Problem/Objective: One avenue to reach young adults, not in college, with tobacco cessation services, is through the Department of Labor's Job Corps and other workforce development programs. It is estimated that smoking rates among young adults who participate in these programs can be as high as 70%, yet few cessation programs are tailored specifically for this population.

Methods: The Health Education Council developed a partnership with the Sacramento (CA) Job Corps to reach the high risk, young adult population. A cessation program was designed for use in the Job Corps setting, was focus group tested by Job Corps residents and implemented over an eight month period. The cessation strategy differed from traditional cessation programs in that it is taught on site and consists of four, 45-minute sessions.

Results: The Job Corps is a nontraditional setting for tobacco cessation interventions. While the Job Corps was interested in providing cessation support, they lacked appropriate materials and resources. Job Corps staff were supportive of the curriculum and were willing to be trained in its facilitation. However, a four session course proved to be too long for residents in this setting.

Conclusions: Tobacco cessation strategies for Job Corps residents must be tailored. In addition, courses need to be shortened to include only one or two interventions. While most participants quit at the end of the course, only a small number provided follow-up data. This suggests that when working with low SES young adults, traditional cessation strategies are not always appropriate and must be adapted for the population.