Hilo job challenge academy to close after current class graduates

The Hawaii Job Challenge Academy in Hilo will close after the current class graduates on May 22, ending a local program that gave 56 young adults a structured path to certificates, hands-on training and job readiness. Hawaii National Guard officials said federal budget cuts drove the decision, closing off a route that had become one of East Hawaii’s few on-island options for youth who needed discipline, mentoring and a credential to move toward work.

The loss matters because the Hilo campus was more than a classroom. It was an optional second phase for graduates of the Hawaii Youth Challenge Academy, open to young people ages 17 to 20 after they completed the basic program at Kalaeloa or came from past Hilo classes. The broader Youth Challenge model includes a 22-week residential phase and a year-long mentoring relationship, a format designed to keep at-risk or undecided youth connected long enough to build habits, confidence and a plan. For families on the Island of Hawaii, that meant a residential program without having to send a son or daughter to Oahu for the same kind of training.

The Hawaii Department of Defense said the closure was not the Guard’s choice. Maj. Gen. Stephen F. Logan, who assumed duties as Hawaii adjutant general on October 1, 2024, is now overseeing a transition that officials say will include help for graduates as they move on. The challenge for Hilo is not just the end of a single class or a single campus. It is the loss of a relatively new workforce pipeline that connected East Hawaii youth to structure, professional development and a first step into long-term employment.

The Guard is developing a proposal for a different state-funded program in Hilo that would offer services comparable to those the Job Challenge Academy provided, but that replacement is not in place yet. The Keaukaha Military Reservation site is slated to be repurposed for STARBASE Academy, a STEM-focused youth program that the state says was established in September 2008 and operates out of the Keaau Armory. STARBASE’s mission is to provide 25 hours of hands-on STEM instruction and career exploration, which means Hilo may keep a youth-development presence at the site even as the job training model disappears. For East Hawaii, the unanswered question is whether any new program can match the academy’s mix of discipline, credentials and mentoring.