Religion-related changes

to Job Corps regulations

and PRH

Presented by the Civil Rights Center,

USDOL’s Center for Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives,
and Job Corps
 Where can I find the relevant
changes?
• New equal treatment regulations (29 CFR
Part 2, Subpart D)
• Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
nondiscrimination and programmatic
regulations (29 CFR 37.6(f); 20 CFR
667.266 and 667.275)
• Job Corps regulations (20 CFR 670.555)
• Job Corps Policy and Requirements
Handbook (PRH)—Sections 6.8 (Civil and
Legal Rights), 2.2, 3.17, 5.4 and 6.9

2
The USDOL equal treatment
regulations:
• Apply to all providers that implement
USDOL supported social service
programs, including:
For-profit and non-profit
organizations, including FBCOs
State and local governments
One-Stop system
Job Corps Center operators &
contractors
• Govern the administration and 3
Religion-Related Requirements
for
Job Corps
Job Corps Centers must take steps to protect the
religious liberty of students
Job Corps Centers must not favor an organization
for, or exclude an organization from, community
outreach, student recruitment and mentoring,
community service, and post-Job Corps
employment activities on the basis of religious
character or affiliation
Job Corps Centers must not discriminate for or
against students on the basis of religion or religious
belief
FBCOs that partner with Job Corps must be
permitted to remain independent
FBCOs partnering with Job Corps must not refuse4to
serve students on account of religion
Religion-Related Requirements
for
Job Corps
The Job Corps Policy and Requirements
Handbook (PRH) outlines steps Job Corps
Centers must take to protect the religious
liberty of Job Corps students:
• Job Corps Centers must not discriminate for or
against students on the basis of religion or
religious belief
• Job Corps Centers must inform students about
their religious rights
• Job Corps Centers must permit voluntary religious
activities, including religious services, to occur at
Job Corps Centers (services do not have to be
“nondenominational” as under the prior
regulation)
5
(continued on next slide…)
Religion-Related Requirements
for
Job Corps
Job Corps requirements continued…
• Job Corps Centers may continue to transport students
to local religious facilities
• Job Corps Centers must accommodate student
religious practices subject to reasonable time, place,
and manner restrictions
• Special rule: Where there is such government control
over the program environment that student religious
exercise would otherwise be significantly burdened,
Job Corps Centers may use “direct” Federal support
to facilitate student-requested religious activities

6
Prohibited activities
• Activities always prohibited on center
(regardless of any religious motivation):
 Acts of violence
 Animal sacrifice
 Performance of curses, hexes, or other
rituals or actions intended to harm others
 Public nudity
 Acts of self-mutilation or infliction of bodily
harm
 Use or display of weapons
 Exclusion by race, ethnicity, color, or
national origin
 Sexual acts
(continued on next slide) 7
Prohibited activities (cont’d)
• More activities always prohibited on
center (regardless of any religious
motivation):
 Use, possession, or sale of controlled
substances
 Being under the influence of, using, or
possessing any:
 narcotic drugs
 hallucinogens
 marijuana
 barbiturates
 amphetamines
8
(continued on next slide)
Prohibited activities (cont’d)
• More activities always prohibited
on center (regardless of any
religious motivation):
 Re: alcoholic beverages:
being under the influence of or using
operating a motor vehicle while under the
influence
 Coercion or harassment of anyone
based on religion or lack thereof
(continued on next slide)
9
Prohibited activities (cont’d)
• More activities always prohibited on center
(regardless of any religious motivation):
 Possession of unauthorized goods (as defined in the
Job Corps regulations at 20 CFR 670.120), including:
 Firearms and ammunition
 Explosives and incendiaries
 Knives with blades longer than 2 inches
 Homemade weapons
 All other weapons and instruments used primarily to
inflict personal injury
 Stolen property
 Drugs, including alcohol, depressants, stimulants,
tranquilizers, and drug paraphernalia except for drugs
and/or paraphernalia that are prescribed for medical
reasons (see also list on slide 8)
 Any other goods prohibited by a center operator in a
student handbook
10
How to contact us
• Brian Kennedy, Deputy National Director,
Office of Job Corps
 Voice phone: 202-693-3000
 Fax: 202-693-2767
• Rhett Butler, USDOL CFBCI
 E-mail: butler.rhett@dol.gov
 Voice phone: 202-693-6450
• Robin McDonald, USDOL CFBCI
 E-mail: mcdonald.robin@dol.gov
 Voice phone: 202-693-6450
• Denise Sudell, Civil Rights Center
 E-mail: sudell.denise@dol.gov
 Voice phone: 202-693-6554

All of the above voice phone numbers may be

reached by TTY via the Federal Relay
Service, 800-877-8339 11