreational facilities include a Gymnasium with a weight room, barber shop, and recording studio, a recreation building with a theater featuring stadium seating, a computer lab, a pool hall, and a large open room for various activities such as Video Games, and Leisure Time Learning activities as administered by the Recreation Department.

A student leadership system, administered by the Student personnel office and The Department of Center Life, is in place in nearly every facet of life on center. For vocational leadership, see Training Opportunities. Each dormitory has a system of 7 leadership positions (with 2 alterates), and a captain for each room, with the exception of Martin Luther King Hall, the honors dormitory. There are a President, Two Vice Presidents, A Sergeant at Arms, an Employability Leader, and A dorm coordinator and a "Mess" leader. This tier is allowed to issue minor citations to other students for small infractions, and they also administer hearings twice per week for these citations. Overseeing each of the room captains are the Vice Presidents of each hall. All dormitory leaders and room captains are selected by the Staff Dormitory Manager, and approved by the Director of Center Life. The Recreation department has student workers that clean the buildings each night and staff them daily to streamline services. They are overseen by eight Vice Presidents, a records leader, a Sergeant at Arms, and the President. These leaders, as well as the workers, are all selected by the Recreation Supervisor.

Phase System

Students are categorized by their behavior as rated by staff of the center from all departments(recreation, residential, Academic, and skill). Once each department has rated the student; these phases are then averaged together to give them their final score, which will decide their phase. Students carry cards roughly the size of a business card that indicates their current status. All students begin on Green Phase, And progress on to either Grey, Blue, or Red Phase, the latter being the acceptable standard. Grey Phase allows the student no privileges beyond attendance of training, and enforces early curfew, as well as blue phase does. Blue Phase, however, does not restrict students to the center. Red Phase and Green Phase have the same privilege set, allowing standard curfew and utilization of recreational outings, as well as Work-based-Learning opportunities...Though green phase is reserved for new students during their orientation period only. After a second evaluation, students are eligible to progress on to Silver and Gold Phase, allowing them more privileges such as curfew extensions on the weekends. Silver Phase students may leave center more often on shopping trips, and are also eligible to run for Student Government. Students who receive disciplinary write-ups surrender their phase immediately, and the return of their phase card is contingent upon a brief hearing by the Student Personnel Office. Write-ups of a serious nature often cause White Phase, a temporary status of removal of all privileges. See Zero Tolerance for further write-up procedures.

Training Opportunities

Educational

It offers, as other Job Corps Centers do, High School Diploma/GED completion programs, the first with the use of PLATO software.

Vocational/Career Technical

It also offers vocational trades, as follows: Construction Equipment Mechanics, Heavy Equipment Operators, Welding, Commercial Drivers' License Class B Certified Nursing/Medical Assistant, Pharmacy Technician as certified by the PTCB exam, and Medical Office Support Specialists. Trades recently phased out include Plumbing, Facilities Maintenance, Brick Masonry, Business Technologies, and Culinary Arts. Trade removals previous to this include Security Officer Training, Painting, and Automobile Mechanics. Also offered is a college program which allows students who have completed all facets of the program to remain in residence and attend Madisonville Community College in Madisonville, Kentucky.

Student Leadership also exists in each vocational class, with a Foreman, Safety Foreman, and Student Employability Leader. These leaders are selected by the instructor(s) of the trades.

Zero Tolerance Procedures and Disciplinary Write-Ups

If a student is found to be in possession of drugs, tested positive for drugs a second time, arrested for a felony on or off center, or seriously assaults another student sexually or physically, immediate termination occurs. This set of rules is in place in all Job Corps centers across the United States. Offenses such as dress code violations and missing appointments are dealt with by the Student Personnel Office in the same fashion as many correctional institutions utilize, and may cause the revocation of the Students' phase privileges, extra work hours, essay writing, center restriction, or all of the above. A point system exists for incentives towards good behavior, and the discouragement of the opposite A student begins with twelve Behavior Management System (BMS) points. Infractions will deduct these points based on their seriousness, and loss of all or more points will result in possible termination, pending review. As mentioned earlier, White Phase is a consequence of loss of half or more of the BMS points held by a student. Points are awarded back weekly one at a time if a student does not incur any more write-ups. If a student incurs a large number of minor violations, or a violation just short of zero tolerance, such as threats or intimidation, major disturbances, minor fights, arrests for misdemeanors, or theft, the Behavior Review Panel (BRP) determine guilt or innocence of the offense in question, and then will proceed to recommend either termination from the program or retention. The next day, the Center Director will make the final decision on termination of the student in question, and if the student is retained, he or she will automatically be placed on White Phase with heavy sanctions.

External links

• Official website
• Horizons Youth Services Official Website