The Job Training Partnership Act. Potential for Program Improvements but National Job Training Strategy Needed. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Employment, Housing, and Aviation, Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives.

U.S. General Accounting Office, P.O. Box 6015, Gaithersburg, MD 20884-6015 (first copy free; additional copies $2 each; 100 or more: 25% discount).

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Adult Basic Education; Cooperative Programs; Coordination; Economically Disadvantaged; Employment Programs; Federal Programs; Job Training; Postsecondary Education; Program Effectiveness; Program Improvement; Public Policy

This report records the testimony presented by Clarence C. Crawford, Associate Director, Education and Employment Issues, Human Resources, of the General Accounting Office, on the effectiveness of Title IIA of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) in meeting the employment and training needs of economically disadvantaged adults and youth. His testimony centered on the following main points: (1) JTPA has consistently placed the majority of those receiving services in jobs and thus generally has been regarded as successful--however, recent research indicates that the program is only marginally increasing the earnings and employment of certain client groups above comparable nonparticipating groups; (2) the 1992 amendments to JTPA, along with a Department of Labor data collection initiative, have the potential to improve the JTPA program substantially by providing specific guidance on program targeting, training plans, and more comprehensive data on program operations; (3) JTPA is one of 65 federal programs that spent more than $11 billion in fiscal year 1991 on employment and training services for the economically disadvantaged, but these programs are not coordinated; (4) there is a need for a national training strategy and elimination of duplication; and (5) one proposal is for "one-stop" career centers that would serve people in need of career counseling, assessment, occupational information, job referral, training, employment services, and community services. (KC)

1993

ED357248