Pin 21-01

U.S. Department of Labor

DIRECTIVE:

Employment and Training Administration
200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20210

JOB CORPS PROGRAM INSTRUCTION NOTICE NO. 21-01

TO:

ALL JOB CORPS NATIONAL OFFICE STAFF
ALL JOB CORPS REGIONAL OFFICE STAFF
ALL JOB CORPS CENTER DIRECTORS
ALL JOB CORPS CENTER OPERATORS
ALL FOREST SERVICE CENTER
ALL NATIONAL TRAINING AND SUPPORT CONTRACTORS
ALL OUTREACH AND ADMISSIONS CONTRACTORS
ALL CAREER TRANSITION SERVICES CONTRACTORS
ALL CENTER USERS

FROM:

RACHEL TORRES
National Director
Office of Job Corps

SUBJECT:

Requirements for Assessing and Offering COVID-19 Vaccination to Students

Rachel Torres

Digitally signed by Rachel
Torres
Date: 2021.10.06
07:41:55 -04'00'

1.

Purpose. To create new requirements related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
vaccination of students, provide guidance to centers to collect COVID-19 vaccination
status information from students, and direct centers to assist students in securing
vaccination.

2.

Background. Job Corps’ goal is to return to full, in-person center operations as quickly
and safely as possible. While the current pandemic continues to evolve, on-center
learning, especially with the supports that come with it, is the best way for Job Corps’
students, and its future students, to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the
program. In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a temporary pause to most oncenter learning in Job Corps to ensure the safety of its students and staff. There are now
safe and effective vaccines generally available in the United States for use by individuals
in Job Corps’ age range (age 16 to 24). All Job Corps students are thus eligible to receive
a vaccine to prevent COVID-19. These vaccines provide significant protection against
all presently known forms of the virus and vaccinated people have substantially lower
risk of serious illness.
Job Corps students learn best in safe environments, and Job Corps has long verified
student immunizations through medical records as a critical part of managing its
residential learning program. Just as Job Corps seeks to protect students from the risks of
these other diseases, students should face as little risk of serious COVID-19 infection as

possible. Accordingly, all currently enrolled Job Corps students must be fully vaccinated
against COVID-19 (as presently defined by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC)) or be subject to enhanced quarantine, testing, and masking
requirements described in PIN 21-02, Change to Entrance Quarantine, Testing, and
COVID-19 Mitigation Requirements for Vaccinated, Partially Vaccinated, and
Unvaccinated Students.
Job Corps will not require new enrollees to be fully vaccinated by the time they arrive on
center; however, center operators must refer unvaccinated or partially vaccinated
enrollees to vaccination sites, following Section 3.D.b below, prior to arrival on center.
If partially vaccinated or unvaccinated at entry, enrollees must follow the enhanced
quarantine, testing, and masking requirements of PIN 21-02.
In summary, centers must take the following actions:
•

No later than two weeks after the publication of this PIN, centers must determine
the vaccination status of all current on-center students as described in Section 3.A
below.

•

After determining status, centers must give unvaccinated students a choice of
vaccination or adhering to the enhanced quarantine, testing, and masking
requirements of PIN 21-02. These students will have to continue to follow these
requirements until fully vaccinated or until completion of the program.
o For unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students who choose vaccination,
centers must arrange for them to receive as many doses as needed until
fully vaccinated, as presently defined by the CDC, no later than ten weeks
after the publication of this PIN.


A student may choose to arrange their own vaccination according
to the requirements of Section 3.B.a. below.



Until full vaccination, the student must follow the enhanced
quarantine, testing, and masking requirements of PIN 21-02.

•

If a current on-center student declines to answer as to vaccination status, centers
must inform them that they must follow the enhanced quarantine, testing, and
masking requirements of PIN 21-02. These students must follow these
requirements until completion of the program, until fully vaccinated, or until
disclosure of full vaccination through one of the methods described in 3.A.a.

•

Starting immediately, determine the vaccination status of new enrollees for oncenter enrollment, according to the records and privacy requirements of Section
3.A. Centers must provide unvaccinated new enrollees information about
obtaining vaccination according to Section 3.D. Upon arrival, all new enrollees
2

who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated must quarantine according to PIN
21-02.
3.

Action.
A. Determine Student Vaccination Status and Verify Through Vaccination Records
a. No later than two weeks after this PIN’s publication, centers must ask each
student to complete Attachment C, Student COVID-19 Vaccine Certification,
Authorizations, Acknowledgements, and Testing Consent, asking for student’s
vaccination status and testing consent. As described in PIN 20-19, students
who refuse COVID-19 testing will not be permitted to participate in on-center
activities and will remain in distance learning status. Failure to agree to each
center’s COVID protocols can result in termination from the program under
PIN 20-12. A student must follow the enhanced quarantine, testing, and
masking requirements of PIN 21-02 if they decline to answer as to vaccination
status. If a student communicates that they do not know if they have received
enough doses to be fully vaccinated or do not understand what fully
vaccinated means, centers must share the current CDC information on full
vaccination located here.
For each student who indicates they are partially or fully vaccinated, centers
must obtain documentation of this status using one of the three options below
and add this documentation to the Student Health Record and CIS Health eFolder.
i. Option 1: Ask student to provide their CDC-issued vaccination card
or other government-issued proof of vaccination to affirm that they
received the vaccine. Centers must make a copy of this document and
add it to the student’s Student Health Record and CIS Health e-Folder.
ii. Option 2: Obtain records from a medical provider if student indicates
they received the vaccination at a medical provider’s office. The
student must identify the name and location of the provider. For
current students, centers must request that they (or a parent/guardian, if
the student is a minor) complete an updated “Authorization to Release
Health-Care Information” authorizing the release of updated
immunization records to the center (attached to PIN 14-33,
Authorization to Release Health-care Information), or a providerspecific form authorizing the release of records.
iii. Option 3: Use the Immunization Information System (IIS), a state-bystate system tracking immunizations. All COVID-19 vaccination
providers are required to enroll in their jurisdiction’s IIS and report
specific vaccine administration information within 72 hours of
administration. A listing of state IIS contacts and websites is available
3

here. Center medical staff must access and ask a student to complete
an “Authorization to Release Health Care Information” from the
appropriate state IIS.
b. Centers must ensure that staff handle vaccine records consistent with the
storage and confidentiality requirements of Policy and Requirements
Handbook (PRH) Chapter 2 Appendix 202, “Transmission, Storage, and
Confidentiality of Medical, Health, and Disability-Related Information.”
c. Centers must follow any current or future Job Corps guidance pertaining to
fully vaccinated students, once the center ascertains that a student has been
fully vaccinated, as presently defined by the CDC.1
B. Offer Unvaccinated Students Learning on Center the Opportunity for
Vaccination
a. Inform the student of the program’s requirements for unvaccinated students
under PIN 21-02 and offer an opportunity for the center to arrange any
vaccination appointments needed to be fully vaccinated, as presently defined
by the CDC.2
i. Students may elect to arrange vaccination themselves.
ii. Until the student is fully vaccinated, the student must be subject to the
enhanced quarantine, testing, and masking requirements of PIN 21-02.
b. Students who decline vaccination must follow immediately the enhanced,
quarantine, masking, and testing requirements of PIN 21-02. For students
unable to comply with these requirements due to disability and/or religious
belief, practice, or observance—for instance, if a student with a disability
cannot wear a mask over their nose and mouth because it would render them
unable to breathe—centers must follow existing program policies on
providing reasonable accommodations.
C. Arrange Vaccination for Students Who Choose Vaccination
No later than ten weeks after publication of this PIN, centers must:
a. Determine the nearest vaccination sites at which centers can arrange
vaccination in the shortest amount of time based upon vaccine availability.
Center operators should try to arrange on-center vaccination through nonhttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html
Please note that some, but not all, states require parental or guardian consent prior to vaccination of those younger
than 18 years old, although some of these states allow providers to waive this requirement. A state-by-state
breakdown of these requirements can be found here: https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/covid-19-vaccination-andparental-consent/
1
2

4

center medical providers, if possible.
b. Safely transport students to receive vaccination and return them to center.
c. Refer the student to the center Health Unit if the vaccine causes any side
effects. Students must not be penalized for missing instruction due to dealing
with vaccine side effects. If students have side effects, they must be treated as
Not Present for Duty – Administrative Leave with Pay under PRH Exhibit 61. Centers are disallowed from determining behavioral infractions due to a
student’s absence from Job Corps activities due to vaccine side effects.
d. If students need additional doses of a vaccine, based on current CDC or
manufacturer guidance, safely transport the student to subsequent vaccination
appointments until the student has received the dosage for full vaccination.
e. Verify the student’s vaccination according to the methods described in Section
3.A above.
D. Determine Vaccination Status of New Enrollees for On-Center Learning and
Provide an Opportunity to Vaccinate.
For all new enrollees, centers must:
a. Make a determination on vaccination status as described in Section 3.A.
b. If not fully vaccinated, provide new enrollees information on the vaccine and
a referral for obtaining the vaccine prior to their enrollment on center. Centers
must provide vaccine information provided by Job Corps or by the CDC here.
At minimum, information provided to these students must state that
i. The vaccine is free.
ii. Health insurance is not required to receive a vaccine, even if a vaccine
site requests health insurance information.
c. If not fully vaccinated at arrival on center, provide new enrollees an
opportunity to vaccinate as described in Section 3.B and arrange vaccinations
for students who choose vaccination as described in Section 3.C.
d. Ensure new enrollees comply with the enhanced quarantine, masking, and
testing requirements of PIN 21-02 until fully vaccinated.
4.

Effective Date. Effective immediately until rescinded or superseded. The Office of the
Senior Procurement Executive will issue a Change Order simultaneously with this Job
Corps PIN.

5

5.

Inquiries. Questions about the implementation of this policy guidance should be
addressed to the appropriate Contracting Officers’ Representative.

6