JOBS and JTPA

This report provides information on the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) and Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs, which Congress is considering consolidating. Together, the two programs account for about 60 percent of the federal employment and training funds for the nation's poor. Although JOBS is limited to welfare recipients, JTPA serves other economically disadvantaged persons as well. In examining the interrelationship between the two programs, GAO discusses how funds are spent and reported for education, job training, support services, and program administration. In addition, GAO examines the outcome-focused data that are collected and performance standards for the two programs.

GAO found that: (1) by the end of program year 1992, JOBS and JTPA had spent more than $3 billion in federal and state funds to provide employment and training services to disadvantaged persons; (2) JOBS and JTPA program service delivery is often coordinated and interrelated at the state or local level; (3) the extent to which the two programs rely on each other for services is unknown; (4) although JOBS and JTPA expenditures for education and training, participant support, and administration are similar, program spending patterns vary considerably when child care expenditures are taken into account; (5) JOBS and JTPA collect similar data on participant characteristics, services received, job entry status, and wages; (6) while JTPA measures state performance against established outcome-based accountability standards and tracks participants after they have left the program, JOBS performance standards are process-focused, with resources targeted to long-term applicants and recipients; and (7) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not submitted required JOBS outcome-focused performance standards or reported them to Congress.