Arkansas Career Training Institute has released a list of 107 positions that will be terminated when it changes from a residential program to a nonresidential model later this year.
"We just finalized the actual positions that are not going to stay. We know exactly now which positions we're not retaining. We originally thought it was going to impact around 120 people. It's a little less than that now, at 107. So that was the final staff reduction list: 107," Arkansas Rehabilitation Services Commissioner Alan McClain said Friday.
ACTI is currently a 24-hour residential facility where 260 young adults with disabilities receive vocational training in preparation for employment opportunities.
"Our model is changing to serve all the same students, but in their own communities. Roughly a third of our budget is used to support this facility currently. A little over $11 million is what our budget is for this campus. With the new model, it'll be roughly $3-3.5 million that we'll continue to use here. So we'll deploy the difference across the state to support our other programs," McClain said on May 28.
McClain said Friday that he and ACTI administration made the selections based on post-program completion job placement rates, and the personnel that would be needed to continue a nonresidential program.
"We looked at labor market information. We did an evaluation using LMI data from the Department of Workforce Services, and we looked at the job projections both statewide and locally. That was part of the decision," said ACTI Director Jonathan Bibb, referring to the selection process to determine which personnel would be retained.
A majority of the terminated positions were those connected to residential services in the facility, including 15 culinary staff, nine security staff, a dentist and general physician.
Personnel being laid off had salaries ranging from $22,164.90 to $133,601.31, according to a spreadsheet released by ARS. The documents did not identify the personnel by name, only by position.
One employee, a public safety officer, has been with the center since October 1978, the document said.
The most recent hire affected by the reductions, a "skilled tradesman," has only been at the location since May 5 of this year.
"There are some people on this list who are retiring. So not everyone's going to be looking for jobs," McClain said.
"That doesn't really reflect the number being laid off. It'll be even lower than that."
Approximately $3.5 million in payroll will be cut due to layoffs, according to the documents.
Impacted employees were informed of status changes the week of June 3 via individual meetings and letters, McClain said.
"It's been a very personal interaction with each of the employees," he said.
McClain estimated Monday that 60-70 ACTI workers had been assisted in some way by the Department of Workforce Services' mobile unit by way of resume writing assistance and connections to job opportunities in the area.
"Hopefully they'll keep taking advantage of those resources. There's lots of good opportunities around Hot Springs and the surrounding counties," McClain said.
The mobile workforce arrived June 10, and a job fair was held June 13. Another job fair is set to be held in "a few weeks," he said.
"I know that this is very shocking, and that it's been a rough few weeks as far as staff," Bibb said.
The program will end on or before Sept. 30 and the building is expected to be completely vacated by Dec. 30.
Local on 06/18/2019