Multiple Employment and Training Programs
Providing Information on Colocating Services and Consolidating Administrative Structures Could Promote Efficiencies Gao ID: GAO-11-92 January 13, 2011Federally funded employment and training programs play an important role in helping job seekers obtain employment. The Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services (HHS) largely administer these programs. GAO's objectives were to determine: (1) whether the number of federal employment and training programs and funding for them have changed since our 2003 report, (2) what kinds of outcome measures the programs use and what is known about program effectiveness, (3) the extent to which the programs provide similar services to similar populations, (4) the extent to which duplication may exist among selected large programs, and (5) what options exist for increasing efficiencies among these programs. To address these objectives, GAO searched federal program lists, surveyed federal agency officials, reviewed relevant reports and studies, and interviewed officials in selected states.
Due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), both the number of--and funding for--federal employment and training programs have increased since our 2003 report, but little is known about the effectiveness of most programs. In fiscal year 2009, 9 federal agencies spent approximately $18 billion to administer 47 programs--an increase of 3 programs and roughly $5 billion since our 2003 report. This increase is due to temporary Recovery Act funding. Nearly all programs track multiple outcome measures, but only five programs have had an impact study completed since 2004 to assess whether outcomes resulted from the program and not some other cause. Almost all federal employment and training programs, including those with broader missions such as multipurpose block grants, overlap with at least one other program in that they provide similar services to similar populations. These programs most commonly target Native Americans, veterans, and youth, and some require participants to be economically disadvantaged. Although the extent to which individuals receive the same employment and training services from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Employment Service (ES), and Workforce Investment Act Adult (WIA Adult) programs is unknown, the programs maintain separate administrative structures to provide some of the same services, such as job search assistance, to low-income individuals. Agency officials acknowledged that greater administrative efficiencies could be achieved in delivering these services, but said factors, such as the number of clients that any one-stop center can serve and one-stops' proximity to clients, particularly in rural areas, could warrant having multiple entities provide the same services. Options that may increase efficiencies include colocating services and consolidating administrative structures, but implementation may pose challenges. While WIA Adult and ES services are generally colocated in one-stop centers, TANF employment services are colocated in one-stops to a lesser extent. Florida, Texas, and Utah have consolidated their welfare and workforce agencies, and state officials said this reduced costs and improved services, but they could not provide a dollar figure for cost savings. An obstacle to further progress in achieving greater administrative efficiencies is that little information is available about the strategies and results of such initiatives. In addition, little is known about the incentives states and localities have to undertake such initiatives and whether additional incentives may be needed. Labor and HHS should disseminate information about state efforts to consolidate administrative structures and colocate services and, as warranted, identify options for increasing incentives to undertake these initiatives. In their comments, Labor and HHS agreed that they should disseminate this information.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: Andrew Sherrill Team: Government Accountability Office: Education, Workforce, and Income Security Phone: (202) 512-7252GAO-11-92, Multiple Employment and Training Programs: Providing Information on Colocating Services and Consolidating Administrative Structures Could Promote Efficiencies
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United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
Report to Congressional Requesters:
January 2011:
Multiple Employment And Training Programs:
Providing Information on Colocating Services and Consolidating
Administrative Structures Could Promote Efficiencies:
GAO-11-92:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-11-92, a report to congressional requesters.
Why GAO Did This Study:
Federally funded employment and training programs play an important
role in helping job seekers obtain employment. The Departments of
Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services (HHS) largely
administer these programs. GAO‘s objectives were to determine: (1)
whether the number of federal employment and training programs and
funding for them have changed since our 2003 report, (2) what kinds of
outcome measures the programs use and what is known about program
effectiveness, (3) the extent to which the programs provide similar
services to similar populations, (4) the extent to which duplication
may exist among selected large programs, and (5) what options exist
for increasing efficiencies among these programs. To address these
objectives, GAO searched federal program lists, surveyed federal
agency officials, reviewed relevant reports and studies, and
interviewed officials in selected states.
What GAO Found:
Due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery
Act), both the number of”and funding for”federal employment and
training programs have increased since our 2003 report, but little is
known about the effectiveness of most programs. In fiscal year 2009, 9
federal agencies spent approximately $18 billion to administer 47
programs”an increase of 3 programs and roughly $5 billion since our
2003 report. This increase is due to temporary Recovery Act funding.
Nearly all programs track multiple outcome measures, but only five
programs have had an impact study completed since 2004 to assess
whether outcomes resulted from the program and not some other cause.
Almost all federal employment and training programs, including those
with broader missions such as multipurpose block grants, overlap with
at least one other program in that they provide similar services to
similar populations. These programs most commonly target Native
Americans, veterans, and youth, and some require participants to be
economically disadvantaged.
Although the extent to which individuals receive the same employment
and training services from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF), Employment Service (ES), and Workforce Investment Act Adult
(WIA Adult) programs is unknown, the programs maintain separate
administrative structures to provide some of the same services, such
as job search assistance, to low-income individuals. Agency officials
acknowledged that greater administrative efficiencies could be
achieved in delivering these services, but said factors, such as the
number of clients that any one-stop center can serve and one-stops‘
proximity to clients, particularly in rural areas, could warrant
having multiple entities provide the same services.
Options that may increase efficiencies include colocating services and
consolidating administrative structures, but implementation may pose
challenges. While WIA Adult and ES services are generally colocated in
one-stop centers, TANF employment services are colocated in one-stops
to a lesser extent. Florida, Texas, and Utah have consolidated their
welfare and workforce agencies, and state officials said this reduced
costs and improved services, but they could not provide a dollar
figure for cost savings.
An obstacle to further progress in achieving greater administrative
efficiencies is that little information is available about the
strategies and results of such initiatives. In addition, little is
known about the incentives states and localities have to undertake
such initiatives and whether additional incentives may be needed.
What GAO Recommends:
Labor and HHS should disseminate information about state efforts to
consolidate administrative structures and colocate services and, as
warranted, identify options for increasing incentives to undertake
these initiatives. In their comments, Labor and HHS agreed that they
should disseminate this information.
View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-92] or key
components. For more information, contact Andrew Sherrill at (202) 512-
7215 or sherrilla@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Background:
Since Our 2003 Report, the Number of Federal Employment and Training
Programs and Funding for Them Have Increased Due to the Recovery Act:
Nearly All Programs Track Multiple Outcome Measures, but Little is
Known about Program Effectiveness:
Almost All Programs Overlap with at Least One Other Program, but
Differences May Exist in Eligibility, Objectives, and Service Delivery:
While the Extent to Which Individuals Receive the Same Services From
Multiple Programs is Unknown, the TANF, ES, and WIA Adult Programs
Maintain Separate Administrative Structures to Provide Some of the
Same Services:
Options for Increasing Efficiencies Include Colocating Services and
Consolidating Administrative Structures, but Implementation Can Be
Challenging:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Appendix II: Estimated Proportion of Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriation
Used on Employment and Training Activities:
Appendix III: Estimated Proportion of Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriation
Used on Employment and Training Activities:
Appendix IV: Estimated Number of Program Participants Who Received
Employment or Training Services:
Appendix V: Outcome Measures Tracked in Fiscal Year 2009, By Program:
Appendix VI: Programs That Identified Performance Reviews Completed
Since 2004, By Type of Study:
Appendix VII: Population Groups Served by Employment and Training
Programs, Fiscal Year 2009:
Appendix VIII: Summary of Services Provided by Employment and Training
Programs:
Appendix IX: Services Provided by Employment and Training Programs,
Fiscal Year 2009:
Appendix X: Programs Reporting Requiring Beneficiaries to be
Economically Disadvantaged, Fiscal Year 2009:
Appendix XI: Reported Objectives and Eligibility for Employment and
Training Programs, by Target Group:
Appendix XII: Comments from the Department of Education:
Appendix XIII: Comments from the Department of Health and Human
Services:
Appendix XIV: Comments from the Department of Labor:
Appendix XV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Related GAO Products:
Tables:
Table 1: Programs that Used Less than 90 percent of their Total
Appropriation on Employment and Training Activities, Fiscal Year 2009:
Table 2: Outcome Measures Tracked Most Frequently by Programs in
Fiscal Year 2009:
Table 3: Number of States that Provided the TANF Program On Site at a
Typical Comprehensive One-Stop Center, 2007:
Table 4: List of Excluded Programs:
Figures:
Figure 1: Federally Funded Employment and Training Programs by Agency,
Fiscal Year 2009:
Figure 2: Reported Funding and Expenditures for Employment and
Training Programs, Fiscal Years 2008-2010:
Figure 3: Seven Programs Accounted for About Three-Fourths of the
Funding Used for Employment and Training Services, Fiscal Year 2009:
Figure 4: Services Provided by Programs Targeting Native Americans,
Fiscal Year 2009:
Figure 5: Services Provided by Programs Targeting Veterans, Fiscal
Year 2009:
Figure 6: Services Provided by Programs Targeting Youth, Fiscal Year
2009:
Figure 7: Employment and Training Services Provided by the TANF, ES,
and WIA Adult Programs, Fiscal Year 2009:
Figure 8: Range of Services Provided by Employment and Training
Programs, Fiscal Year 2009:
Abbreviations:
AFDC: Aid to Families with Dependent Children:
CBO: Congressional Budget Office:
CFDA: Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance:
CLASP: Center for Law and Social Policy:
E&T: Employment and Training Program:
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency:
ES: Employment Service:
FTE: full-time staff equivalents:
GED: General Equivalency Diploma:
HHS: Department of Health and Human Services:
JTPA: Job Training Partnership Act:
NPS: National Park Service:
OMB: Office of Management and Budget:
PART: Program Assessment Rating Tool:
PATH: Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness:
PRI: Prisoner Reentry Initiative:
PRWORA: Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act of 1996:
Recovery Act: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009:
SCSEP: Senior Community Service Employment Program:
SNAP: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program:
TAA: Trade Adjustment Assistance:
TANF: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families:
TAP: Transition Assistance Program:
TRA: Trade Readjustment Allowance:
WANTO: Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations:
WIA: Workforce Investment Act:
WIA Adult: Workforce Investment Act Adult:
[End of section]
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
January 13, 2011:
The Honorable Tom A. Coburn:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Michael B. Enzi:
United States Senate:
Federally funded employment and training programs serve an important
role in our society by helping job seekers enhance their job skills,
identify job opportunities, and obtain employment. Many federal
agencies administer these programs, including the Departments of
Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services (HHS). In the 1990s,
we issued a series of reports that raised questions about the
efficiency and effectiveness of the federally funded employment and
training system and concluded that a structural overhaul and
consolidation of these programs were needed. In 1998, partly in
response to concerns regarding the fragmented employment and training
system, Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA).
One of WIA's primary features is to foster closer coordination of
employment and training programs by requiring a centralized service
delivery system through one-stop centers; however, only a few
employment and training programs have been consolidated. In 2000 and
2003, we issued reports that focused on those programs whose primary
purpose was employment and training, and we provided information on
the size of these programs and overlap among them.[Footnote 1] Because
of higher unemployment rates during these challenging economic times
and the potential reauthorization of WIA, you asked us to update the
2003 study, examine changes to these programs under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), and report on
what is known about the programs' performance.
Our objectives were to determine: (1) whether the number of federal
employment and training programs and funding for them have changed
since our 2003 report, (2) what kinds of outcome measures the programs
use and what is known about program effectiveness, (3) the extent to
which the programs provide similar services to similar populations,
(4) the extent to which duplication may exist among selected large
programs, and (5) what options exist for increasing efficiencies among
these programs.
To address the first three objectives, we identified employment and
training programs by consulting with federal agency officials,
searching the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), and
reviewing the Recovery Act.[Footnote 2] In searching for programs, we
used the same definition of an employment and training program as used
in the two most recent GAO reports--a program that is specifically
designed to enhance the specific job skills of individuals in order to
increase their employability, identify job opportunities, and/or help
job seekers obtain employment. We excluded certain programs that did
not meet this definition, did not provide employment and training
services, or were components of other employment and training
programs.[Footnote 3] We included programs with broader missions if a
primary purpose of the program was to provide employment and training
assistance, including multipurpose block grants and career and
technical education programs. Once we developed the list of programs,
we vetted it with officials in each agency. We then surveyed agency
officials to gather detailed information about the programs. Our
survey questions asked officials to identify the programs'
appropriations, the amount of funds used to provide employment and
training services, whether the programs were modified by the Recovery
Act, how many individuals were served by the programs, and the target
populations and services associated with each program. Our
questionnaire also asked program officials to identify program outcome
measures and any studies of program performance published since 2004,
characterize the type of study, and provide a copy of the study or a
citation. We then reviewed the studies' methodologies to determine
whether they met the definition of an impact study.[Footnote 4]
To address objectives four and five, we used findings from our prior
work to identify programs that had the potential for duplication based
on a high degree of overlap and were among the largest in terms of
funding employment and training activities. Using this approach, we
selected the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),
Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities (ES), and Workforce
Investment Act Adult (WIA Adult) programs for further review. We
reviewed financial information and conducted interviews with federal
agency officials to determine the extent to which the programs
duplicate efforts with respect to their employment and training
activities. We reviewed relevant reports and interviewed officials
from other organizations familiar with these programs: the Center for
Law and Social Policy, the American Public Human Services Association,
and the National Governors Association and reviewed relevant reports.
We also reviewed documentation and conducted interviews with officials
in Florida, Texas, and Utah, three of the states that are considered
to be the furthest along in their efforts to consolidate the
administrative structures for these and other programs.
We conducted this performance audit from November 2009 through January
2011 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. For more
details on our scope and methodology, see appendix I.
Background:
In 1998, Congress passed WIA--partly in response to concerns about
inefficiencies in federal employment and training programs.[Footnote
5] WIA repealed the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), effective
July 1, 2000,[Footnote 6] and replaced JTPA programs for economically
disadvantaged adults and youths and dislocated workers with three new
programs--WIA Adult, WIA Dislocated Worker, and WIA Youth.[Footnote 7]
In an effort that coordinated service delivery for employment and
training programs, WIA established one-stop centers in all states
[Footnote 8] and mandated that numerous programs provide their
services through the centers.[Footnote 9] Unlike the JTPA adult
program, WIA imposes no income eligibility requirements for adult
applicants receiving any of its "core" services, such as job search
assistance and employment counseling and assessment. Any person
visiting a one-stop center may look for a job, receive career
development services, and gain access to a range of vocational
education programs. While WIA consolidated the JTPA youth programs and
strengthened the service delivery of key workforce development
programs, most employment and training programs remain separately
funded and continue to be operated by various agencies.
We have previously issued reports on overlap in multiple employment
and training programs. During the 1990s, we issued a series of reports
that documented program overlap among federally funded employment and
training programs and identified areas where inefficiencies might
result.[Footnote 10] We reported that overlap among federally funded
employment and training programs raised questions about the efficient
and effective use of resources. We also reported that program overlap
might hinder people from seeking assistance and frustrate employers
and program administrators. In 2000 and 2003, we reviewed the
workforce development system and identified federally funded
employment and training programs for which a key program goal was
providing employment and training assistance.[Footnote 11] Our 2003
report identified 44 programs administered by nine federal agencies
that provided a range of employment and training services. While many
of the programs were the same as those included in the 2000 report, 10
programs were newly identified and 6 previously identified programs
had been discontinued since 2000.
Since Our 2003 Report, the Number of Federal Employment and Training
Programs and Funding for Them Have Increased Due to the Recovery Act:
The number of employment and training programs and their funding have
increased since our 2003 report when we last reported on them.
[Footnote 12] For fiscal year 2009, we identified 47 employment and
training programs administered across nine agencies (see figure 1).
Together, these programs spent approximately $18 billion on employment
and training services in fiscal year 2009, according to our survey
data.[Footnote 13] This is an increase of 3 programs and about $5
billion from our 2003 report.[Footnote 14] Adjusting for inflation,
the amount of the increase is about $2 billion. We estimate based on
survey responses that this increase is likely due to temporary funding
from the Recovery Act[Footnote 15] for 14 of the 47 programs we
identified (see figure 2). In addition to increasing funding for
existing programs, the Recovery Act also created 3 new programs and
modified several existing programs' target population groups and
eligibility requirements, according to agency officials.[Footnote 16]
For example, the Recovery Act modified the Trade Adjustment Assistance
program by expanding group eligibility to include certain dislocated
service workers who were impacted by foreign trade.
Figure 1: Federally Funded Employment and Training Programs by Agency,
Fiscal Year 2009:
[Refer to PDF for image: table]
Department of Labor:
* Community-Based Job Training Grants;
* Disabled Veterans‘ Outreach Program;
* Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities;
* H-1B Job Training Grants;
* Homeless Veterans‘ Reintegration Project;
* Job Corps;
* Local Veterans‘ Employment Representative Program;
* National Farmworker Jobs Program;
* Native American Employment and Training;
* Registered Apprenticeship and Other Training;
* Reintegration of Ex-Offenders;
* Senior Community Service Employment Program;
* Trade Adjustment Assistance;
* Transition Assistance Program;
* Veterans‘ Workforce Investment Program;
* WIA Adult Program;
* WIA Youth Activities;
* WIA Dislocated Workers;
* WIA National Emergency Grants;
* WANTO;
* YouthBuild.
Department of Education:
* American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services;
* Career and Technical Education – Basic Grants to States;
* Career and Technical Education – Indian Set-aside;
* Grants to States for Workplace and Community Transition Training for
Incarcerated Individuals;
* Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program;
* Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education;
* Projects with Industry;
* Rehabilitation Services – Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States;
* State-Supported Employment Services Program;
* Tech-Prep Education;
* Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical Institutions.
Department of Health and Human Services:
* Community Services Block Grant;
* Refugee and Entrant Assistance – Voluntary Agency Matching Grant
Program;
* Refugee and Entrant Assistance – Targeted Assistance Grants;
* Refugee and Entrant Assistance – Social Services Program;
* Refugee and Entrant Assistance – Targeted Assistance Discretionary
Program;
* Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
* Tribal Work Grants[A].
Department of the Interior:
* Conservation Activities by Youth Service Organizations[B];
* Indian Employment Assistance;
* Indian Vocational Training – United Tribes Technical College.
Department of Agriculture:
* SNAP Employment and Training.
Department of Defense:
* National Guard Youth Challenge Program.
Environmental Protection Agency:
* Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreements.
Department of Justice:
* Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative.
Department of Veterans Affairs:
* Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans[C].
Source: GAO analysis.
[A] Also known as the Native Employment Works program.
[B] For the purposes of our study, this program includes several
programs administered by Interior's National Park Service: Public
Lands Corps, Youth Conservation Corps, Youth Intern Program, and Youth
Partnership Program.
[C] Also known as the VetSuccess program.
[End of figure]
Figure 2: Reported Funding and Expenditures for Employment and
Training Programs, Fiscal Years 2008-2010:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Fiscal year: 2008;
Including TANF:
Appropriations not provided by the Recovery Act: $32.5 billion;
Amount of appropriations spent on employment and training services
(and percentage): $12.3 billion (38.0%);
Excluding TANF:
Appropriations not provided by the Recovery Act: $15.4 billion;
Amount of appropriations spent on employment and training services
(and percentage): $10.7 billion (69.0%).
Fiscal year: 2009;
Including TANF:
Appropriations not provided by the Recovery Act: $32.2 billion;
Amount of appropriations spent on employment and training services
(and percentage): $17.6 billion (41.3%);
Appropriations provided by the Recovery Act: $10.5 billion;
Excluding TANF:
Appropriations not provided by the Recovery Act: $15.1 billion;
Amount of appropriations spent on employment and training services
(and percentage): $15.9 billion (76.8);
Appropriations provided by the Recovery Act: $5.5 billion.
Fiscal year: 2010;
Including TANF:
Appropriations not provided by the Recovery Act: $33.5 billion;
Amount of appropriations spent on employment and training services
(and percentage): $12.2[A] (36.2%);
Appropriations provided by the Recovery Act: $0.3 billion;
Excluding TANF:
Appropriations not provided by the Recovery Act: $16.7 billion'
Amount of appropriations spent on employment and training services
(and percentage): $12.2 billion[A] (73.2%);
Appropriations provided by the Recovery Act: $0.004 billion.
Source: GAO analysis of survey data.
[A] This amount represents the total amount that agencies planned to
spend for programs in fiscal year 2010, as the fiscal year had not
been completed at the time of our survey. The official who completed
our survey for the TANF program was unable to provide an estimate for
fiscal year 2010.
[End of figure]
Officials from most programs reported using almost all their funds for
employment and training, although some programs with broader goals,
including multipurpose block grants, used lesser amounts. Twenty-seven
programs estimated that they used 90 percent or more of their fiscal
year 2009 appropriation on employment and training services. Fifteen
of these programs reported that they used 100 percent of their funds
on employment and training services. Some programs that used less than
90 percent of their fiscal year 2009 appropriations on employment and
training services may have broader goals (see table 1). For example,
across all programs, the TANF program used the lowest percentage of
its appropriations on employment and training activities, about 8
percent. This is not surprising, given that employment is only one
aspect of the TANF program, which has several broad social service
goals, including providing cash assistance to low-income families with
children.[Footnote 17] However, the amount TANF spends on employment
and training activities is among the largest of the programs we
surveyed. In addition, Education officials stated that their career
and technical education programs emphasize education, as opposed to
employment and training.
Table 1: Programs that Used Less than 90 percent of their Total
Appropriation on Employment and Training Activities, Fiscal Year 2009:
Program (agency): TANF (HHS);
Percentage used: 8%.
Program (agency): Community Services Block Grant (HHS);
Percentage used: 10%.
Program (agency): H-1B Job Training Grants (Labor);
Percentage used: 46%[A].
Program (agency): WIA National Emergency Grants (Labor);
Percentage used: 50%.
Program (agency): Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Social Services
Program (HHS);
Percentage used: 55%.
Program (agency): Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative
(Justice);
Percentage used: 71%.
Program (agency): Trade Adjustment Assistance (Labor);
Percentage used: 72%.
Program (agency): Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Employment and Training Program (Agriculture);
Percentage used: 78%.
Program (agency): Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (Labor);
Percentage used: 80%.
Program (agency): Rehabilitation Services - Vocational Rehabilitation
Grants to States (Education);
Percentage used: 85%.
Source: GAO analysis of survey data.
[A] This program does not receive an appropriation, but is instead
funded by service fees. The percentage shown refers to the percentage
of user fees that are used for employment and training activities.
[End of table]
Our survey data showed that 7 programs accounted for about three-
fourths of the $18 billion spent on employment and training services
in fiscal year 2009 (see figure 3). The largest of the 7,
Rehabilitation Services--Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States,
operated by Education, used about $3 billion in fiscal year 2009 to
fund employment and training services for individuals with
disabilities. The other 6 programs from this group are administered by
Labor and HHS. The remaining one-fourth of the amount spent on
employment and training in fiscal year 2009 was spent by the remaining
programs.
Figure 3: Seven Programs Accounted for About Three-Fourths of the
Funding Used for Employment and Training Services, Fiscal Year 2009:
[Refer to PDF for image: pie-chart]
Rehabilitation Services – Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States
(Education): 16.8%;
WIA Dislocated Workers (Labor): 13.7%;
WIA Youth Activities (Labor): 12.0%;
TANF (HHS): 10.1%;
Job Corps (Labor): 10.1%;
WIA Adult Program (Labor): 7.7%;
Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities (Labor): 6.8%;
Combined funding for remaining programs: 22.8%.
Source: GAO analysis of survey data.
[End of figure]
Our survey data showed that most participants received employment and
training services through one of two programs: Employment
Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities and the WIA Adult Program.
[Footnote 18] These programs accounted for about 77 percent of the
total number of participants served across all programs. Each of these
programs reported serving more than 1 million individuals. In contrast
to these larger programs, 7 programs each reported serving fewer than
5,000 individuals. See appendix IV for a detailed list of the number
of individuals served by each employment and training program.
Nearly All Programs Track Multiple Outcome Measures, but Little is
Known about Program Effectiveness:
Almost all programs tracked multiple outcome measures related to
employment and training, and many programs tracked similar measures.
Forty-one of the 47 programs tracked at least three outcome measures
in fiscal year 2009, according to officials. The most frequently
tracked outcome measure was "entered employment"--the number of
program participants who found jobs (see table 2). Many programs also
tracked "employment retention" and "wage gain or change." These are
the types of measures developed under the Office of Management and
Budget's (OMB) common measures initiative, which sought to unify
definitions for performance across programs with similar goals.
[Footnote 19] Three programs did not track any outcome measures at the
federal level in fiscal year 2009.[Footnote 20] For a detailed list of
outcome measures tracked by federal employment and training programs,
see appendix V.
Table 2: Outcome Measures Tracked Most Frequently by Programs in
Fiscal Year 2009:
Outcome measures: Entered employment;
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 38.
Outcome measures: Employment retention;
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 29.
Outcome measures: Wage gain or change;
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 23.
Outcome measures: Credential attainment;
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 19.
Outcome measures: Other "positive outcomes"[A];
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 17.
Outcome measures: Educational attainment;
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 16.
Outcome measures: Customer satisfaction;
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 8.
Outcome measures: Other outcomes[B];
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 23.
Outcome measures: No outcome measures;
Number of programs measuring this outcome: 3.
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
[A] Other positive outcomes refers to outcomes such as entering the
military, postsecondary education, or a vocational training program.
[B] Other outcomes included average earnings after program
participation, gains in literacy and numeracy, and cash assistance
reduction and termination.
[End of table]
In addition, officials from 4 of the 14 programs that received
Recovery Act funding in fiscal year 2009 reported that the Act
modified the outcome measures tracked by their programs. However,
these modifications generally applied only to the outcomes for
participants in activities funded by the Act.[Footnote 21] For
example, a Job Corps official noted that the program is required to
track the number of "green graduates" who complete Recovery Act-funded
"green training" for jobs in industries such as renewable resources
and green construction.
Little is known about the effectiveness of the employment and training
programs we identified because only 5 reported demonstrating whether
outcomes can be attributed to the program through an impact study, and
about half of all the programs have not had a performance review since
2004. Impact studies, which many researchers consider to be the best
method for determining the extent to which a program is causing
participant outcomes, can be difficult and expensive to conduct, as
they take steps to examine what would have happened in the absence of
a program to isolate its impact from other factors.[Footnote 22] Based
on our survey of agency officials, we determined that only 5 of the 47
programs have had impact studies that assess whether the program is
responsible for improved employment outcomes (see appendix VI). The
five impact studies generally found that the effects of participation
were not consistent across programs, with only some demonstrating
positive impacts that tended to be small, inconclusive, or restricted
to short-term impacts. For example, while we have previously reported
that a considerable body of research has suggested that welfare-to-
work programs can effectively increase employment entry and reduce
welfare receipt,[Footnote 23] a more recent study cited by a TANF
program official found services targeted at TANF recipients to be
largely ineffective in producing positive employment retention and
advancement outcomes and, where impacts were found, they tended to be
substantively small, with many families remaining in poverty.[Footnote
24] A study of the WIA Adult program found the program to have shown
positive impacts up to 4 years after participant entry, but noted that
the magnitude of this effect could have been due to the selection of
applicants with greater income prior to participation and better job
prospects.[Footnote 25]
Officials from the remaining 42 programs cited other types of studies
or no studies at all. Officials from 19 of these programs reported
that, since 2004, some other type of review or study had been
conducted to evaluate their program's performance with respect to
employment and training activities. These evaluations included
assessments by OMB's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) and
nonimpact studies.[Footnote 26] Officials from 23 of the 47 programs
did not identify a study of any kind that assessed program performance
since 2004.[Footnote 27] However, agencies may have impact studies
currently under way. For example, Labor is conducting an impact
evaluation of WIA services, to be completed in 2015.
Almost All Programs Overlap with at Least One Other Program, but
Differences May Exist in Eligibility, Objectives, and Service Delivery:
All but 3 of the programs we surveyed overlap with at least 1 other
program, in that they provide at least one similar service to a
similar population.[Footnote 28] Some of these overlapping programs
serve multiple population groups, while others target specific
populations. For the population groups served by these programs and
the services they provide, see appendixes VII, VIII, and IX. In
addition, some overlapping programs require participants to be
economically disadvantaged.[Footnote 29] Even when programs overlap,
the services they provide and the populations they serve may differ in
meaningful ways.
All 10 programs that serve multiple groups overlap with another
program. For example, a variety of groups--including both employed and
unemployed individuals--can receive employment counseling and
assessment, job readiness skills training, and occupational or
vocational training from three different programs: the Career and
Technical Education--Basic Grants to States program, the Community-
Based Job Training Grants program, and the H-1B Job Training Grants
program. In addition, 3 of the programs that serve multiple groups
require participants to be economically disadvantaged.
Thirty-four of the 37 programs that serve a primary target population
overlap with another program. In addition, nine of these require
participants to be economically disadvantaged. The target populations
being served by the most programs are Native Americans, veterans, and
youth.[Footnote 30] For example, all 8 programs that target Native
Americans provide seven similar types of employment and training
services (see figure 4). According to agency officials, 4 of these
programs for Native Americans spent a total of about $93 million on
employment and training services in fiscal year 2009, and 5 of them
served a total of about 55,000 participants in the most recent year
for which data were available.[Footnote 31]
Figure 4: Services Provided by Programs Targeting Native Americans,
Fiscal Year 2009:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated table]
Program name: American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (ED);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other: [Empty].
Program name: Career and Technical Education – Indian Set-aside (ED);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Secondary service.
Program name: Indian Employment Assistance (DOI);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other: [Empty].
Program name: Indian Vocational Training – United Tribes Technical
College (DOI)Native American Employment and Training (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance:
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Secondary service.
Program name: Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education (ED);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Secondary service.
Program name: Tribal Work Grants (HHS)[A];
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Secondary service[B].
Program name: Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical
Institutions (ED);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Secondary service.
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
Note: For the purpose of this study, the Native Americans population
group includes Native Hawaiians.
[A] Also known as the Native Employment Works program.
[B] Other services included supportive services such as assistance
obtaining transportation, work clothing, and work tools.
[End of figure]
Similarly, five of the six programs that target veterans provide seven
similar types of employment and training services (see figure 5).
According to agency officials, these six programs spent nearly $1.1
billion on employment and training services in fiscal year 2009, and
served about 823,000 participants in the most recent year for which
data were available.
Figure 5: Services Provided by Programs Targeting Veterans, Fiscal
Year 2009:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated table]
Program name: Disabled Veterans‘ Outreach Program (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance:
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: [Empty];
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other: Primary service[A].
Program name: Homeless Veterans‘ Reintegration Project (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other: [Empty].
Program name: Local Veterans‘ Employment Representative Program (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: [Empty];
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other: Primary service[B].
Program name: Transition Assistance Program (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: [Empty];
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: [Empty];
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name: Veterans‘ Workforce Investment Program (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other: [Empty].
Program name: Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans (VA);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Primary service[A,B]
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
[A] Other services included developing individual employment plans,
conducting outreach activities, and coordinating supportive services.
[B] Other services included conducting outreach to employers to
advocate for the hiring of veterans.
[End of figure]
The five programs that target youth provide seven similar types of
employment and training services (see figure 6).[Footnote 32]
According to agency officials, four of these programs spent nearly
$4.1 billion on employment and training services in fiscal year 2009,
and all five programs served about 360,000 participants in the most
recent year for which data were available.[Footnote 33]
Figure 6: Services Provided by Programs Targeting Youth, Fiscal Year
2009:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated table]
Program name: Conservation Activities by Youth Service Organizations
(DOI);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities:
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Primary service.
Program name: Job Corps (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Secondary service[A].
Program name: National Guard Youth Challenge Program (DOD);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other: [Empty].
Program name: WIA Youth Activities (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: Primary service[B].
Program name: YouthBuild (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: [Empty].
[A] Other services included residential housing, basic medical care,
dining services, transportation, recreational activities, personal
counseling, mentoring, and tutoring.
[B] Other services included leadership development opportunities,
supportive services, and comprehensive guidance and counseling.
[End of figure]
Despite this overlap, some individuals within a population group may
be eligible for one program, but not another because program
eligibility criteria differ. For example, one of the programs
targeting Native Americans serves only disabled Native Americans
residing on or near a federal or state reservation, and another
program serves only Native Hawaiians. Similarly, one of the veterans
programs serves only homeless veterans, and another is specifically
targeted to servicemembers (and their spouses) who are near to
retirement or separation from the military.
Some overlapping programs also have slightly different objectives. For
example, while the Community-Based Job Training Grants and H-1B Job
Training Grants programs aim to prepare workers for careers in high-
growth industries, the Career and Technical Education--Basic Grants to
States program has as its purpose to more fully develop the academic,
career, and technical skills of secondary and postsecondary students
who enroll in career and technical education programs.[Footnote 34]
Programs that overlap may also provide similar types of services in
different ways. The Job Corps program, for example, provides academic
instruction and job training in a variety of fields to at-risk youth
who live at federally funded campuses, while the YouthBuild program
provides academic instruction and job training in construction to
disadvantaged youth in their own communities.
Officials from 27 of the 47 programs reported that their agencies have
coordinated efforts with other federal agencies that provide similar
services to similar populations. For example, the Departments of Labor
and Health and Human Services issued a joint letter encouraging state-
administered youth programs to partner together using Recovery Act
funds to promote subsidized employment opportunities. In addition, an
official from the Department of the Interior reported that the agency
works with Labor and HHS to coordinate programs for Native Americans.
Under law, Native American tribes are allowed significant flexibility
to combine funding from multiple programs.[Footnote 35] An official
from an Education program that serves incarcerated individuals noted
that representatives from the Departments of Education, Labor, and
Justice participate in a federal work group on offender workforce
development, and have jointly sponsored a national conference on this
topic. Similarly, an official from Labor's Reintegration of Ex-
Offenders program stated that the agency coordinates with Justice to
design and operate the program's adult ex-offender grants.
[Refer to PDF for image]
[End of figure]
While the Extent to Which Individuals Receive the Same Services From
Multiple Programs is Unknown, the TANF, ES, and WIA Adult Programs
Maintain Separate Administrative Structures to Provide Some of the
Same Services:
The TANF, ES, and WIA Adult programs provide some of the same
employment and training services to low-income individuals, despite
differences between the programs. Although the extent to which
individuals receive the same services from more than one of these
programs is unknown, the programs maintain separate administrative
structures to provide some of the same services. Labor and HHS
officials acknowledged that greater efficiencies could be achieved in
delivering employment and training services through these programs,
but said they do not believe that these programs are duplicative.
The TANF, ES, and WIA Adult programs provide some of the same
employment and training services to low-income individuals, despite
differences in the programs' overall goals and the range of services
they provide. In our interviews with Labor and HHS officials, they
acknowledged that low-income individuals are eligible to receive some
of the same employment and training services--including skills
assessment, job search, and job referral--from both the TANF and WIA
Adult programs. In addition, any individual, including low-income
individuals, can receive job search and job referral services from the
ES program. Our survey results also indicate that these three programs
provide some of the same services (see figure 7). While the TANF
program serves low-income families with children, the ES and WIA Adult
programs serve all adults, including low-income individuals.
Specifically, the WIA Adult program gives priority for intensive and
training services to recipients of public assistance and other low-
income individuals when program funds are limited.[Footnote 36] All
three programs share a common goal of helping individuals secure
employment, and the TANF and WIA Adult programs also aim to reduce
welfare dependency. However, employment is only one aspect of the TANF
program, which also has three other broad social service goals: to
assist needy families so that children can generally be cared for in
their own homes, to reduce and prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and
to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. As
a result, TANF provides a wide range of other services beyond
employment and training, including cash assistance. To reduce
dependency, TANF requires many cash assistance recipients to
participate in work activities such as subsidized employment, on-the-
job training, or community service.[Footnote 37]
Figure 7: Employment and Training Services Provided by the TANF, ES,
and WIA Adult Programs, Fiscal Year 2009:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated table]
Program name: Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: [Empty];
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: [Empty];
Other: Primary service[A].
Program name: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (HHS);
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other: Primary service[B].
Program name: WIA Adult Program (DOL);
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other: [Empty].
[A] Job search workshops.
[B] Subsidized employment.
[End of figure]
Recent PART reviews of these programs had similar findings regarding
the programs' commonalities. The most recent PART reviews of the ES
and WIA Adult programs--conducted in 2004 and 2005, respectively--also
found that these programs provide some of the same services, and the
WIA Adult review found that the program duplicates some job training
services offered by TANF.[Footnote 38] The most recent PART review of
the TANF program, conducted in 2005, similarly noted that states may
choose to spend TANF funds on employment services that mirror those
provided under WIA.
However, the extent to which individuals receive the same employment
and training services from more than one of these programs is unknown.
Labor officials estimated that in program year 2008 approximately 4.5
percent of all WIA Adult participants who received training--about
4,500 of the nearly 100,000 participants who exited the program--were
also receiving TANF. However, this likely underestimated the number of
TANF recipients served by the WIA Adult program, as the program
collects information on TANF receipt only if participants receive
intensive or training services.[Footnote 39] In addition, according to
Labor officials, WIA Adult participants may choose not to identify
themselves as TANF recipients. It is also unclear whether the WIA
Adult participants who self-identify as TANF recipients have received
TANF employment and training services or other TANF services. Further,
HHS officials told us that data are not available at the federal level
on the total number of individuals who receive TANF employment and
training services because HHS lacks the legal authority to require
such reporting.[Footnote 40] The TANF program requires states to
report data on recipients of TANF assistance who participate in work
activities as defined by program regulations, but HHS lacks the legal
authority to require states to report data on individuals who
participate in work activities but do not receive such assistance.
[Footnote 41] Officials noted that laws including the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
(PRWORA)--the legislation that created the TANF program--limits the
information that states must report to HHS.[Footnote 42]
The TANF, ES, and WIA Adult programs maintain separate administrative
structures to provide some of the same services to low-income
individuals. At the federal level, the TANF program is administered by
the Department of Health and Human Services, and the ES and WIA Adult
programs are administered by the Department of Labor. At the state
level, the TANF program is typically administered by the state human
services or welfare agency, and the ES and WIA Adult programs are
typically administered by the state workforce agency. By regulation,
ES services must be provided by state employees.[Footnote 43] At the
local level, WIA regulations require at least one comprehensive one-
stop center to be located in every local workforce investment area.
These areas may have the same boundaries as counties, may be
multicounty, or may be within and across county lines[Footnote 44].
Similarly, every county typically has a TANF office. TANF employment
and training services may be delivered at TANF offices, in one-stop
centers, or through contracts with for-profit or nonprofit
organizations, according to HHS officials. In one-stop centers, ES
staff provide job search and other services to ES customers, while WIA
staff provide job search and other services to WIA Adult customers.
Labor and HHS officials acknowledged that greater efficiencies could
be achieved in delivering employment and training services through the
TANF, ES, and WIA Adult programs. A 2005 Labor-commissioned study
stated that operating separate workforce programs under WIA and TANF
duplicates efforts.[Footnote 45] In interviews, Labor officials
acknowledged that simplifying programs' administrative structures,
while not without challenges, may allow some states and localities to
administer programs more efficiently. Even so, officials from both
agencies emphasized that under current law states and localities
decide how best to deliver services. For example, since TANF is a
block grant program, states have discretion to deliver services under
the type of administrative structure they choose, and some states may
choose more efficient structures than others.
Nonetheless, HHS and Labor officials said they do not believe that
these programs are duplicative. HHS officials said that capacity,
geography, and the unique needs of TANF clients could warrant having
multiple entities providing the same services, even if they are
separately administered. They noted that one-stop centers may not have
the staff, space, or desire to serve TANF clients; they may be
inconveniently located, especially in predominantly rural states; and
they may not be able to address TANF clients' multiple needs. HHS
officials added that although some of the employment and training
services delivered by the TANF, ES, and WIA Adult programs at the
local level to eligible clients are the same, the ways services are
delivered and the services themselves can vary subtly with each
locality. Labor officials said they have focused on integrating
services to meet clients' needs and affording states flexibility to
respond to local needs rather than only on program efficiency. Labor
officials also noted that the ES and WIA Adult programs are specific
funding streams and as a result, they are unlikely to fund the same
services for the same individuals. For example, one-stop centers
typically use ES funding to provide core services, such as job search
and job referrals, while they typically use WIA Adult funding to
provide intensive and training services. States are required by WIA to
attest in plans they provide to Labor that their ES and WIA programs
have agreements in place to coordinate service delivery across the two
programs.[Footnote 46]
Options for Increasing Efficiencies Include Colocating Services and
Consolidating Administrative Structures, but Implementation Can Be
Challenging:
Colocating Services:
Colocating the employment and training services provided by the TANF,
ES, and WIA Adult programs may increase administrative efficiencies.
WIA requires numerous federally funded workforce development programs,
including the ES and WIA Adult programs, to provide their services
through the one-stop system. Programs may be colocated within one-stop
centers, electronically linked, or linked through referrals. While WIA
does not require TANF employment and training services to be provided
through one-stop centers, states and localities have the option to
include TANF as a partner in their one-stop systems.[Footnote 47] We
have previously reported that colocating services--specifically,
providing services from different programs in the same physical
location--can result in improved communication among programs,
improved delivery of services for clients, and elimination of
duplication.[Footnote 48] While colocating services does not guarantee
efficiency improvements, it affords the potential for sharing
resources and cross-training staff, and may lead, in some cases, to
the consolidation of administrative systems, such as information
technology systems. A 2004 study commissioned by HHS found that
successful coordination between WIA programs and the TANF program is
promoted when WIA and TANF staffs are colocated or communicate
regularly to discuss specific cases and policies, and when program
management functions, case management functions, and administrative
systems are shared across agencies.[Footnote 49]
Labor and HHS officials told us that they encourage states to consider
colocating TANF employment and training services with ES and WIA Adult
services in one-stop centers, but said that they leave these decisions
up to states. While Labor's policy is that all mandatory one-stop
partner programs--including the ES and WIA Adult programs--should be
physically colocated in one-stop centers to the extent possible,
neither Labor nor HHS currently has a policy in place that
specifically promotes the colocation of TANF employment and training
services in one-stop centers. According to officials, Labor's policy
is that colocation is one of multiple means for achieving service
integration.
While ES and WIA Adult services are generally colocated in one-stop
centers, the colocation of TANF employment and training services in
one-stop centers is not as widespread. We reported in 2007 that nearly
all states provided ES and WIA Adult services on site in the majority
of their one-stop centers, although nine states also operated at least
one standalone ES office that was unaffiliated with the one-stop
system.[Footnote 50] In the same 2007 report, we found that 30 states
provided the TANF program on site at a typical comprehensive one-stop
center.[Footnote 51] These states accounted for 57 percent of the
comprehensive one-stop centers nationwide[Footnote 52] (see table 3).
The remaining 20 states, where the TANF program was not available on
site at a typical comprehensive one-stop center, accounted for 43
percent of comprehensive one-stop centers. This is the most recent
available data, as Labor and HHS officials told us that they do not
routinely collect data on the extent to which TANF services are
colocated in one-stop centers nationwide, and HHS lacks the authority
to require states to routinely report this information.
Table 3: Number of States that Provided the TANF Program On Site at a
Typical Comprehensive One-Stop Center, 2007:
TANF program provided on site at a typical one-stop center;
Number of states: 30;
Total number of one-stop centers: 935;
Percentage of one-stop centers nationwide: 57%.
TANF program not provided on site at a typical one-stop center;
Number of states: 20;
Total number of one-stop centers: 702;
Percentage of one-stop centers nationwide: 43%.
Total;
Number of states: 50;
Total number of one-stop centers: 1,637;
Percentage of one-stop centers nationwide: 100%.
Source: GAO survey conducted in April and May of 2007.
Note: The survey asked state workforce agency officials to identify
which programs were most often provided on site at a typical
comprehensive one-stop center in their states by selecting from a list
of programs that included the TANF program.
[End of table]
Labor and HHS officials said that states and localities may face
challenges to colocating TANF employment and training services in one-
stop centers. Obstacles to colocation may include those raised
earlier, such as capacity and geography, but may also include leases,
differing program cultures, the need for partner programs to help fund
the operating costs of one-stop centers, and trade-offs regarding the
services with which TANF is colocated. Specifically, HHS officials
told us that states and localities may have multiyear rental contracts
for office space and may not have room to house additional staff. In
addition, Labor and HHS officials said that differences between the
client service philosophies of the TANF program and the ES and WIA
Adult programs may present challenges to colocation. HHS officials
noted that the TANF program takes a more holistic approach to helping
individuals become self-sufficient by addressing the variety of needs
that may affect their ability to obtain employment, such as child care
and transportation.[Footnote 53] The need for partner programs to fund
one-stop center operating costs may also be a challenge to colocation.
When TANF employment and training services are colocated in one-stop
centers, TANF may be expected to contribute to these operating costs,
in addition to paying operating costs associated with providing other
TANF services in other locations.
Finally, HHS officials noted that when TANF employment and training
services are not colocated in one-stop centers, they are typically
colocated with other services for low-income families, such as SNAP,
formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, and Medicaid. Officials
acknowledged that colocating TANF employment and training services in
one-stop centers may mean that they are no longer colocated with these
other services, although Florida, Texas, and Utah provide SNAP
services through one-stops along with TANF services, and Utah also
provides Medicaid through one-stops. Officials said that in states
where this is not the case, the potential trade-off would need to be
considered.
Legislative proposals to make TANF a mandatory partner in the one-stop
system have been introduced but have not been made into law. In the
109th Congress, the WIA reauthorization bills passed by the House and
the Senate included provisions to make TANF a mandatory partner, which
would have required TANF employment and training services to be
provided through one-stop centers nationwide.[Footnote 54] However,
WIA has not yet been reauthorized, and according to Labor officials,
the Administration has not taken a position on whether TANF should be
a mandatory partner. Nevertheless, officials told us that about half
of states have made TANF a partner in their one-stop systems. In
addition, about half of states used TANF funds to pay for a portion of
their one-stop center infrastructure costs in program year 2005.
[Footnote 55]
Consolidating Administrative Structures:
Consolidating the administrative structures of the TANF, ES, and WIA
Adult programs may increase efficiencies and reduce costs. However, we
found that data on the cost savings associated with such consolidation
initiatives are not readily available. Florida, Texas, and Utah have
consolidated the state workforce and welfare agencies that administer
the TANF, ES, and WIA Adult programs, among other programs.[Footnote
56] In Utah, the workforce agency administers the TANF program in its
entirety. In Florida and Texas, the workforce agencies administer only
that part of TANF related to employment and training services.
In all three states, the one-stop centers serve as portals to a range
of social services, including TANF. Officials from these three states
told us that consolidating agencies led to cost savings through the
reduction of staff and facilities. For example, a Utah official said
that the state reduced the number of buildings in which employment and
training services were provided from 104 to 34. According to a Texas
official, Texas also privatized 3,000 full-time staff equivalents
(FTE) at the local level, which reduced the pension, retirement, and
insurance costs that had previously been associated with these state
positions. Officials in the three states, however, could not provide a
dollar figure for the cost savings that resulted from consolidation.
Additionally, Labor and HHS officials told us that reliable data are
not available to compare the states' costs for serving TANF, ES, and
WIA Adult participants with average costs nationwide. These three
programs do not require states to report data on costs per
participant, and the state officials we spoke with said that the data
they could provide would not be comparable with other states.
State officials also told us that consolidation improved the quality
of services for participants in the WIA Adult and TANF programs. An
official in Utah noted the consolidation allowed job seekers to apply
for assistance they had not considered in the past; allowed employment
counselors to cluster services that made sense for the client; and
allowed clients to experience seamless service delivery. These
benefits reflected what the official said was one of the visions of
consolidation: having one employment plan per client, rather than
multiple employment plans for clients served by multiple programs.
While Florida officials acknowledged that a subset of TANF clients
have significant barriers to employment--such as mental health issues--
that one-stop centers may not be well equipped to address, officials
said that the one-stops in their state are able to address the
employment and training needs of the majority of TANF clients. When
asked about the quality of the TANF and workforce programs in Florida,
Texas, and Utah, Labor officials were not aware of any performance
problems in these programs and added that they view all three states
as forerunners in program improvement efforts. That said, they noted
that Utah may not be representative of other states, due to its
relatively small and homogeneous population. According to HHS
officials, the three states all met federal work participation rate
requirements in 2008, but there is no established means for comparing
the employment performance of state TANF programs, so it is not
possible to determine whether these states are more or less effective
than other states in accomplishing the employment goals of TANF. In
addition, officials from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
said that Texas and Florida may place more of an emphasis on quickly
finding work for TANF clients than other states.
Even with the benefits identified by state officials, consolidation
may have its challenges. An official in Utah noted that the
reorganization of state agencies and staff was time-consuming and
costly, and it took several years before any cost savings were
realized. For example, developing a shared database across programs
increased costs temporarily. In addition, when states consolidate
their agencies, they must still follow separate requirements for TANF
and WIA. A 2004 article on service integration by authors from CLASP
and the Hudson Institute concluded that states can take significant
steps under current law to integrate TANF and WIA services, but it
also noted the difficulty in administering separate programs with
different requirements.[Footnote 57] The article specifically noted
differences in work requirements, program performance measures, and
reporting requirements, among others. A Utah official said that it was
important for program administrators to be knowledgeable about these
separate reporting requirements and processes across the multiple
federal agencies that oversee these programs. Similarly, this official
said that direct service staff needed to be knowledgeable about
multiple programs and how to allocate costs across these programs. For
states that have not consolidated their workforce and welfare
agencies, not knowing what actions are allowable under the law may
present a challenge to consolidation. According to the article on
service integration, states face some legal barriers to fully
integrating TANF and WIA services, but if they do not know what is
allowable under the law, they may not always exercise the full range
of options available to them.
Greater Efficiency Could Mean More People Served:
To the extent that colocation and consolidation would reduce
administrative costs, funds could potentially be available to serve
more clients or for other purposes. States spend a part of each
program's federal appropriation on administration. For the TANF
program, we estimate that states spent about $160 million to
administer employment and training services in fiscal year 2009.
[Footnote 58] As defined in regulation, TANF administrative costs
include costs for general program administration and coordination,
such as salaries and benefits for staff performing administrative and
coordination activities, and indirect administrative costs that
support these activities.[Footnote 59] Administrative costs do not
include salaries and benefits for staff providing program services or
the direct administrative costs associated with providing these
services, such as supplies, equipment, travel, postage, utilities, and
rental and maintenance of office space. According to a Labor official,
the administrative costs for the WIA Adult program--defined in
regulations to include costs for general program administration and
coordination, including related oversight and monitoring, and
excluding costs related to the direct provision of workforce
investment services--were at least $56 million in program year
2009.[Footnote 60] However, officials told us that they do not collect
data on the administrative costs associated with the ES program, as
they are not a separately identifiable cost in the legislation. Labor
officials said that, on average, the agency spends about $4,000 for
each WIA Adult participant who receives training services. Depending
on the reduction in administrative costs associated with colocation
and consolidation, these funds could be used to train potentially
hundreds or thousands of additional individuals. This is particularly
important for programs like the WIA Adult program where federal
funding has decreased overall from fiscal years 1999 to 2008.[Footnote
61]
Conclusions:
Even in the one-stop service delivery environment set forth in WIA,
states and localities have substantial flexibility in determining the
administrative structures they use to deliver employment and training
services. The TANF block grant similarly gives states and localities
considerable flexibility in delivering services, including employment
and training services. This administrative flexibility allows programs
to deliver services in a way that best meets local needs.
However, in the face of increasingly constrained budgets at both the
federal and state levels, this is an opportune time to explore options
for administrative cost savings. Our work on the WIA Adult, ES, and
TANF programs has shown that there is some duplication with regard to
their administrative structures--they maintain the means to provide
some of the same services to the same population. However, the
flexibility afforded these programs under the law allows them to take
steps to integrate services that may increase administrative
efficiencies. In taking such steps, it is important to recognize that
improvements in administrative efficiency may not necessarily result
in improvements in program effectiveness.
Given that the ES and WIA Adult programs are already colocated in most
one-stop centers, colocating TANF employment and training services
with these programs provides the most immediate opportunity for
efficiency improvements. However, achieving the potential benefits of
colocation may require states and localities to address a variety of
challenges: how to serve additional clients given the limited capacity
of one-stop centers and potential lease restrictions; how to navigate
philosophical differences between programs and address the multiple
needs of TANF clients in the one-stop center setting; how to ensure
that services are geographically accessible; whether the potential
benefits of colocating TANF in one-stop centers outweigh the potential
costs of no longer colocating these services with other services for
low-income families, in some cases; and whether, and to what extent,
TANF will contribute to one-stop center operating costs. However,
these challenges are not insurmountable, given that over half of the
states offer TANF services on site at a typical one-stop center.
Similarly, consolidating the administrative structures of these
programs would potentially conserve resources and better serve
customers by providing the one-stop convenience established by WIA.
Florida, Texas, and Utah have taken the initiative to consolidate
their state workforce and welfare agencies, and report that they
reduced administrative costs and improved services for job seekers.
However, consolidation is not without challenges. In particular,
states that have not yet consolidated their workforce and welfare
agencies may not know how to integrate services in a way that is
allowable under the law.
While states and localities have undertaken some potentially promising
initiatives to achieve greater administrative efficiencies, a major
obstacle to further progress on this front is that little information
is available about the strategies and results of these initiatives,
including improvements to services and reductions in costs. Thus, it
is unclear to what extent practices in these states could serve as
models for others. In addition, little is known about the incentives
states and localities have to undertake such initiatives and whether
additional incentives may be needed.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
To facilitate further progress by states and localities in increasing
administrative efficiencies in employment and training programs, we
recommend that the Secretaries of Labor and HHS work together to
develop and disseminate information that could inform such efforts.
This should include information about:
* state initiatives to consolidate program administrative structures;
and:
* state and local efforts to colocate new partners, such as TANF, at
one-stop centers.
Information on these topics could address challenges faced, strategies
employed, results achieved, and remaining issues. As a part of this
effort, Labor and HHS should examine the incentives for states and
localities to undertake such initiatives and, as warranted, identify
options for increasing such incentives.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
We provided the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, HHS,
the Interior, Justice, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) with the opportunity to comment on a draft of
this report. Written comments from Education, HHS, and Labor appear in
appendixes XII, XIII, and XIV. In addition to the comments discussed
below, Education, HHS, Interior, Labor, and VA provided technical
comments that we incorporated where appropriate. Agriculture, Defense,
EPA, and Justice officials stated that they had no comments.
Labor concurred with our recommendation and said that while it
continues to work with its federal partners to ensure access to
services, more can be done to disseminate information to the workforce
and social service communities. It highlighted the uniqueness of its
programs and noted that WIA provides flexibility to states and local
areas.
HHS agreed that states would benefit from the department developing
and disseminating information in accordance with our recommendation
and said it shared the view that it is important to minimize
duplication, maximize administrative efficiency, and develop service
structures that ensure that individuals in need receive appropriate
and effective employment services. HHS noted that it lacks legal
authority to mandate increased TANF-WIA coordination or to create
incentives for such efforts, cautioned against the assumption that
doing so would necessarily result in cost savings, and noted that some
overlap is necessary and appropriate in order to provide coordinated
and more comprehensive services. It also said that while there is much
to learn from the experience of Florida, Texas, and Utah, there is no
evidentiary basis from which it can confidently state that the
performance of these states is either better or worse than states with
less integration. We revised the report to add additional references
to HHS's limited legal authority and noted the Department's
perspective on the success of states' integration efforts.
HHS recommended that we clearly distinguish between employment and
training programs and broad, multipurpose block grants that have
multiple allowable uses, including employment and training and said
that it is not accurate to count multipurpose block grants as
employment and training programs. While we agree that multipurpose
block grant programs have uses other than employment and training,
each program we included in our study had an important component
related to employment and training and met our definition of an
employment and training program. To clarify the report, we modified it
to say that multipurpose block grants with broader missions are
included in our list of programs. HHS also recommended that the report
provide data on total spending for employment and training for a set
of years, rather than only comparing 2002 to 2009, because Recovery
Act spending in 2009 was a year with exceptional circumstances in
terms of funding. While we did not collect spending data for fiscal
years 2003 through 2007, our report provides spending data for another
year prior to passage of the Recovery Act--fiscal year 2008 (see
figure 2). We also attributed the increase in funding for these
programs since our 2003 report to the temporary funding provided by
the Recovery Act.
In its comments, Education recommended that we exclude from the report
all programs authorized by the Perkins Act (a total of five programs)
because the primary purpose of these programs is increasing students'
academic, career, and technical skill levels.[Footnote 62] Education
disagreed with our rationale for including these programs and stated
that the statutory amendments that Congress made in 2006 during the
last reauthorization broadened the educational purposes of the Perkins
Act to emphasize placing students in further education.[Footnote 63]
During the course of our data collection, Education officials had
informed us that programs met our definition of an employment and
training program, but later asked us to remove the programs when they
reviewed the draft report. While we agree that these programs have an
educational purpose, we maintain that each of these programs meets our
definition of an employment and training program, based on information
provided to us by Education. For example, Education officials reported
that the five programs provide various types of employment and
training services, including some that were categorized as primary
services, such as occupational or vocational training, or on-the-job
training (see appendix IX). Education officials also reported that
three of these five programs track entered employment and all five
programs track credential attainment as outcome measures (see appendix
V).
Education also recommended that for programs authorized by the Perkins
Act we delete from our report all estimates of funds used on
employment and training activities and of the number of participants
who received employment and training services. We revised the report
to delete this information because Education said the data it reported
to us were not accurate and could not be reliably estimated.
As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce its contents
earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 30 days
from its issue date. At that time, we will send copies of this report
to the Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of
Education, Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency, Secretary
of Health and Human Services, Secretary of the Interior, Attorney
General, Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and
appropriate congressional committees. This report will be made
available at no charge on the GAO website at [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-7215 or Sherrilla@gao.gov. Contact points for
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs can be found
on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major
contributions to this report are listed in appendix XV.
Signed by:
Andrew Sherrill:
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Program Selection:
We identified federally funded employment and training programs by
reviewing the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), and
interviewing agency officials.[Footnote 64] Using keywords related to
employment and training, we conducted a systematic search in the CFDA
to identify potential employment and training programs. In addition,
to identify potential employment and training programs that were
expanded under the Recovery Act, we searched the CFDA to identify
programs that received Recovery Act funding. We reviewed the Recovery
Act and interviewed agency officials to identify any other potential
employment and training programs that were not included in the CFDA.
From this search, we identified 100 potential employment and training
programs. We did not conduct a legal analysis in order to identify the
programs or to determine their objectives, requirements, or goals.
We gathered additional information about the programs identified in
our search to determine whether they should be included in our review.
Using the CFDA program listings, we gathered information about program
objectives, restrictions on the use of program funding, and program
funding levels. To gather further information to assist us in making a
determination, we reviewed program fact sheets and other relevant
information available on agency Web sites. When necessary, we also met
with agency officials to discuss programs in more detail. We limited
our initial list of 100 programs to those that are specifically
designed to enhance the specific job skills of individuals in order to
increase their employability, identify job opportunities, and/or help
job seekers obtain employment.[Footnote 65] We included programs with
broader missions if a primary purpose of the program was to provide
employment and training assistance. We excluded any programs that met
one or more of the following criteria:
* Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain
employment.[Footnote 66]
* Program does not provide employment and training services itself.
* Program is small or is a component of a larger employment and
training program such as a pilot or demonstration program.[Footnote 67]
* Many of the excluded programs can be grouped into the following
categories:
* Economic development programs that aim to increase job opportunities
but do not provide services to individuals to enhance their job
skills, identify job opportunities, or find employment.
* Programs that aim to achieve broad workforce-related goals, such as
increasing educational opportunities for minority individuals in
particular fields or improving the status of and working conditions
for wage-earning women, but do not provide employment or training
services themselves.
* Education programs that fund student loans for educational expenses,
initiatives for student recruitment and retention, or other student
support services.
* Programs that support training for training providers, such as
vocational rehabilitation specialists who assist disabled individuals
seeking employment, or other programs that support job-specific
training for individuals who are already employed rather than provide
training for the general public.
This process led to 52 programs being initially included in our
review. Forty-nine of these programs were operational in fiscal year
2009, while 3 of them were created by Recovery Act and were not
operational in fiscal year 2009. As a result, we removed those three
programs from our list.
Once our determinations were made, we sent e-mails to agency liaisons
asking them to confirm the list of programs to be included in and
excluded from our review and the names and contact information for the
officials who would be responsible for completing the questionnaire.
When requesting confirmation, we asked that the list be reviewed by
the agency office that would ultimately comment on our draft report.
Agencies confirmed our final inclusion and exclusion decisions. After
deploying our questionnaire, officials provided us with new
information on two programs--the Refugee and Entrant Assistance--
Wilson/Fish program and the Indian Job Placement--United Sioux Tribes
Development Corporation program. After reviewing this information, we
determined that these programs did not meet our definition of an
employment and training program and we excluded them from our review.
In addition, Department of Education officials said that five of their
programs should be excluded from our list, even though they had
confirmed the list at the outset and completed the questionnaire. They
said the programs focused on education and training and had broader
goals than employment. We did not exclude these programs because each
one has an important component related to employment and training and
met our definition. See Table 4 for a full list of excluded programs.
At the end of this process, we had confirmed that 47 programs met our
definition and should be included in our review.
Table 4: List of Excluded Programs:
Department of Agriculture:
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
New ERA Rural Technology Competitive Grants Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Appalachian Regional Commission:
Appalachian Regional Development:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Department of Commerce:
Community Trade Adjustment Assistance Program:
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
Department of Defense:
Community Economic Adjustment Planning Assistance for Reductions in
Defense Industry Employment:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Department of Education:
Adult Education--Basic Grants to States:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Capacity Building for Traditionally Underserved Populations, Recovery
Act:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Federal Direct Student Loans:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Federal Family Education Loans:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Federal Pell Grant Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Migrant Education--High School Equivalency Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Rehabilitation Long-Term Training:
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
Rehabilitation Services Demonstration and Training Programs:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Rehabilitation Training--Experimental and Innovative Training:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Environmental Protection Agency:
Superfund Job Training Initiative:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Department of Health and Human Services:
ARRA--Equipment to Enhance Training for Health Professionals:
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
ARRA--Health Careers Opportunity Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
ARRA--Nursing Workforce Diversity:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
ARRA--Strengthening Communities Fund:
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
Chafee Foster Care Independence Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Community Services Block Grant--Discretionary Awards:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Health Careers Opportunity Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Medicaid Infrastructure Grants To Support the Competitive Employment
of People with Disabilities:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Native American Programs:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH):
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Discretionary Grants:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Supplemental Services for Newly
Arriving Refugees:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Wilson/Fish program:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Department of Homeland Security:
Disaster Unemployment Assistance:
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
Department of Housing and Urban Development:
Moving to Work Demonstration Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Resident Opportunity and Supportive Services--Elderly and Persons with
Disabilities:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Department of the Interior:
Indian Adult Education:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Indian Job Placement-United Sioux Tribes Development Corporation[A];
Ironworker Training Program:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Department of Labor:
Disaster National Emergency Grants:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Incentive Grants--WIA Section 503:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Permanent Labor Certification for Foreign Workers:
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
WIA Pilots, Demonstrations, and Research Projects:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Work Incentive Grants/Disability Program Navigator:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Department of State:
U.S. Refugee Admissions Program:
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
Social Security Administration:
Social Security State Grants for Work Incentives Assistance to
Disabled Beneficiaries:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Social Security--Work Incentives Planning and Assistance Program:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program:
Program does not provide employment or training services itself.
Department of Transportation:
Job Access--Reverse Commute:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Pilot Entrepreneurial Training and Technical Assistance Women and
Girls Program:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Department of Veterans Affairs:
Vocational and Educational Counseling for Servicemembers and Veterans:
Program objectives do not explicitly include helping job seekers
enhance their job skills, find job opportunities, or obtain employment.
Vocational Training and Rehabilitation for Vietnam Veterans' Children
with Spina Bifida or Other Covered Birth Defects:
Program is small or is a component of a larger employment or training
program such as a pilot or demonstration program.
Source: GAO analysis of CFDA and agency Information.
[A] This program was excluded because it has not been funded since
2006.
[End of table]
Questionnaire:
Design and Implementation:
We developed a Web-based questionnaire to collect information on
federal employment and training programs. The questionnaire included
questions on objectives, eligibility requirements, appropriations
levels, the amount of funds used to provide employment and training
services, program services, population groups served, and outcome
measures. In addition, to gauge whether the Recovery Act modified
programs, we developed questions that asked respondents to identify
the amount of appropriations that the Recovery Act provided and
whether the Recovery Act modified program objectives, target
populations, program activities, and outcome measures.
To minimize errors arising from differences in how questions might be
interpreted and to reduce variability in responses that should be
qualitatively the same, we conducted pretests with six federal
officials over the telephone. To ensure that we obtained a variety of
perspectives on our questionnaire, we selected officials from multiple
agencies within the Departments of Education and Labor, the two
departments with the largest number of programs. Based on feedback
from these pretests, we revised the questionnaire in order to improve
question clarity. For instance, in response to a Department of
Education official's comment that it was unclear whether our budget-
related questions pertained to federal or state funding, we modified
the budget-related questions to clarify that we were asking for
information on federal funding only. We conducted an additional
pretest with budget staff from the Department of Labor to ensure that
the budget-related terms used in the questionnaire were understandable.
After completing the pretests, we administered the survey. On June 18,
2010, we sent an e-mail announcement of the questionnaire to the
agency officials responsible for the programs selected for our review,
notifying them that our online questionnaire would be activated within
a week. On June 23, 2010, we sent a second e-mail message to officials
in which we informed them that the questionnaire was available online
and provided them with unique passwords and usernames. We made
telephone calls to officials and sent them follow-up e-mail messages,
as necessary, to clarify and gain a contextual understanding of their
responses. We received completed questionnaires from 47 programs, for
a 100 percent response rate.
For three programs that were created by the Recovery Act that were not
operational in fiscal year 2009, we sent a list of questions to
officials responsible for these programs in which we asked them to
provide information on the program objectives, the population groups
that would be served, and the types of services that would be provided.
Analysis of Responses and Data Quality:
We used standard descriptive statistics to analyze responses to the
questionnaire. Because this was not a sample survey, there are no
sampling errors. To minimize other types of errors, commonly referred
to as nonsampling errors, and to enhance data quality, we employed
recognized survey design practices in the development of the
questionnaire and in the collection, processing, and analysis of the
survey data. For instance, as previously mentioned, we pretested the
questionnaire with federal officials to minimize errors arising from
differences in how questions might be interpreted and to reduce
variability in responses that should be qualitatively the same. We
further reviewed the survey to ensure the ordering of survey sections
was appropriate and that the questions within each section were
clearly stated and easy to comprehend. To reduce nonresponse, another
source of nonsampling error, we sent out e-mail reminder messages to
encourage officials to complete the survey. In reviewing the survey
data, we performed automated checks to identify inappropriate answers.
We further reviewed the data for missing or ambiguous responses and
followed up with agency officials when necessary to clarify their
responses. For selected large programs, we reviewed information on
agency Web sites, prior GAO reports, and pertinent regulations and
laws to corroborate the budgetary and program services information
reported in the questionnaire. On the basis of our application of
recognized survey design practices and follow-up procedures, we
determined that the data were of sufficient quality for our purposes.
Overlap:
To identify areas of overlap among employment and training programs,
we reviewed prior GAO reports and information reported by federal
agency officials in our survey. Based on our prior work, we determined
that overlap occurs when programs provide at least one similar service
to a similar population.[Footnote 68] After reviewing survey responses
regarding the primary population groups served by programs and the
services they provide, we categorized programs according to the
primary population group served and identified programs within each
category that provide similar services. In order to report the survey
results in a logical and consistent manner, we combined or expanded
some of the population group categories used in the survey and also
made changes to the primary population group served by some programs.
[Footnote 69]
Duplication:
To identify areas of potential duplication across programs, we applied
a multiphase selection process to identify a few programs for more in-
depth analysis. The starting point of the selection process was the
assumption that the potential for duplication is greatest when
programs have similar eligibility requirements and provide similar
services to the same population groups to achieve similar objectives.
First, we categorized programs according to the primary population
group served and consulted program descriptions from the CFDA to
select those programs from each category that have similar eligibility
requirements. Next, we evaluated the services provided by programs,
based on the findings of our 2003 review, to select those programs
from each primary population group category that provide similar
services.[Footnote 70] Third, based on the assumption that duplication
is more likely to occur among programs administered across different
agencies, we selected the primary population group categories that
contained programs administered by more than one federal agency. The
programs within these categories were selected for the next step of
our selection process. Using the CFDA program descriptions, we
reviewed the objectives of the remaining programs to select those
programs with similar objectives. Finally, we reviewed program
financial data from our 2001 review to select three programs that were
among the largest programs in terms of the amount spent on employment
and training services--the Department of Labor's WIA Adult Program,
Labor's Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities Program,
and the Department of Health and Human Service's Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families Program.[Footnote 71] Each of these programs spent
between $750 million and about $1 billion on employment and training
services in fiscal year 1999, the time period assessed in our 2001
review.
To determine the extent of duplication across these programs, we
interviewed federal agency officials, state officials, officials from
other organizations, and obtained additional information. When meeting
with agency officials, we discussed each program's structure including
service locations, staffing levels and staff responsibilities, and
coordination efforts with agencies that provide similar programs. In
addition, we obtained documentation regarding the administrative costs
associated with providing employment and training services. We
reviewed relevant reports and interviewed officials from three
organizations familiar with these programs--the Center for Law and
Social Policy, the American Public Human Services Association, and the
National Governors Association--to obtain their perspectives on the
extent of duplication across the three selected programs. We also
reviewed documentation and conducted interviews with officials in
Florida, Texas, and Utah, three of the states that are considered to
be the furthest along in their efforts to consolidate the
administrative structures for these and other programs.
Performance Evaluations:
To analyze the studies identified by survey respondents as impact and
performance evaluations of the 47 surveyed employment and training
programs they managed, we reviewed each study cited to determine
whether criteria for each evaluation type, as specified in the
questionnaire, were met.
Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Program Assessment Rating Tool
(PART):
Our questionnaire asked respondents whether their program had been
evaluated by OMB's PART since fiscal year 2004. For respondents who
indicated that their programs had undergone a PART review, we searched
OMB's PART Web site [hyperlink, http://www.expectmore.gov] in order to
verify that a review had been completed. Of the 47 surveyed programs,
23 respondents answered that they had undergone a PART review since
2004. The process of verifying these answers on OMB's PART Web site
clarified that 17 of the 23 programs' responses were correct. The
other 6 programs' responses were inaccurate by 2 years or less: all 23
of the programs answering positively to this question have undergone a
PART review since 2002, but only 17 have taken place during or since
2004. In the course of our work, we found that one additional program
was assessed using OMB's PART in 2004, but this review was not
identified by the program official who completed our survey.
Impact Studies:
The questionnaire asked respondents whether an impact study had been
completed since 2004 to evaluate program performance with regard to
employment and training activities and, if so, to provide a citation
for at least one of these studies. An impact study assesses the net
effect of a program by comparing program outcomes with an estimate of
what would have happened in the absence of the program. This type of
study is conducted when external factors are known to influence the
program outcomes, in order to isolate the program's contribution to
the achievement of its objectives.
Of the survey's 47 respondents, 8 provided at least one citation of
what they believed to be an impact study. Of the 8 cited studies, we
determined that 5 can accurately be described as completed impact
studies. To make this assessment, we reviewed the methodology section
of each study, to the extent it had one. Two of the studies cited were
deemed to be too methodologically limited to be classified as an
impact study based on the description contained in the studies, and
one of the studies was not yet completed at the time of our review.
Other Studies:
Our questionnaire also asked respondents whether any studies other
than impact studies had been completed since 2004 to evaluate the
program's performance with regard to employment and training
activities and, if so, to provide a citation for at least one of them.
Of the survey's 47 respondents, 13 provided at least one citation of a
study that has evaluated program performance with regard to employment
and training activities. In addition, one study cited by a program
official as an impact study that was determined not to be an impact
study was considered in this step. We determined that 13 of these 14
studies cited were based on research designs that allowed for the
measurement of program performance with regard to employment and
training activities and had been completed since 2004. One study cited
in the questionnaire by a program official was not made available for
review upon follow-up evaluations because it was said to not yet have
been cleared for distribution. To make this assessment, we focused on
the methodology section of the reports to the extent they had one.
We conducted this performance audit from November 2009 through January
2011 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Estimated Proportion of Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriation
Used on Employment and Training Activities:
Program: Rehabilitation Services--Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to
States;
Total appropriation: $3,478,522,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $540,000,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $2,956,743,700;
Percentage used: 85%.
Program: WIA Dislocated Workers;
Total appropriation: $2,421,340,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $1,241,088,750;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $2,421,340,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: WIA Youth Activities;
Total appropriation: $2,112,069,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $1,188,000,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $2,112,069,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
Total appropriation: $22,058,625,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $5,000,000,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $1,777,958,939;
Percentage used: 8%.
Program: Job Corps;
Total appropriation: $1,934,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $250,000,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $1,775,000,000;
Percentage used: 92%.
Program: WIA Adult Program;
Total appropriation: $1,356,540,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $495,000,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $1,356,540,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities;
Total appropriation: $1,204,589,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $396,000,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $1,203,677,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans;
Total appropriation: $890,015,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $890,015,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Senior Community Service Employment Program;
Total appropriation: 690,725,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: 118,800,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: 688,475,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Trade Adjustment Assistance;
Total appropriation: $958,800,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $686,200,000;
Percentage used: 72%.
Program: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment
and Training Program;
Total appropriation: 400,916,179;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: 313,315,370;
Percentage used: 78%.
Program: Community Services Block Grant;
Total appropriation: $1,700,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $1,000,000,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $169,200,000;
Percentage used: 10%.
Program: Workforce Investment Act National Emergency Grants;
Total appropriation: $318,431,112;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $194,411,250;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $158,059,351;
Percentage used: 50%.
Program: Community Based Job Training Grants;
Total appropriation: $125,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $125,000,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: YouthBuild;
Total appropriation: $119,500,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $49,500,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $113,739,000;
Percentage used: 95%.
Program: H-1B Job Training Grants;
Total appropriation: [A];
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $113,704,000;
Percentage used: 46%[A].
Program: National Guard Youth Challenge Program;
Total appropriation: $92,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $92,000,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Reintegration of Ex-Offenders;
Total appropriation: $108,493,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $86,480,000;
Percentage used: 80%.
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Social Services Program;
Total appropriation: $154,005,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $85,000,000;
Percentage used: 55%.
Program: Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program;
Total appropriation: $84,093,528;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $83,431,000;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: National Farmworker Jobs Program;
Total appropriation: $82,620,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $80,156,361;
Percentage used: 97%.
Program: Local Veterans' Employment Representative Program;
Total appropriation: $74,975,528;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $74,314,000;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: Native American Employment and Training;
Total appropriation: $70,050,420;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $17,820,000;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $70,050,420;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Targeted Assistance Grants;
Total appropriation: $48,590,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $43,731,000;
Percentage used: 90%.
Program: Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project;
Total appropriation: $26,330,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $24,590,188;
Percentage used: 93%.
Program: Registered Apprenticeship and Other Training;
Total appropriation: $21,447,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $21,340,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Projects with Industry;
Total appropriation: $19,197,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $19,005,000;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative;
Total appropriation: $25,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $17,732,726;
Percentage used: 71%.
Program: Grants to States for Workplace and Community Transition
Training for Incarcerated Individuals;
Total appropriation: $17,186,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $17,186,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Indian Employment Assistance;
Total appropriation: $10,330,269;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $10,099,517;
Percentage used: 98%.
Program: Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreements;
Total appropriation: $9,496,163;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $6,896,163;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $8,694,463;
Percentage used: 92%.
Program: Veterans' Workforce Investment Program;
Total appropriation: $7,641,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $7,568,149;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: Tribal Work Grants[B];
Total appropriation: $7,633,287;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $7,558,020;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: Transition Assistance Program;
Total appropriation: $7,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $6,984,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Indian Vocational Training--United Tribes Technical College;
Total appropriation: $5,509,026;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $5,509,026;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Targeted Assistance
Discretionary Program;
Total appropriation: $4,859,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $4,859,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations
(WANTO);
Total appropriation: $1,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: $1,000,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Career and Technical Education--Basic Grants to States;
Total appropriation: $1,141,988,150;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Voluntary Agency Matching
Grant Program;
Total appropriation: $715,442,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: Tech-Prep Education;
Total appropriation: $102,923,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services;
Total appropriation: $36,113,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: State Supported Employment Services Program;
Total appropriation: $29,181,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: Career and Technical Education--Indian Set-aside;
Total appropriation: $14,511,388;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: Conservation Activities by Youth Service Organizations;
Total appropriation: $8,046,436;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: 1,961,436;
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical
Institutions;
Total appropriation: $7,773,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education;
Total appropriation: $2,897,758;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program;
Total appropriation: $2,239,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: [Empty];
Amount used on employment and training activities: [C];
Percentage used: [C].
Program: Total;
Total appropriation: $42,707,643,244;
Amount of appropriation provided by Recovery Act: $10,499,477,599;
Amount used on employment and training activities: $17,628,325,230.
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
[A] This program does not receive an appropriation, but is instead
funded by service fees. The percentage shown refers to the percentage
of user fees that are used for employment and training activities.
[B] Also known as the Native Employment Works program.
[C] Agency officials were unable to estimate the amount spent on
employment and training activities.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix III: Estimated Proportion of Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriation
Used on Employment and Training Activities:
Program: Rehabilitation Services--Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to
States;
Total appropriation: $3,047,247,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $2,590,159,950;
Percentage used: 85%.
Program: Job Corps;
Total appropriation: $1,708,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $1,775,000,000;
Percentage used: 104%[B].
Program: WIA Dislocated Workers;
Total appropriation: $1,171,840,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $1,171,840,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans;
Total appropriation: $946,086,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $945,414,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: WIA Youth Activities;
Total appropriation: $924,069,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $924,069,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: WIA Adult Program;
Total appropriation: $861,540,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $861,540,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Senior Community Service Employment Program;
Total appropriation: $825,425,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $825,000,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities;
Total appropriation: $803,419,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $804,540,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Trade Adjustment Assistance;
Total appropriation: $1,818,400,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $686,400,000;
Percentage used: 38%.
Program: SNAP Employment and Training Program;
Total appropriation: $397,904,505;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $370,626,196;
Percentage used: 93%.
Program: WIA National Emergency Grants;
Total appropriation: $219,782,318;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $152,865,000;
Percentage used: 70%.
Program: Community-Based Job Training Grants;
Total appropriation: $125,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $125,000,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Reintegration of Ex-Offenders;
Total appropriation: $108,493,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $108,000,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: National Guard Youth Challenge Program;
Total appropriation: $105,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $105,000,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: YouthBuild;
Total appropriation: $102,500,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $103,875,000;
Percentage used: 101%[B].
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Social Services Program;
Total appropriation: $154,005,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $84,787,090;
Percentage used: 55%.
Program: National Farmworker Jobs Program;
Total appropriation: $84,620,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $83,000,000;
Percentage used: 98%.
Program: Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program;
Total appropriation: $82,401,500;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $81,175,000;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: Local Veterans' Employment Representative Program;
Total appropriation: $74,205,500;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $72,979,000;
Percentage used: 98%.
Program: Community Services Block Grant;
Total appropriation: $700,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $70,000,000;
Percentage used: 10%.
Program: Native American Employment and Training;
Total appropriation: $52,230,420;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $52,230,420;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Targeted Assistance Grants;
Total appropriation: $48,590,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $43,731,000;
Percentage used: 90%.
Program: Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project;
Total appropriation: $36,330,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $33,652,121;
Percentage used: 93%.
Program: Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative;
Total appropriation: $100,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $31,078,554;
Percentage used: 31%.
Program: Registered Apprenticeship and Other Training;
Total appropriation: $27,784,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $27,700,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Projects with Industry;
Total appropriation: $19,197,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $19,005,000;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: Grants to States for Workplace and Community Transition
Training for Incarcerated Individuals;
Total appropriation: $17,186,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $17,186,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Indian Employment Assistance;
Total appropriation: $10,263,135;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $10,263,135;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Veterans' Workforce Investment Program;
Total appropriation: $9,641,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $9,547,114;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: Transition Assistance Program;
Total appropriation: $8,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $7,920,000;
Percentage used: 99%.
Program: Tribal Work Grants[C];
Total appropriation: $7,633,287;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $7,633,287;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Indian Vocational Training--United Tribes Technical College;
Total appropriation: $5,335,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $5,335,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Targeted Assistance
Discretionary Program;
Total appropriation: $4,859,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $4,859,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreements;
Total appropriation: $2,399,890;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $3,202,000;
Percentage used: 133%[B].
Program: WANTO;
Total appropriation: $1,000,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $1,000,000;
Percentage used: 100%.
Program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
Total appropriation: $17,058,625,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: $319,450,000;
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Career and Technical Education--Basic Grants to States;
Total appropriation: $1,141,988,150;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Voluntary Agency Matching
Grant Program;
Total appropriation: $730,928,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Tech-Prep Education;
Total appropriation: $102,923,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services;
Total appropriation: $37,449,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: State Supported Employment Services Program;
Total appropriation: $29,181,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Conservation Activities by Youth Service Organizations;
Total appropriation: $15,330,504;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: 4,245,504;
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Career and Technical Education--Indian Set-aside;
Total appropriation: $14,511,388;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical
Institutions;
Total appropriation: $8,162,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education;
Total appropriation: $2,902,278;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program;
Total appropriation: $2,239,000;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: H-1B Job Training Grants;
Total appropriation: 0;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: [Empty];
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: [D];
Percentage used: [D].
Program: Total;
Total appropriation: $33,754,625,875;
Amount of appropriation provided by the Recovery Act: $323,695,504;
Estimated amount that will be used[A]: $12,215,612,867.
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
[A] This amount represents the total amount that agencies planned to
spend for programs in fiscal year 2010, as the fiscal year had not
been completed at the time of our survey.
[B] The percentage used exceeds 100 percent due to the availability of
funding from prior years.
[C] Also known as the Native Employment Works program.
[D] Officials were unable to estimate the amount that will be used on
employment and training activities.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix IV: Estimated Number of Program Participants Who Received
Employment or Training Services:
Program: Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities;
Number served: 13,472,624;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: WIA Adult Program;
Number served: 5,171,158;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Rehabilitation Services--Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to
States;
Number served: 979,409;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: SNAP Employment and Training Program;
Number served: 934,231;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: WIA Dislocated Workers;
Number served: 671,786;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Registered Apprenticeship and Other Training;
Number served: 551,043;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Community Services Block Grant;
Number served: 372,176;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Local Veterans' Employment Representative Program;
Number served: 290,349;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program;
Number served: 283,246;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: WIA Youth Activities;
Number served: 282,426;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
Number served: 134,767[B];
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Transition Assistance Program;
Number served: 127,053;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Community-Based Job Training Grants;
Number served: 114,286;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans;
Number served: 105,000;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Trade Adjustment Assistance;
Number served: 100,000;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Senior Community Service Employment Program;
Number served: 98,612;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Social Services Program;
Number served: 91,957;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: H-1B Job Training Grants;
Number served: 83,888;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: WIA National Emergency Grants;
Number served: 61,355;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Job Corps;
Number served: 59,357;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Native American Employment and Training;
Number served: 38,000;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Grants to States for Workplace and Community Transition
Training for Incarcerated Individuals;
Number served: 22,566;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: State Supported Employment Services Program;
Number served: 19,600[C];
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: National Farmworker Jobs Program;
Number served: 18,477;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Voluntary Agency Matching
Grant Program;
Number served: 17,500[D];
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project;
Number served: 13,735;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Reintegration of Ex-Offenders;
Number served: 11,100;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: National Guard Youth Challenge Program;
Number served: 9,750;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services;
Number served: 7,621;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: YouthBuild;
Number served: 5,890;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Tribal Work Grants[E];
Number served: 5,495;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Projects with Industry;
Number served: 5,454;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Veterans' Workforce Investment Program;
Number served: 3,554;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Indian Employment Assistance;
Number served: 2,800;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Conservation Activities by Youth Service Organizations;
Number served: 2,601;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: WANTO;
Number served: 1,527;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Indian Vocational Training--United Tribes Technical College;
Number served: 604;
Year[A]: 2008.
Program: Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreements;
Number served: 535;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program;
Number served: 189;
Year[A]: 2009.
Program: Career and Technical Education--Basic Grants to States;
Number served: [F];
Year[A]: [Empty].
Program: Career and Technical Education--Indian Set-aside;
Number served: [F];
Year[A]: [Empty].
Program: Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education;
Number served: [F];
Year[A]: [Empty].
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Targeted Assistance
Discretionary Program;
Number served: [F];
Year[A]: [Empty].
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Targeted Assistance Grants;
Number served: [F];
Year[A]: [Empty].
Program: Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative;
Number served: [F];
Year[A]: [Empty].
Program: Tech-Prep Education;
Number served: [F];
Year[A]: [Empty].
Program: Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical
Institutions;
Number served: [F];
Year[A]: [Empty].
Program: Total;
Number served: 24,171,721.
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
[A] Officials provided estimates for the most recent year for which
data were available.
[B] This number represents the monthly average number of individuals
receiving TANF cash assistance who were engaged in work activities
such as subsidized employment, work experience, on-the-job training,
job search and job readiness assistance, community service, vocational
educational training, job skills training, and education directly
related to employment. It does not include the number of individuals
engaged in unsubsidized employment. Officials were unable to provide
an annual estimate.
[C] Officials said that Education only collects data on the number of
individuals who exited the Rehabilitation Services--Vocational
Rehabilitation Grants to States program during the fiscal year for
whom state agencies report that at least some portion of their
services were paid for with funds provided under the State Supported
Employment Services Program. Officials stated that since these
individuals may be served for longer than a year, these data
underestimate the number served.
[D] Officials estimated that the number of individuals who received
employment and training services ranged from 15,000 to 20,000. This
number represents the midpoint of this range.
[E] Also known as the Native Employment Works program. The number of
participants served represents the estimated number of participants
served by 46 of the 78 program grantees.
[F] Officials were unable to provide an estimate of the number of
individuals who received employment and training services.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix V: Outcome Measures Tracked in Fiscal Year 2009, By Program:
Labor:
Employment and training programs: Community-Based Job Training Grants;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser
Funded Activities;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Check];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: H-1B Job Training Grants;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Homeless Veterans Reintegration
Project;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Job Corps;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Check];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Local Veterans' Employment
Representative Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: National Farmworker Jobs Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Native American Employment and
Training;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Registered Apprenticeship and Other
Training;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Reintegration of Ex-Offenders;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Senior Community Service Employment
Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Check];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Trade Adjustment Assistance;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Transition Assistance Program;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Veterans' Workforce Investment
Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: WIA Adult Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Check];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: WIA Dislocated Workers;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Check];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: WIA National Emergency Grants;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: WIA Youth Activities;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: WANTO;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: YouthBuild;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Education:
Employment and training programs: American Indian Vocational
Rehabilitation Services;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Career and Technical Education--
Basic Grants to States;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Career and Technical Education--
Indian Set-aside;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Grants to States for Workplace and
Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Individuals;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers
Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Native Hawaiian Career and Technical
Education;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Check];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Projects with Industry;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Rehabilitation Services--Vocational
Rehabilitation Grants to States;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: State Supported Employment Services
Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Tech-Prep Education;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Tribally Controlled Postsecondary
Career and Technical Institutions;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Health and Human Services:
Employment and training programs: Community Services Block Grant;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--
Social Services Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--
Targeted Assistance Discretionary Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--
Targeted Assistance Grants;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--
Voluntary Agency Matching Grant Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Tribal Work Grants[B];
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Interior:
Employment and training programs: Conservation Activities by Youth
Service Organizations;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Check];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Indian Employment Assistance;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Indian Vocational Training--United
Tribes Technical College;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Agriculture:
Employment and training programs: SNAP Employment and Training Program;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Defense;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: National Guard Youth Challenge
Program;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Check];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Employment and training programs: Environmental Protection;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Empty];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Employment and training programs: Brownfield Job Training Cooperative
Agreements;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Empty];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Empty];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Justice:
Employment and training programs: Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry
Initiative;
Entered employment: [Empty];
Employment retention: [Empty];
Wage gain or change: [Empty];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Empty].
Veterans' Affairs:
Employment and training programs: Vocational Rehabilitation for
Disabled Veterans;
Entered employment: [Check];
Employment retention: [Check];
Wage gain or change: [Check];
Credential attainment: [Check];
Educational attainment: [Check];
Other positive outcomes[A]: [Check];
Customer satisfaction: [Empty];
Other outcomes: [Check].
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
[A] Other positive outcomes refers to entering the military,
postsecondary education, or other vocational training program.
[B] Also known as the Native Employment Works program.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix VI: Programs That Identified Performance Reviews Completed
Since 2004, By Type of Study:
Program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (HHS);
Impact study[A]: [Check];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: WIA Adult Program (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Check];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: WIA Dislocated Workers (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Check];
PART review[B]: [Empty];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: National Guard Youth Challenge Program (DOD);
Impact study[A]: [Check];
PART review[B]: [Empty];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Check];
PART review[B]: [Empty];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: Local Veterans' Employment Representative Program (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: Registered Apprenticeship and Other Training (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: WIA Youth Activities (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (ED);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program (ED);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Projects with Industry (ED);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: State Supported Employment Services Program (ED);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Voluntary Agency Matching
Grant Program (HHS);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Indian Employment Assistance (DOI);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities (DOL)[D];
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Job Corps (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Trade Adjustment Assistance (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: WIA National Emergency Grants (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans (VA);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Check];
Other study[C]: [Empty].
Program: Community-Based Job Training Grants (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Empty];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: H-1B Job Training Grants (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Empty];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Program: YouthBuild (DOL);
Impact study[A]: [Empty];
PART review[B]: [Empty];
Other study[C]: [Check].
Source: GAO analysis of survey data.
[A] In response to our survey question that asked whether any impact
studies had been conducted, officials from 8 programs provided
citations. We evaluated the methodology of each study and determined
that 5 of them met the definition of an impact study provided in our
questionnaire--a study that assessed the net effect of a program by
comparing program outcomes with an estimate of what would have
happened in the absence of the program--and had been completed since
2004. The other 3 studies either did not meet our definition or were
not completed.
[B] Officials from 23 programs reported that their programs have been
reviewed by OMB's PART since 2004. We verified this against OMB's PART
Web site (www.expectmore.gov) and determined that 17 of the 23
programs have been reviewed by PART since 2004; the other 6 were
reviewed by PART in 2002 or 2003.
[C] Officials from 13 programs provided citations for at least one
other study that evaluated program performance with respect to
employment and training activities since 2004. We reviewed these 13
studies, as well as another study that was identified as an impact
study but did not meet our definition. We determined that 12 of the 14
studies evaluated program performance with respect to employment and
training activities and had been completed since 2004. One study was
cited but not made available for our review because it had not been
cleared by the agency for distribution at the time of our survey.
[D] In the course of our work, we found that this program was assessed
using OMB's PART in 2004, but this review was not identified by the
program official who completed our survey.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix VII: Population Groups Served by Employment and Training
Programs, Fiscal Year 2009:
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers:
Program name, by primary population group served: Trade Adjustment
Assistance (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: WIA Dislocated
Workers (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: WIA National
Emergency Grants (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Migrant and seasonal farm workers:
Program name, by primary population group served: Migrant and Seasonal
Farmworkers Program (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check][C];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: National Farmworker
Jobs Program (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Multiple groups (No primary target group):
Program name, by primary population group served: Career and Technical
Education – Basic Grants to States (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Community-Based Job
Training Grants (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Community Services
Block Grant (HHS):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Employment
Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: H-1B Job Training
Grants (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Registered
Apprenticeship and Other Training (DOL)[D]:
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: SNAP Employment and
Training Program (USDA):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities:
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Tech-Prep Education
(ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: TANF (HHS):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: WIA Adult Program
(DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Native Americans[A]:
Program name, by primary population group served: American Indian
Vocational Rehabilitation Services (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check][C];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Career and Technical
Education – Indian Set-aside (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Indian Employment
Assistance (DOI):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Indian Vocational
Training – United Tribes Technical College (DOI):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Native American
Employment and Training (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans:[Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Native Hawaiian
Career and Technical Education (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers:
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Tribal Work Grants
(HHS)[E]:
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Tribally Controlled
Postsecondary Career and Technical Institutions (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
People with physical or mental disabilities:
Program name, by primary population group served: Projects with
Industry (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check][C];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Rehabilitation
Services – Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check][C];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: State-Supported
Employment Services Program (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check][C];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Prisoners or Ex-Offenders:
Program name, by primary population group served: Grants to States for
Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated
Individuals (ED):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Reintegration of Ex-
Offenders (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Second Chance Act
Prisoner Reentry Initiative (DOJ):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Refugees:
Program name, by primary population group served: Refugee and Entrant
Assistance – Social Services Program (HHS):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Refugee and Entrant
Assistance – Targeted Assistance Discretionary Program (HHS):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Refugee and Entrant
Assistance – Targeted Assistance Grants (HHS):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Refugee and Entrant
Assistance – Voluntary Agency Matching Grant Program (HHS):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Veterans:
Program name, by primary population group served: Disabled Veterans‘
Outreach Program (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Homeless Veterans‘
Reintegration Project (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Local Veterans‘
Employment Representative Program (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Transition
Assistance Program (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Veterans‘ Workforce
Investment Program (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: Vocational
Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans (VA):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Youth[B]:
Program name, by primary population group served: Conservation
Activities by Youth Service Organizations (DOI):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Job Corps (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Check];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: National Guard Youth
Challenge Program (DOD):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Empty].
Program name, by primary population group served: WIA Youth Activities
(DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: YouthBuild (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Check];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Empty].
Other:
Program name, by primary population group served: Brownfield Job
Training Cooperative Agreements (EPA)[F]:
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Check];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Check];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Check];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Check];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Check];
Youth[B]: [Check];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: Senior Community
Service Employment Program (DOL)[G]:
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Program name, by primary population group served: WANTO (DOL):
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers: [Empty];
Migrant and seasonal farm workers: [Empty];
Native Americans[A]: [Empty];
People with physical or mental disabilities: [Empty];
Prisoners or ex-offenders: [Empty];
Refugees: [Empty];
Veterans: [Empty];
Youth[B]: [Empty];
Other: [Check].
Note: In order to report the survey results in a logical and
consistent manner, we combined or expanded some of the population
group categories used in the survey and also made changes to the
primary population group served by some programs.
[A] Population group includes Native Hawaiians.
[B] Population group includes in-school and out-of-school youth.
[C] The populations served are solely people with disabilities, and in
most cases, those with significant disabilities.
[D] The program does not serve any specific population groups.
[E] Also known as the Native Employment Works program.
[F] The primary population group served by the program is residents of
Brownfield-impacted communities.
[G] The primary population group served by the program is older
workers.
[H] The primary population group served by the program is women.
[End of figure]
[End of section]
Appendix VIII: Summary of Services Provided by Employment and Training
Programs:
Nearly all of the 47 programs offered participants a wide range of
employment and training services in fiscal year 2009. For example, 43
programs offered participants at least 6 services, and 28 programs
offered participants 10 or more services. Across all programs, the
most commonly provided services were employment counseling and
assessment, job readiness skills training, occupational or vocational
training, and job search or job placement activities (see figure 8).
Agency officials also indicated whether each service provided by their
programs was a primary or secondary service.[Footnote 72] The two most
commonly provided primary services were occupational or vocational
training and job search or job placement activities.
Figure 8: Range of Services Provided by Employment and Training
Programs, Fiscal Year 2009:
[Refer to PDF for image]: stacked horizontal bar graph]
Service: Employment counseling and assessment;
Primary services: 28;
Secondary services: 17;
Total: 45.
Service: Job readiness skills training;
Primary services: 26;
Secondary services: 19;
Total: 45.
Service: Occupational or vocational training;
Primary services: 34;
Secondary services: 9;
Total: 43.
Service: Job search or job placement activities;
Primary services: 30;
Secondary services: 13;
Total: 43.
Service: Job referrals;
Primary services: 24;
Secondary services: 17;
Total: 41.
Service: Work experience;
Primary services: 21;
Secondary services: 20;
Total: 41.
Service: On-the-job training;
Primary services: 26;
Secondary services: 13;
Total: 39.
Service: Development of job opportunities;
Primary services: 24;
Secondary services: 12;
Total: 36.
Service: Job retention training;
Primary services: 15;
Secondary services: 22;
Total: 37.
Service: Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult
literacy;
Primary services: 11;
Secondary services: 17;
Total: 28.
Service: General Equivalency Diploma (GED) assistance;
Primary services: 8;
Secondary services: 18;
Total: 26.
Service: Other employment and training activities;
Primary services: 13;
Secondary services: 10;
Total: 23.
Source: GAO analysis of survey data.
[A] Other employment and training activities cited by agency officials
included employer outreach, subsidized employment, and supportive
services.
[End of figure]
[End of section]
Appendix IX: Services Provided by Employment and Training Programs,
Fiscal Year 2009:
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers:
Program name: Trade Adjustment Assistance (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: [Empty];
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: WIA Dislocated Workers (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: WIA National Emergency Grants (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Migrant and seasonal farm workers:
Program name: Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: National Farmworker Jobs Program (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Multiple groups (No primary target group):
Program name: Career and Technical Education – Basic Grants to States
(ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service[D];
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: [Empty];
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: [Empty];
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Community-Based Job Training Grants (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: [Empty];
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Community Services Block Grant (HHS):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Program name: Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded Activities (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: [Empty];
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: [Empty];
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: H-1B Job Training Grants (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Registered Apprenticeship and Other Training (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: [Empty];
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: [Empty];
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: [Empty];
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: SNAP Employment and Training Program (USDA):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: [Empty];
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Tech-Prep Education (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service[D];
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: [Empty];
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Program name: TANF(HHS):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: WIA Adult Program (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Native Americans[A]:
Program name: American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Career and Technical Education – Indian Set-aside (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service[D];
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Program name: Indian Employment Assistance (DOI):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Indian Vocational Training – United Tribes Technical
College (DOI):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Native American Employment and Training (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Program name: Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Program name: Tribal Work Grants (HHS)[B]:
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Program name: Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical
Institutions (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
People with physical or mental disabilities:
Program name: Projects with Industry (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Rehabilitation Services – Vocational Rehabilitation
Grants to States (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: State-Supported Employment Services Program (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Prisoners or Ex-Offenders:
Program name: Grants to States for Workplace and Community Transition
Training for Incarcerated Individuals (ED):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: [Empty];
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative (DOJ):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: [Empty];
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Refugees:
Program name: Refugee and Entrant Assistance – Social Services Program
(HHS):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Refugee and Entrant Assistance – Targeted Assistance
Discretionary Program (HHS):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Refugee and Entrant Assistance – Targeted Assistance
Grants (HHS):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: Refugee and Entrant Assistance – Voluntary Agency
Matching Grant Program (HHS):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Veterans:
Program name: Disabled Veterans‘ Outreach Program (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: [Empty];
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: Homeless Veterans‘ Reintegration Project (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Local Veterans‘ Employment Representative Program (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: [Empty];
On-the-job training: Secondary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: Transition Assistance Program (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: [Empty];
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: [Empty];
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: [Empty];
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Veterans‘ Workforce Investment Program (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans (VA):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Youth[C]:
Program name: Conservation Activities by Youth Service Organizations
(DOI):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: [Empty];
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: Job Corps (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Program name: National Guard Youth Challenge Program (DOD):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Secondary service;
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Secondary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Program name: WIA Youth Activities (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service; Secondary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: [Empty];
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: YouthBuild (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Secondary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Primary service;
Development of job opportunities: Secondary service;
Job readiness skills training: Secondary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Secondary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Primary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Other:
Program name: Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreements (EPA):
Employment counseling and assessment: [Empty];
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: [Empty];
Job referrals: [Empty];
Job retention training: [Empty];
Job search or job placement activities: [Empty];
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: [Empty];
Other employment and training activities: Primary service.
Program name: Senior Community Service Employment Program (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: Secondary service;
Development of job opportunities: Primary service;
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Primary service;
Job retention training: Secondary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
Secondary service;
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: Secondary service.
Program name: WANTO (DOL):
Employment counseling and assessment: Primary service;
General Equivalency Diploma assistance: [Empty];
Development of job opportunities: [Empty];
Job readiness skills training: Primary service;
Job referrals: Secondary service;
Job retention training: Primary service;
Job search or job placement activities: Primary service;
Occupational or vocational training: Primary service;
On-the-job training: Primary service;
Remedial academic, English language skills, or basic adult literacy:
[Empty];
Work experience: Primary service;
Other employment and training activities: [Empty].
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
Note: For more information about the population groups served by the
programs, see appendix VII.
[A] Population group includes Native Hawaiians.
[B] Also known as the Native Employment Works program.
[C] Population group includes in-school and out-of-school youth.
[D] Program provides career guidance and academic counseling that
includes information regarding career awareness and planning, career
options, financial aid, and postsecondary options, including
baccalaureate degree programs.
[End of figure]
[End of section]
Appendix X: Programs Reporting Requiring Beneficiaries to be
Economically Disadvantaged, Fiscal Year 2009:
Department: Agriculture;
Program: SNAP Employment and Training Program.
Department: Environmental Protection Agency;
Program: Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreements.
Department: Health and Human Services;
Program: Community Services Block Grant.
Department: Health and Human Services;
Department: Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Voluntary Agency Matching
Grant Program.
Department: Health and Human Services;
Program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Department: Interior;
Program: Indian Employment Assistance.
Department: Labor;
Program: Job Corps.
Department: Labor;
Program: National Farmworker Jobs Program.
Department: Labor;
Program: Native American Employment and Training.
Department: Labor;
Program: Senior Community Service Employment Program.
Department: Labor;
Program: WIA Youth Activities.
Department: Labor;
Program: YouthBuild.
Source: GAO survey of agency officials.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix XI: Reported Objectives and Eligibility for Employment and
Training Programs, by Target Group:
Dislocated or trade-impacted workers:
Program (department): Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) (Labor)[A];
Objective: To provide adjustment assistance to qualified workers
adversely affected by foreign trade which will assist them to obtain
suitable employment. Under the Recovery Act, group eligibility was
significantly expanded, and benefits were enhanced to focus more on
retraining opportunities;
Eligibility: A TAA beneficiary must: (1) be found by the Labor
Department to have been adversely affected by increased imports or a
shift in production to all countries, (2) be certified by the
Secretary of Labor as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance, and
(3) meet the following individual requirements: (a) his or her
unemployment or underemployment must have begun on or after the impact
date specified in the Secretary's certification as the beginning of
the import-impacted unemployment or underemployment; (b) his or her
unemployment must begin before the expiration of the 2-year period
beginning on the date on which the Secretary issued the certification
for his or her group or before the termination date, if any, specified
in the certification. In addition, to be eligible for weekly trade
readjustment allowance (TRA) payments he or she must: (1) have been
employed with wages at a minimum of $30 per week by the import-
affected firm for at least 26 of the previous 52 weeks including the
week of total layoff (up to 7 weeks of employer-authorized leave may
be counted as qualifying weeks of employment or up to 26 weeks of
disability compensation); and (2) be enrolled in or have completed a
TAA-approved job training program, unless the determination is made
that training is either not feasible or not appropriate, in which case
a waiver of the training requirement may be issued. To receive TRA,
the claimant must be enrolled in an approved training program within
26 weeks of the Secretary's issuance of the certification or within 26
weeks of the worker's most recent qualifying separation, whichever is
later. Under the Recovery Act, group eligibility requirements now
allow for certification of service workers as well as those who
produce an article. In addition, government employees can now be
certified when tasks are shifted abroad. Finally, workers who produce
component parts of a product are also eligible.
Program (department): WIA Dislocated Workers (Labor);
Objective: The purpose of the WIA Dislocated Workers program is to
reemploy dislocated workers, improve the quality of the workforce, and
enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the nation's economy
by providing workforce investment activities that increase the
employment, retention, and earnings of participants, and increase
occupational skill attainment by the participants. This program is
designed to increase employment, as measured by entry into
unsubsidized employment, retention in unsubsidized employment after
entry into employment, and extent of recovery of prior earnings;
Eligibility: Individuals eligible for assistance through the
applicants receiving the funds include workers who have lost their
jobs, including those dislocated as a result of plant closings or mass
layoffs, and are unlikely to return to their previous industry or
occupation; formerly self-employed individuals; and displaced
homemakers who have been dependent on income of another family member,
but are no longer supported by that income. Priority of Service is
given to veterans and other covered persons. The NEGs have identical
eligibility to the above and also includes certain military personnel
and defense employees. Services through NEGs are targeted on
individuals affected by mass layoffs, natural disasters, federal
government actions, and other circumstances specified by the Secretary.
Program (department): WIA National Emergency Grants (Labor);
Objective: The purpose of the National Emergency Grants program is to
temporarily expand service capacity at the state and local levels by
providing time-limited funding assistance in response to significant
dislocation events. Significant events are those that create a sudden
need for assistance that cannot reasonably be expected to be
accommodated within the ongoing operations of the formula-funded
Dislocated Worker program, including the discretionary resources
reserved at the state level;
Eligibility: Individuals who are eligible for assistance vary by type
of National Emergency Grant project, however they must meet the
criteria provided in the Workforce Investment Act: National Emergency
Grants - Application Procedures, 69 Federal Register 23052 at 23057
(Apr. 27, 2004).
Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers:
Program (department): Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program[D]
(Education);
Objective: To provide discretionary grant funds to state vocational
rehabilitation agencies and public nonprofit organizations for special
projects and demonstrations which hold promise of expanding and
otherwise improving services to individuals with disabilities over and
above those provided by the Basic Support Program administered by
states;
Eligibility: Individuals with disabilities and individuals with
significant disabilities as defined in Sections 7(9)(A)(B) and
7(20)(A), respectively, of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
Program (department): National Farmworker Jobs Program (Labor);
Objective: To provide job training and other employability development
services and related assistance for those individuals, including their
dependents, who are primarily employed in agricultural labor that is
characterized by chronic unemployment and underemployment;
Eligibility: The ultimate beneficiaries are low income individuals and
their dependents who have, during any consecutive 12-month period in
the 24 months preceding their application for enrollment, been
primarily employed in agricultural labor that is characterized by
chronic unemployment or underemployment due to the seasonal or
migratory nature of the work. Individuals must also be legally
available for work and males must not have violated the Selective
Service Act registration requirement.
Multiple groups (no specific target group):
Program (department): Career and Technical Education--Basic Grants to
States (Education);
Objective: To develop more fully the academic, career, and technical
skills of secondary and postsecondary students who elect to enroll in
career and technical education programs;
Eligibility: A wide range of students pursuing academic and career and
technical education will benefit.
Program (department): Community-Based Job Training Grants (Labor);
Objective: Workers must have the skills needed to secure good jobs and
pursue careers in high-growth, high-demand industries. Community
colleges are important training providers for workers needing to
develop, retool, refine, and broaden their skills in high-growth, high-
demand occupations because of their close connection to local labor
markets. Community-Based Job Training Grants strengthen the role of
community colleges in promoting the U.S. workforce's full potential.
Community-Based Job Training Grants are awarded through a competitive
process to support workforce training for workers to prepare them for
careers in high-growth industries through the national system of
community and technical colleges;
Eligibility: Generally, the scope of potential trainees under
Community-Based Job Training Grants is very broad. Specific
requirements are published in each Solicitation for Grant Application.
WIA Section 171(d) authorizes demonstration programs to serve
dislocated workers, incumbent workers, and new entrants to the
workforce. This authorization supports a broad range of training for a
variety of populations, including: incumbent workers who need new
skills for jobs in demand up the career ladder or because the skill
needs for their current job have changed; untapped labor pools such as
immigrant workers, individuals with disabilities, veterans, older
workers, youth, etc; or entry-level workers who need basic skills and/
or specific occupational skill training.
Program (department): Community Services Block Grant (Health and Human
Services)[B];
Objective: To provide assistance to states and local communities,
working through a network of community action agencies and other
neighborhood-based organizations, for the reduction of poverty, the
revitalization of low-income communities, and the empowerment of low-
income families and individuals in rural and urban areas to become
fully self-sufficient (particularly families who are attempting to
transition off a state program carried out under part A of title IV of
the Social Security Act), and (1) to provide services and activities
having a measurable and potential major impact on causes of poverty in
the community or those areas of the community where poverty is a
particularly acute problem; (2) to provide activities designed to
assist low-income participants, including the elderly poor, to: (a)
secure and retain meaningful employment; (b) attain an adequate
education; (c) make better use of available income; (d) obtain and
maintain adequate housing and a suitable living environment; (e)
obtain emergency assistance through loans or grants to meet immediate
and urgent individual and family needs, including health services,
nutritious food, housing, and employment-related assistance;
(f) remove obstacles and solve problems which block the achievement of
self-sufficiency; (g) achieve greater participation in the affairs of
the community; and; (h) make more effective use of other related
programs; (3) to provide on an emergency basis for the services to low-
income individuals;
Eligibility: States make grants to qualified locally based nonprofit
community antipoverty agencies and other eligible entities which
provide services to low-income individuals and families. The official
poverty line, as established by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, is used as a criterion of eligibility in the Community
Services Block Grant program. When a state determines that it serves
the objectives of the block grant, it may revise the income limit, not
to exceed 125 percent of the official poverty line. Under the Recovery
Act, states were able to revise the income limit to not exceed 200% of
the official poverty line for fiscal years 2009 and 2010.
Program (department): Employment Service/Wagner-Peyser Funded
Activities (Labor);
Objective: To assist persons to secure employment and workforce
information by providing a variety of job search assistance and
information services without charge to job seekers and to employers
seeking qualified individuals to fill job openings;
Eligibility: All employers seeking workers, persons seeking
employment, and associated groups. Priority of service is given to
veterans and other covered persons. Veterans receive priority referral
to jobs, as well as specialized employment services and assistance.
The Wagner-Peyser program also administers the work test for state
unemployment compensation systems and provides job search and
placement services for unemployment insurance claimants.
Program (department): H-1B Job Training Grants (Labor);
Objective: The H-1B Job Training Grants Program funds projects that
provide training and related activities to workers to assist them in
gaining the skills and competencies needed to obtain or upgrade
employment in high-growth industries or economic sectors;
Eligibility: Generally, the scope of potential trainees under these
programs can be very broad. Please review the Solicitation for Grant
Application for specific requirements. Training may be targeted to a
wide variety of populations, including unemployed individuals and
incumbent workers.
Program (department): Registered Apprenticeship and Other Training
(Labor);
Objective: To stimulate and assist industry in the development,
expansion, and improvement of registered apprenticeship and other
training programs designed to provide the skilled workers required by
U.S. employers, ensure equal employment opportunities in registered
apprenticeship, and ensure the quality of all new and existing
registered apprenticeship programs;
Eligibility: Individuals applying for acceptance into an
apprenticeship training program must be at least 16 years old and must
satisfy the apprenticeship program sponsor that they have sufficient
ability, aptitude, and education to master the rudiments of the
trade/occupation and to satisfactorily complete the related
theoretical instruction required in the program.
Program (department): SNAP Employment and Training Program
(Agriculture);
Objective: To assist members of households participating in SNAP in
gaining skills, training, work, or experience that will increase their
ability to obtain regular employment;
Eligibility: Households may have no more than $2,000 in countable
resources, such as a bank account ($3,000 if at least one person in
the household is age 60 or older, or is disabled). Certain resources
are not counted, such as a home and lot. Special rules are used to
determine the resource value of vehicles owned by household members.
The gross monthly income of most households must be 130% or less of
the federal poverty guidelines ($2,389 per month for a family of four
in most places, effective Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010). Gross
income includes all cash payments to the household, with a few
exceptions specified in the law or the program regulations. Net
monthly income must be 100% or less of federal poverty guidelines
($1,838 per month for a household of four in most places, effective
Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010). Net income is figured by adding
all of a household's gross income, and then taking a number of
approved deductions for child care, some shelter costs, and other
expenses. Households with an elderly or disabled member are subject
only to the net income test. Most able-bodied adult applicants must
meet certain work requirements. All household members must provide a
Social Security number or apply for one. SNAP participants who are not
exempt from work requirements must participate in an Employment and
Training (E&T) Program if referred. SNAP participants may also
volunteer for the E&T Program, but the state agency decides who it
will serve.
Program (department): Tech-Prep Education (Education);
Objective: This program provides assistance to state eligible agencies
to award grants to consortia of local agencies and postsecondary
education institutions for the development and operation of programs
consisting of at least 2 years of secondary education and at least 2
years of postsecondary education or an apprenticeship program that
follows secondary education. These programs provide Tech-Prep
education to students, leading to a technical skills proficiency, an
industry-recognized credential, a certificate, or a degree in a
specific career field;
Eligibility: Students desiring to participate in a combined secondary/
postsecondary program leading to a technical skill proficiency,
postsecondary degree, or 2-year certificate with technical preparation
in at least one field of engineering, applied science, mechanical,
industrial, or practical art or trade, or agriculture, health, or
business will benefit.
Program (department): Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (HHS);
Objective: To provide grants to states, territories, the District of
Columbia, and federally recognized Indian Tribes operating their own
Tribal TANF programs to assist needy families with children so that
children can be cared for in their own homes;
to reduce dependency by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage;
to reduce and prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and to encourage the
formation and maintenance of two-parent families; Eligibility: Needy
families with children, as determined eligible by the state,
territory, or tribe in accordance with the state or tribal plan
submitted to HHS.
Program (department): WIA Adult Program (Labor);
Objective: The purpose of this program is to improve the quality of
the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and enhance the productivity
and competitiveness of the nation's economy by providing workforce
investment activities that increase the employment, retention, and
earnings of participants, and increase occupational skill attainment
by the participants. This program is designed to increase employment,
as measured by entry into unsubsidized employment, retention in
unsubsidized employment after entry into employment, and earnings;
Eligibility: All adults 18 years and older are eligible for core
services. Priority for intensive and training services must be given
to recipients of public assistance and other low-income individuals
where funds are limited. States and local areas are responsible for
establishing procedures for applying the priority requirements.
Priority of service is given to veterans and other covered persons.
Native Americans (includes Native Hawaiians):
Program (department): American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation
Services[D] (Education);
Objective: To provide vocational rehabilitation services to American
Indians with disabilities who reside on federal or state reservations
in order to prepare them for suitable employment;
Eligibility: American Indians with disabilities residing on or near a
federal or state reservation (including Native Alaskans) who meet the
definition of an individual with a disability in Section 7 (8)(A) of
the Rehabilitation Act.
Program (department): Career and Technical Education--Indian Set-aside
(Education);
Objective: To make grants to or enter into contracts with Indian
tribes, tribal organizations, and Alaska Native entities to plan,
conduct, and administer programs or portions of programs authorized by
and consistent with the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education
Act of 2006;
Eligibility: Members of federally-recognized Indian tribes, tribal
organizations, Alaska Native entities, and certain schools funded by
the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Education.
Program (department): Indian Employment Assistance (Interior);
Objective: To provide vocational training and employment opportunities
to eligible American Indians and reduce federal dependence;
Eligibility: Members of federally recognized Indian Tribes who are
unemployed, underemployed, or in need of training to obtain reasonable
and satisfactory employment. Complete information on beneficiary
eligibility is found in 25 CFR, Parts 26 and 27.
Program (department): Indian Vocational Training--United Tribes
Technical College (Interior);
Objective: To provide vocational training to individual American
Indians through the United Tribes Technical College, located in
Bismarck, North Dakota;
Eligibility: Individual American Indians who are members of a
federally recognized Indian Tribe and reside on or near an Indian
reservation under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Complete information on beneficiary eligibility is found in 25 CFR,
Parts 26 and 27.
Program (department): Native American Employment and Training
(Labor)[B];
Objective: To support employment and training activities for Indian,
Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian individuals in order: to develop
more fully the academic, occupational, and literacy skills of such
individuals; to make such individuals more competitive in the
workforce; and to promote the economic and social development of
Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities in accordance
with the goals and values of such communities. All programs assisted
under this section shall be administered in a manner consistent with
the principles of the Indian Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) and the government-to-
government relationship between the federal government and Indian
tribal governments. Supplemental youth funding is also awarded to help
low-income Native American youth and Native Hawaiian youth, between
the ages of 14 and 21, acquire the educational skills, training, and
the support needed to achieve academic and employment success and
successfully transition to careers and productive adulthood;
Eligibility: American Indians (members of federally recognized and
state Indian tribes, bands, and groups);
other individuals of Native American descent, such as, but not limited
to, the Klamaths in Oregon, Micmac and Maliseet in Maine, the Lumbees
in North Carolina and South Carolina; Indians variously described as
terminated or landless, Eskimos and Aleuts in Alaska, and Hawaiian
Natives. ("Hawaiian Native" means an individual any of whose ancestors
were natives prior to 1778 of the area which now comprises the State
of Hawaii.) Applicants must also be economically disadvantaged,
unemployed, or underemployed. A Native American grantee may in some
cases enroll participants who are not economically disadvantaged,
unemployed, or underemployed in upgrading and retraining programs. See
20 CFR 668.300(b)(4) and (5). Native American youth between the ages
of 14 and 21 who live on or near a reservation or in the States of
Oklahoma, Alaska, and Hawaii and are low-income, are eligible to
receive supplemental youth services; Under the Recovery Act, the
program's supplemental youth eligibility age requirements were
extended to 24.
Program (department): Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education
(Education);
Objective: To make grants to organizations primarily serving and
representing Native Hawaiians for programs or portions of programs
authorized by, and consistent with, the Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Education Act;
Eligibility: Native Hawaiians served by eligible entities will
benefit. Eligible entities are community-based organizations primarily
serving and representing Native Hawaiians. For purposes of this
program, a community-based organization means a public or private
nonprofit organization that provides career and technical education,
or related services to individuals in the Native Hawaiian community.
Any eligible community-based organization may apply individually or
with one or more eligible community-based organizations or as a member
of a consortium.
Program (department): Tribal Work Grants (HHS)[C];
Objective: To allow eligible Indian Tribes and Alaska Native
organizations to operate a program to make work activities available;
Eligibility: Service areas and populations as designated by the
eligible Indian Tribe or Alaska Native organization.
Program (department): Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and
Technical Institutions (Education);
Objective: To make grants to tribally controlled postsecondary
vocational and technical institutions to provide career and technical
education services and basic support for the education and training of
Indian students;
Eligibility: American Indians served by eligible entities will
benefit. Eligible entities are Tribally Controlled Postsecondary
Career and Technical Institutions that receive no funds from either
the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978
(25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) or the Navajo Community College Act (25
U.S.C. 640a et seq.).
People with physical or mental disabilities:
Program (department): Projects with Industry (Education);
Objective: To create and expand job and career opportunities for
individuals with disabilities in the competitive labor market by
partnering with private industry to provide job training and placement
and career advancement services;
Eligibility: An individual is eligible for services under this program
if the individual to be served is an individual with a disability or
an individual with a significant disability, as defined in Sections 7
(20)(A) and 7 (21)(A), respectively, of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, as amended. In making this determination, the state vocational
rehabilitation unit shall rely on the determination made by the
recipient of the grant under which the services are provided, to the
extent that the determination is appropriate, available, and
consistent with the requirements of the Act.
Program (department): Rehabilitation Services--Vocational
Rehabilitation Grants to States (Education);
Objective: To assist states in operating comprehensive, coordinated,
effective, efficient, and accountable programs of vocational
rehabilitation;
to assess, plan, develop, and provide vocational rehabilitation
services for individuals with disabilities, consistent with their
strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, and
capabilities so they may prepare for and engage in competitive
employment;
Eligibility: Eligibility for vocational rehabilitation services is
based on the presence of a physical and/or mental impairment, which
for such an individual constitutes or results in a substantial
impediment to employment, and the need for vocational rehabilitation
services that may be expected to benefit the individual in terms of an
employment outcome.
Program (department): State Supported Employment Services Program
(Education);
Objective: To provide grants for time-limited services leading to
supported employment for individuals with the most severe disabilities
to enable such individuals to achieve the employment outcome of
supported employment;
Eligibility: Individuals with the most severe disabilities whose
ability or potential to engage in a training program leading to
supported employment has been determined by evaluating rehabilitation
potential. In addition, individuals must need extended services in
order to perform competitive work and have the ability to work in a
supported employment setting.
Prisoners or ex-offenders:
Program (department): Grants to States for Workplace and Community
Transition Training for Incarcerated Individuals (Education);
Objective: To assist and encourage incarcerated individuals who have
obtained a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent to
acquire educational and job skills through: coursework to prepare such
individuals to pursue a postsecondary education certificate, an
associate's degree, or bachelor's degree while in prison or employment
counseling and other related services which start during incarceration
and end not later than 2 years after release from incarceration;
Eligibility: An incarcerated individual who has obtained a secondary
school diploma or its recognized equivalent shall be eligible for
participation if such individual (1) is eligible to be released within
7 years (including an incarcerated individual who is eligible for
parole within such time); (2) is 35 years of age or younger; and (3)
has not been convicted of--(A) a 'criminal offense', or sexually
violent offense', as such terms are defined in the Jacob Wetterling
Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act
(42 U.S.C. 14071 et seq.); or (B) murder, as described in section 1111
of title 18, United States Code.
Program (department): Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (Labor);
Objective: This program includes both Prisoner Reentry Initiative
(PRI) grants to serve adult returning offenders and Youthful Offender
grants aimed at youth involved or at risk of involvement in crime and
violence. The objectives of the PRI grants include increasing the
employment rate, employment retention rate, and earnings of released
prisoners, and decreasing their recidivism. The objectives of the
Youthful Offender grants include preventing in-school youth from
dropping out of school, increasing the employment rate of out-of-
school youth, increasing the reading and math skills of youth,
reducing the involvement of youth in crime and violence, and reducing
the recidivism rate of youth;
Eligibility: PRI grants serve individuals, 18 years old and older, who
have been convicted as an adult and have been imprisoned for violating
a state or federal law, and who have never been committed a sex-
related offense. Depending on the solicitation, enrollment may be
limited based on whether the presenting offense was violent or whether
the individual has previously committed a violent crime. Individuals
eligible for Youthful Offender grants vary depending on the
solicitation.
Program (department): Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative
(Justice);
Objective: To facilitate inmates' successful reintegration into
society. This initiative is a comprehensive effort that addresses both
juvenile and adult populations of serious, high-risk offenders. Phase
1 programs are designed to prepare offenders to reenter society and
the services provided include job training. Phase 2 programs work with
offenders prior to and immediately following their release from
correctional institutions and the services provided include job-skills
development. Phase 3 programs connect individuals who have left the
supervision of the justice system with a network of social service
agencies and community-based organizations to provide ongoing services
and mentoring relationships;
Eligibility: The target population for the initiative must be a
specific subset of the population of individuals aged 18 and older
convicted as an adult and imprisoned in a state, local, or tribal
prison or jail.
Refugees:
Program (department): Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Social Services
Program (HHS);
Objective: The Refugee Social Services Program is part of the Division
of Refugee Assistance and allocates formula funds to states to serve
refugees who have been in the U.S. less than 60 months (5 years). This
program supports employability services and other services that
address participants' barriers to employment such as social adjustment
services, interpretation and translation services, day care for
children, citizenship and naturalization services, etc. Employability
services are designed to enable refugees to obtain jobs within 1 year
of becoming enrolled in services;
Eligibility: Refugees who have been in the U.S. less than 60 months (5
years). Service priorities are (a) all newly arriving refugees during
their first year in the U.S. who apply for services; (b) refugees who
are receiving cash assistance; (c) unemployed refugees who are not
receiving cash assistance; and (d) employed refugees in need of
services to retain employment or to attain economic independence.
Program (department): Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Targeted
Assistance Discretionary Program (HHS);
Objective: The Targeted Assistance Discretionary Program is part of
the Division of Refugee Assistance and provides grants to states and
state-alternative programs to address the employment needs of refugees
that cannot be met with the Formula Social Services or Formula
Targeted Assistance Grant programs. Activities under this program are
for the purpose of supplementing and/or complementing existing
employment services to help refugees achieve economic self-sufficiency;
Eligibility: Services funded through the targeted assistance program
are required to focus primarily on those refugees who, either because
of their protracted use of public assistance or difficulty in securing
employment, continue to need services beyond the initial years of
resettlement. This funding requirement also promotes the provision of
services to refugees who are "hard to reach" and, thus, finding
greater difficulty integrating. Refugees residing in the U.S. longer
than 5 years, refugee women who are not literate in their native
language, as well as the elderly are some of the special populations
served by this discretionary grant program.
Program (department): Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Targeted
Assistance Grants (HHS);
Objective: To provide funding for employment-related and other social
services for refugees, asylees, certain Amerasians, victims of a
severe form of trafficking, entrants, and Iraqi and Afghan special
immigrants in areas of high refugee concentration and high welfare
utilization;
Eligibility: Persons admitted to the U.S. within the last 5 years as
refugees under Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
granted asylum under Section 208 of the Act; Cuban and Haitian
entrants, as defined in Section 501 of the Refugee Education
Assistance Act; and certain Amerasians from Vietnam and their
accompanying family members, as defined by Section 584(c) of the
Foreign Relations, Export Financing, and Related Programs
Appropriation Act of 1988. Victims of a severe form of trafficking who
have received a certified or letter of eligibility from ORR.
Program (department): Refugee and Entrant Assistance--Voluntary Agency
Matching Grant Program (HHS);
Objective: To assist refugees in becoming self-supporting and
independent members of American society, by providing grant funds to
private nonprofit organizations to support case management,
transitional assistance, and social services for new arrivals;
Eligibility: Refugees must be enrolled within 31 days of arrival.
Entrants/asylees must be enrolled within 31 days of granting of parole
or asylum.
Veterans:
Program (department): Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (Labor);
Objective: To provide intensive services to meet the employment needs
of disabled and other eligible veterans with maximum emphasis in
meeting the employment needs of those who are economically or
educationally disadvantaged, including homeless veterans and veterans
with barriers to employment;
Eligibility: Eligible veterans and eligible persons with emphasis on
Special Disabled veterans, disabled veterans, economically or
educationally disadvantaged veterans, and veterans with other barriers
to employment.
Program (department): Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project (Labor);
Objective: To provide services to assist in reintegrating homeless
veterans into meaningful employment within the labor force and to
stimulate the development of effective service delivery systems that
will address the complex problems facing homeless veterans;
Eligibility: Individuals who are homeless veterans. The term
"homeless" or "homeless individual" includes: (1) An individual who
lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence;
and (2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is:
(a) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to
provide temporary living accommodations including welfare hotels,
congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill;
(b) an institution that provides a temporary institutionalized;
or (c) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used
as, a regular sleeping accommodations for human beings (Reference: 42
U.S.C. 1302). A "veteran" is an individual who served in the active
military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released
there from under conditions other than dishonorable. (Reference: 33
U.S.C. 101 (2)).
Program (department): Local Veterans' Employment Representative
Program (Labor);
Objective: Conduct outreach and provide seminars to employers which
advocates hiring of veterans; facilitate Transition Assistance Program
(TAP) employment workshops to transitioning service members; establish
and conduct job search workshops; facilitate employment, training, and
placement services furnished to veterans in a state under the
applicable state employment service or one-stop career center delivery
systems whose sole purpose is to assist veterans in gaining and
retaining employment;
Eligibility: Eligible veterans and eligible persons.
Program (department): Transition Assistance Program (Labor);
Objective: To provide employment instruction, information, and
assistance to separating and retiring military personnel and their
spouses through domestic and overseas installations and/or facilities
by offering job search and other related services;
Eligibility: Service members within 2 years of retirement or 1 year of
separation and their spouses.
Program (department): Veterans' Workforce Investment Program (Labor);
Objective: To provide services to assist in reintegrating eligible
veterans into meaningful employment within the labor force and to
stimulate the development of effective service delivery systems that
will address the complex problems facing eligible veterans;
Eligibility: Service-connected disabled veterans, veterans who have
significant barriers to employment, veterans who served on active duty
in the armed forces during a war or in a campaign or expedition for
which a campaign badge has been authorized, and veterans who are
recently separated from military service (48 months).
Program (department): Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans
(VA);
Objective: To provide all services and assistance necessary to enable
service-disabled veterans and service persons hospitalized or
receiving outpatient medical care services or treatment for a service-
connected disability pending discharge to gain and maintain suitable
employment. When employment is not reasonably feasible, the program
can provide the needed services and assistance to help the individual
achieve maximum independence in daily living;
Eligibility: Veterans of World War II and later service with a service-
connected disability or disabilities rated at least 20% compensable
and certain service-disabled servicepersons pending discharge or
release from service if VA determines the servicepersons will likely
receive at least a 20% rating and they need vocational rehabilitation
because of an employment handicap. Veterans with compensable ratings
of 10% may also be eligible if they are found to have a serious
employment handicap. To receive an evaluation for vocational
rehabilitation services, a veteran must have received, or eventually
receive, an honorable or other than dishonorable discharge, have a VA
service-connected disability rating of 10% or more, and apply for
vocational rehabilitation services.
Youth:
Program (department): Conservation Activities by Youth Service
Organizations (Interior);
Objective: To utilize qualified youth or conservation corps to carry
out appropriate conservation projects which the Secretary is
authorized to carry out under other authority of law on public lands.
Work cooperatively with the National Park Service (NPS) on cultural-
and natural resource-related conservation projects such as trail
development and maintenance; historic, cultural, forest and timber
management; minor construction work; archaeological conservation;
and native plant habitat restoration and rehabilitation. Promote and
stimulate public purposes such as education, job training, development
of responsible citizenship, productive community involvement, and
further the understanding and appreciation of natural and cultural
resources through the involvement of youth and young adults in care
and enhancement of public resources. Continue the longstanding efforts
of the NPS to provide opportunities for public service, youth
employment, minority youth development and training, and participation
of young adults in accomplishing conservation-related work;
Eligibility: Private nonprofit institutions and organizations, state
and local government agencies, and quasi-public nonprofit institutions
and organizations that support youth career training and development
in the areas of resource management, conservation, and cultural
resources; individuals/families; graduate students; youth or corps
located in a specific area that have a substantial portion of members
who are economically physically, or educationally disadvantaged
(Public Land Corps Act of 1993); general public, specifically, young
people, minority groups, social and economically disadvantaged
individuals will benefit from the education and skill development in
the area of conservation as well as instilling conservation ethics.
Program (department): Job Corps (Labor);
Objective: Job Corps is the nation's largest federally funded training
program that provides at-risk youth, ages 16-24, with academic
instruction, toward the achievement of a High School Diploma or GED,
and career training in high-growth, high-demand industries. Upon exit
from the program, participants receive transition assistance to
employment, higher education, or the military. The program is
primarily residential, serving more than 60,000 students at 123
centers nationwide;
Eligibility: To be eligible to become an enrollee, an individual shall
be: (1) not less than age 16 and not more than age 21 on the date of
enrollment, except that (A) not more than 20% of the individuals
enrolled in the Job Corps may be not less than age 22 and not more
than age 24 on the date of enrollment; and (B) either such maximum age
limitation may be waived by the Secretary, in accordance with
regulations of the Secretary, in the case of an individual with a
disability; (2) a low-income individual; and (3) an individual who is
one or more of the following: (A) basic skills deficient; (B) a school
dropout; (C) homeless, a runaway, or a foster child; (D) a parent; (E)
an individual who requires additional education, vocational training,
or intensive counseling and related assistance, in order to
participate successfully in regular schoolwork or to secure and hold
employment.
Program (department): National Guard Youth Challenge Program (Defense);
Objective: The Secretary of Defense may use the National Guard to
conduct a civilian youth opportunities program, to be known as the
"National Guard Youth Challenge Program, which shall consist of at
least a 22-week residential program and a 12-month postresidential
mentoring period. The program shall seek to improve life skills and
employment potential of participants by providing military-based
training and supervised work experience, together with the core
components of assisting participants to receive a high school diploma
or its equivalent, leadership development, promoting fellowship and
community service, developing life coping skills and job skills, and
improving physical fitness and health and hygiene;
Eligibility: A school dropout from secondary school shall be eligible
to participate in the program. The Secretary of Defense shall
prescribe the standards and procedures for selecting participants from
among school dropouts. Selection of participants for the program
established by the Secretary of Defense shall be from applicants who
meet the following eligibility standards: (a) 16-18 years of age at
time of entry into the program; (b) a school dropout from secondary
school; (c) a citizen or legal resident of the United States; (d)
unemployed or underemployed; (e) not currently on parole or probation
for other than juvenile status offenses, not awaiting sentencing, and
not under indictment, accused, or convicted of a felony; (f) free from
use of illegal drugs or substances; (g) physically and mentally
capable to participate in the program in which enrolled with
reasonable accommodation for physical and other disabilities; and (h)
application procedures shall, to the fullest extent possible, attempt
to reach and include economically and educationally disadvantaged
groups.
Program (department): WIA Youth Activities (Labor)[A];
Objective: To help low-income youth, between the ages of 14 and 21,
acquire the educational and occupational skills, training, and support
needed to achieve academic and employment success and successfully
transition to careers and productive adulthood. Under the Recovery
Act, any youth activities under WIA were allowable activities. While
the Act did not limit the use of Recovery Act funds to summer
employment, the congressional intent was to offer expanded summer
employment opportunities for youth. ETA strongly encouraged states and
local areas to use as much of the Recovery Act funds as possible to
operate expanded summer youth employment opportunities during the
summer of 2009, and to provide as many youth as possible with summer
employment opportunities and work experiences throughout the year,
ensuring that these summer employment opportunities and work
experiences were high quality. ETA also expressed an interest in and
encouraged states and local areas to develop work experiences and
other activities that exposed youth to opportunities in "green"
educational and career pathways;
Eligibility: An eligible youth is an individual who: (1) is 14 to 21
years of age; and (2) is an individual who received an income or is a
member of a family that received a total family income that, in
relation to family size, does not exceed the higher of (a) the poverty
line; or (b) 70% of the lower living standard income; and (3) meets
one or more of the following criteria: is an individual who is
deficient in basic literacy skills; a school dropout; homeless; a
runaway; a foster child; pregnant or a parent; an offender; or
requires additional assistance to complete their education or secure
and hold employment. There is an exception to permit youth who are not
low-income individuals to receive youth services. Up to 5% of youth
participants served by youth programs in a local area may be
individuals who do not meet the income criterion for eligible youth,
provided that they are within one or more of the following categories:
school dropout; basic skills deficient; are one or more grade levels
below the grade level appropriate to the individual's age; pregnant or
parenting; possess one or more disabilities, including learning
disabilities; homeless or runaway; offender; or face serious barriers
to employment as identified by the local board. Under the Recovery
Act, age eligibility for youth services funded by the Recovery Act
increased from 21 to 24.
Program (department): YouthBuild (Labor)[B];
Objective: Grant funds will be used to provide disadvantaged youth
with: the education and employment skills necessary to achieve
economic self sufficiency in occupations in high demand and
postsecondary education and training opportunities;
opportunities for meaningful work and service to their communities;
and opportunities to develop employment and leadership skills and a
commitment to community development among youth in low-income
communities. As part of their programming, YouthBuild grantees will
tap the energies and talents of disadvantaged youth to increase the
supply of permanent affordable housing for homeless individuals and
low-income families and to assist youth develop the leadership,
learning, and high-demand occupational skills needed to succeed in
today's global economy;
Eligibility: An eligible youth is an individual who is: (1) between
the ages of 16 and 24 on the date of enrollment; and (2) a member of a
disadvantaged youth population such as a member of a low-income
family, a youth in foster care (including youth aging out of foster
care), a youth offender, a youth who is an individual with a
disability, a child of an incarcerated parent, or a migrant youth; and
(3) an individual who has dropped out of high school and re-enrolled
in an alternative school, if that re-enrollment is part of a
sequential service strategy. Up to (but not more than) 25% of the
participants in the program may be youth who do not meet the education
and disadvantaged criteria above but who are: (1) basic skills
deficient, despite attainment of a secondary school diploma, General
Education Development (GED) credential, or other state-recognized
equivalent (including recognized alternative standards for individuals
with disabilities); or (2) have been referred by a local secondary
school for participation in a YouthBuild program leading to the
attainment of a secondary school diploma. Under the Recovery Act and
the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, the WIA YouthBuild school dropout
provision for program years 2008 and 2009 was broadened as follows:
"[T]he YouthBuild Program may serve an individual who has dropped out
of high school and re-enrolled in an alternative school, if that re-
enrollment is part of the sequential service strategy." The term
"alternative school" broadly refers to schools or programs that are
set up by states, school districts, or other community-based entities
to serve young people who are not succeeding in a traditional public
school environment. The term "sequential service program" means an
alternative school that is connected with a YouthBuild program and
provides a year or more of educational services prior to entry into
the formal YouthBuild program supported by Labor's Employment and
Training Administration. This definition is intended to encompass a
charter school that is connected to a YouthBuild program.
Other Group:
Program (department): Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreements
(Environmental Protection);
Objective: The objective of the Brownfield Job Training Program is to
recruit, train, and place unemployed and underemployed, predominantly
low-income and minority, residents of Brownfield-impacted communities
with the skills needed to obtain full-time, sustainable employment in
Brownfield assessment and cleanup activities and the environmental
field. The Brownfield Job Training Program promotes the facilitation
of assessment, remediation, or preparation of Brownfield sites;
Eligibility: Job training grants will provide environmental job
training and help individuals of Brownfield neighborhoods take
advantage of job opportunities created as a result of the assessment
and clean up of Brownfield properties. In addition, this program
benefits industry by increasing the supply of skilled labor for firms
that engage in environmental assessment and clean up.
Program (department): Senior Community Service Employment Program
(SCSEP) (Labor);
Objective: To foster individual economic self-sufficiency;
provide training in meaningful part-time opportunities in community
service activities for unemployed low-income persons who are 55 years
of age or older, particularly persons who have poor employment
prospects; and to increase the number of older persons who may enjoy
the benefits of unsubsidized employment in both the public and private
sectors;
Eligibility: Adults 55 years or older with a family income at or below
125% of the HHS poverty level. Prospective participants must provide
documentation relative to age and personal financial status, which is
required to determine whether the individual is program eligible. With
certain exceptions, the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey
definition of income governs the determination of SCSEP applicant
income eligibility. Section 518 (a)(3)(A)OAA-2006 specifies that any
income that is unemployment compensation, a benefit received under
title XVI of the Social Security Act; a payment made to or on behalf
of veterans or former members of the armed forces under the laws
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or 25% of a benefit
received under title II of the Social Security Act is excluded from
SCSEP income eligibility determinations.
Program (department): WANTO (Labor);
Objective: To promote the recruitment, training, employment, and
retention of women in apprenticeship and nontraditional occupations;
help women obtain soft skills and industry-specific training;
and help employers and labor unions recruit, place, and retain women
in registered apprenticeship programs that lead to nontraditional
occupations;
Eligibility: Women who are seeking to enroll in a preapprenticeship
program, an apprenticeship training program, or a nontraditional
occupation must be at least 16 years old and must satisfy the
apprenticeship program sponsor that they have sufficient ability,
aptitude, and education to master the rudiments of the
trade/occupation and to satisfactorily complete the related
theoretical instruction required in the program.
Source: GAO analysis of CFDA and survey data. Note: We did conduct a
legal analysis to verify these results.
[A] This program's objective and eligibility criteria were modified by
the Recovery Act.
[B] This program's eligibility criteria were modified by the Recovery
Act.
[C] Also known as the Native Employment Works program.
[D] These programs only serve people with disabilities.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix XII: Comments from the Department of Education:
United States Department Of Education:
Office Of Vocational And Adult Education:
The Assistant Secretary:
400 Maryland Ave. S.W.
Washington, DC 20202:
[hyperlink, http://www.ed.gov]
Ms. Barbara D. Bovbjerg:
Managing Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:
December 22, 2010:
Dear Ms. Bovbjerg:
Thank you for providing for the Department of Education's
(Department's) review the Government Accountability Office's (GAO's)
draft report (GAO 11-92), entitled "Multiple Employment and Training
Programs: Providing Information on Co-Locating Services and
Consolidating Administrative Structures Could Promote Efficiencies."
The Department is providing the following comments:
First, this Department recommends that GAO exclude from the final GAO
report all programs authorized by the Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins Act)[Footnote 1] because the
Perkins formula and discretionary programs are career and technical
education (CTE) programs that have as their primary purpose[Footnote
2] increasing students' academic and career and technical skill
levels, which the Perkins Act promotes largely by funding the
development and implementation of challenging academic and technical
education standards.[Footnote 3] Further, we disagree with the draft
report's rationale for including the Perkins programs, i.e., that the
Perkins programs meet the definition of "employment and training
programs"[Footnote 4] in the draft report because they have an
"important component" related to employment and training. Notably, the
statutory amendments that Congress made in the last reauthorization
broaden the educational purposes of the Perkins Act by substituting
the term "career and technical education" for "vocational education,"
defining "career and technical education"[Footnote 5] to remove the
restriction that previously limited vocational education to only pre-
baccalaureate education, and emphasizing the goal of placing CTE
students in further education, including in baccalaureate degree
programs.[Footnote 6] This further reinforces that the Perkins
programs are designed to primarily provide career and technical
education to secondary and postsecondary students - not "employment
and training" assistance.[Footnote 7]
Second, this Department recommends that GAO delete from the final
report all estimates of the amounts and proportions of FY 2009 and FY
2010 appropriated funds used on "employment and training activities"
under Perkins programs as well as the estimate of the number of
participants in these programs who received "employment and training
services." We also recommend that the corresponding discussion of
these estimates be revised. This Department does not believe that
these estimates of funds in Table 1 and Appendices II and III of the
draft report, or the estimates of participants in Appendix IV, are
accurate. This Department does not collect cost data on specific
activities, such as data on the cost of "employment" activities, under
the Perkins CTE basic grant program, the tech prep program, or the
discretionary programs.[Footnote 8] Similarly, this Department does
not collect data on the number of participants, if any, that the
States and other grantees provide with "employment" services. Thus,
this Department cannot accurately provide this information for the
Perkins programs. Based on qualitative information we have obtained
from States in the course of the Department's technical assistance and
monitoring activities, it appears to this Department that States
appropriately spend the overwhelming majority of their Perkins funds
under the Perkins CTE basic grant program, the tech prep program, and
the discretionary programs, for education activities - not employment
activities.
In addition to these comments, the Department is also providing GAO
with technical comments.
I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the GAO report. If you have
any questions or concerns regarding our response, please contact Dr.
Edward R. Smith at (202) 245-7602.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Brenda Dann-Messier:
Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education:
Enclosures:
Footnotes:
[1] The programs authorized by the Perkins Act, as they are identified
in the draft GAO report, include: Career and Technical Education -
Basic Grants to States (CTE basic grant program), Tech-Prep Education
(tech prep program), Career and Technical Education - Indian Set-
aside, Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical
Institutions, and Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education. The
Perkins CTE basic grant program and the tech prep program are so-
called "State formula programs," while the remaining three programs
are "discretionary programs" We also recommend that the corresponding
discussion of these Perkins programs be removed.
[2] Section 2 of the Perkins Act sets forth the purposes of the Act
(20 U.S.C. 2301).
[3] Representatives of this Department made this position clear to GAO
in both the entrance and exit conferences, regardless of the fact that
Departmental staff responded to GAO's questionnaires. The Department
has consistently maintained the position that the Perkins programs arc
education programs in both informal communications and our written
comments to GAO with respect to this draft report as well as in the
past with respect to previous GAO reports on multiple employment and
training programs.
[4] The draft report at page 2 defines an "employment and training
program" as "a program that is specifically designed to enhance the
specific job skills of individuals in order to increase their
employability, identify job opportunities, and/or help job seekers
obtain employment." The draft report at page 36 also indicates that
GAO included programs with "broader missions if a primary purpose of
the program was to provide employment and training assistance."
However, the primary purpose of the Perkins programs is to provide
career and technical education.
[5] See section 3(5) of the Perkins Act (20 U.S.C. 2302(5)).
[6] See, e.g., section 113(b)(2)(B)(iii) and section 122(c)(l)(a)(iv)
of the Perkins Act (20 U.S.C. 2323(b)(2)(B)(iii) and
2341(c)(t)(a)(iv)).
[7] The statutory scheme of the Perkins Act itself supports this
conclusion, for example, by requiring the distribution of the
overwhelming majority of funds to educational institutions and the
submission of performance data that aggregates student placement in
further education, the military, or employment. Local educational
agencies and eligible educational institutions operating postsecondary
CTE programs receive a minimum of 85% of the funds provided under the
Perkins CTE basic grant program under section 112(a)(I) (20 U.S.C.
2322(a)(I)). The State-level placement indicators for the Perkins CTE
basic grant program are set forth in section 113(b)(2)((A)(v) and
(B)(iv) of the Perkins Act (20 U.S.C. 2323(b)(2)((A)(v) and (B)(iv)).
[8] Although in the Perkins CTE basic grant program, tech prep
program, and some Perkins discretionary programs we ask States or
other grantees to report data on the aggregate numbers of CTE students
who have found employment, enlisted in the military, or enrolled in
postsecondary education, the Perkins Act does not require the States
or other grantees to spend a particular amount on "employment
activities," nor does it identify any specific costs associated with
"employment activities." This Department would not be able to
reconstruct the information in these appendices and the table in the
draft report, nor do we believe that the Department has the data to
otherwise calculate estimates of the costs incurred (or to be
incurred) by States and their subgrantees, or by Perkins discretionary
grantees, for what might be allowable "employment and training
activities."
[End of section]
Appendix XIII: Comments from the Department of Health and Human
Services:
Department Of Health and Human Service:
Office Of The Secretary:
Assistant Secretary for Legislation:
Washington, DC 20201:
December 22, 2010:
Andrew Sherrill, Director:
Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Sherrill:
Attached are comments on the U.S. Government Accountability Office's
(GAO) report entitled: "Multiple Employment and Training Programs:
Providing Information on Co-Locating Services and Consolidating
Administrative Structures Could Promote Efficiencies" (GAO-11-92).
The Department appreciates the opportunity to review this report
before its publication.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Jim R. Esquea:
Assistant Secretary for Legislation:
Attachment:
[End of letter]
General Comments Of The Department Of Health And Human Services (HHS)
On The Government Accountability Office's Draft Report Entitled,
"Multiple Employment And Training Programs: Providing Information On
Co-Locating Services And Consolidating Administrative Structures Could
Promote Efficiencies" (GAO-11-92):
The Department appreciates the opportunity to comment on this draft
report.
GAO Recommendations:
To facilitate further progress by states and localities in increasing
administrative efficiencies in employment and training programs, we
recommend that the Secretaries of Labor and HHS work together to
develop and disseminate information that could inform such efforts.
This should include information about:
* state initiatives to consolidate program administrative structures;
and;
* state and local efforts to co-locate new partners, such as TANF, at
one-stop centers.
Information on these topics could address challenges faced, strategies
employed, results achieved, and remaining issues. As a part of this
effort, Labor and HHS should examine the incentives for states and
localities to undertake such initiatives and, as warranted, identify
options for increasing such incentives.
Departmental Comments:
The Department appreciates the GAO's attention to the issues of how to
improve coordination and efficiency and reduce duplication between
federal employment and training efforts. We share the view that it is
important to minimize duplication; maximize administrative efficiency,
and develop service structures that ensure that individuals in need
receive appropriate and effective employment services. HHS and the
Department of Labor (DOL) have been engaged in ongoing exchanges about
how to improve coordination between the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and we agree
that States would benefit from our developing and disseminating
information on these issues. We note that without statutory change,
HHS lacks legal authority to mandate increased TANF-WIA coordination
onto create incentives for such efforts.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been working with HHS,
DOL, and the Department of Education to look at ways to improve
coordination between the WIA and TANF systems, harmonize performance
reporting, and give States the opportunity to test new approaches to
service delivery that have the potential to reduce administrative
barriers and improve outcomes for participants.
While the Department shares the view that States would benefit from
more information about coordination and integration efforts, we wish
to caution against the assumption that doing so would necessarily
result in cost savings. It is useful to identify any potential
duplication of services, but "overlap" is not the same as
"duplication." Some overlap is necessary and appropriate in order for
programs to function effectively. For example, WIA seeks to make
services available on a universal basis, subject to its available
funding, while TANF services are generally limited to members of low-
income-families with children. It would be inappropriate to exclude
low-income families from eligibility for WIA services, or to prohibit
use of TANF funding for employment and training services. Having
overlapping eligibility and allowable expenditures can result in
coordinated and more comprehensive services. But, the mere fact of
overlap in eligible populations and in allowable uses of funds does
not imply duplication, and the report does not present any examples of
actual duplication of services between TANF and WIA.
Similarly, there are good reasons to ensure that individuals coming to
one-stop centers have full access to TANF services and benefits, but
it is unclear whether doing so would reduce administrative costs. As
noted in the report, TANF agencies are often collocated with other
benefits programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) or Medicaid. Making TANF benefits available at one-stop
centers could enhance their accessibility, but doing so would only
reduce costs if States were to cut back on the availability of
benefits in other locations, potentially at a cost of reducing
coordination with other important benefits.
The issue of whether collocation and consolidation would reduce
administrative costs and result in improved services is an important
question, and we hope that further GAO reports will explore this
question. The report highlights the experiences of a set of States
that have gone further than most in the direction of integrating TANF
arid WIA services. While there is much to learn from the experience of
these States, there is no evidentiary basis from which we can
confidently state that their program performance is either better or
worse than other States with less integration.
The Department agrees that low-income parents and youth would benefit
if all one-stops provided access to TANF services and benefits, but
cautions that many States will have few or no additional resources to
contribute to one-stop center costs. States are receiving TANF block
grant levels at funding levels that have not been adjusted for most
since TANF was enacted in 1996, and may be struggling to maintain
current service levels, TANF agencies will often not be well-
positioned to contribute to one-stop center costs above their current
level of contribution, and any new requirements should be mindful of
this limitation.
Finally, we have two more general points concerning this report:
* We recommend that GAO clearly distinguish between employment and
training programs and broad, multi-purpose block grants that have
multiple allowable uses, including employment and training. When
looking at total federal spending on employment and training, it is
appropriate to include the spending that occurs under a multi-purpose
block grant. However, when providing a count of federal employment and
training programs, it is not accurate to count multi-purpose block
grant as employment and training programs.
* In discussing total spending for employment and training, HHS
recommends that the report provide the data for a set of years, rather
than only comparing 2002 to 2009. The report notes that total nominal
spending was $6 billion higher in 2009 than in 2002, but also notes
that about $5 billion of that increased spending was attributable to
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Since the ARRA
spending was temporary in nature, it would be helpful to look at
trends over time rather than simply compare to a year in which there
were exceptional circumstances.
[End of section]
Appendix XIV: Comments from the Department of Labor:
U.S. Department of Labor:
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training:
Washington, DC 20210:
December 21, 2010:
Mr. Andrew Sherrill:
Director:
Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20548:
Dear Mr. Sherrill:
On behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor (Department), I want to
thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the Government
Accountability Office's (GAO) draft report entitled, Multiple
Employment and Training Programs: Providing Information on Co-Locating
Services and Consolidating Administrative Structures Could Promote
Efficiencies (GAO-11-92).
The Department is committed to improving the public workforce system
in an effort to put hard-working Americans back to work in good,
family-supporting jobs that enable them to enter into or remain in the
middle class. We continue to work with our Federal partners to ensure
access to services to help achieve this mission.
The draft report found that almost all Federal employment and training
programs overlap with at least one other program in that they provide
similar services to similar populations, and while the extent to which
individuals receive the same employment and training services from
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Wagner-Peyser
Employment Service (ES), and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult
programs is unknown, several factors could warrant having multiple
entities provide the same services. The report also found that options
to increase efficiencies may include co-locating services and
consolidating administrative structures, but acknowledged that
implementation of these approaches may pose challenges. Specifically,
the GAO report recommends the following:
* To facilitate further progress by states and localities in
increasing administrative efficiencies in employment and training
programs, GAO recommends that the Secretaries of Labor and Health and
Human Service (HHS) work together to develop and disseminate
information that could inform such efforts. This should include
information about:
- States initiatives to consolidate program administrative structures;
and;
- State and local efforts to co-locate new partners, such as TANF, at
one-stop centers.
* Information on these topics could address challenges faced,
strategies employed, results achieved, and remaining issues. As part
of this effort, Labor and HHS should examine the incentives for states
and localities to undertake such initiatives and as warranted,
identify options for increasing such incentives.
The Department concurs with GAO's above-referenced recommendation but
would like to highlight several areas of importance. WIA is premised
on providing integrated and streamlined services that are outcome-
driven and centered upon customer needs. The ultimate goal of the WIA
adult formula program is to increase the workforce attachment of low
earning, low skilled individuals and help them advance them along
career pathways. The services provided under WIA reflect this goal.
The public workforce system is a network of services where individuals
can enter at any location or through any partner program; the One-Stop
Career Center functions as a hub in this system of networked services.
While W1A, ES, and TANF may serve similar populations with some
overlapping eligibility and share goals related to obtaining and
retaining good jobs and becoming self sufficient, the programs also
have other unique goals, approaches and outcomes.
It is important to note that Congress designed WIA to provide states
and local areas flexibility in determining how best to implement WIA
programs by tailoring One-Stop Career Center delivery systems to meet
the needs of local jobseekers and employers. Integrated services allow
partners to contribute services, in accordance with their authorizing
statutes, in a manner that can add value to other partners' services.
We believe that shared and integrated services could include several
models that offer customers a lull range of assistance through partner
agencies, including co-location and co-enrollment. The most
appropriate and cost-effective models are best determined locally.
The Department is committed to working with its Federal agency
partners (and with states, localities and others) on a variety of
efforts to leverage resources to help individuals find and keep good
jobs. In particular, the Department has been working closely with
Federal partners as part of a concerted Federal effort to provide
technical assistance to Congress on the reauthorization of WIA so it
could better respond to the current and future needs of job seekers,
workers, and employers, ensuring a seamless workforce services
delivery system. Another example is the partnership between the
Department and the Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families to promote effective and
efficient leveraging of resources by encouraging co-enrollment of
youth under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency
Contingency Fund and appropriate W1A programs so that individuals can
benefit from additional WIA services. However, this report is a timely
reminder that more work can be done to encourage better alignment of
Federal investments in job training, develop improved models that
deliver quality services across programs at lower costs, and
disseminate information to the workforce and social service
communities.
Enclosed are the Department's technical comments on the draft report.
If you would like additional information, please do not hesitate to
call me at (202) 693-2700.
Sincerely,
Jane Oates:
Assistant Secretary:
Enclosure:
[End of section]
Appendix XV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Andrew Sherrill, (202) 512-7215, sherrilla@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
Patrick Dibattista (Assistant Director) and Paul Schearf (Analyst-in-
Charge) managed all aspects of the assignment. Sherwin Chapman,
Caitlin Croake, and Chad Williams made significant contributions to
this report, in all aspects. In addition, Pamela Davidson provided
technical support in design and methodology; Jill Lacey provided
technical support in survey design and survey research; Joanna Chan
and Julia Kennon provided data analysis; Alex Galuten provided legal
support; Mimi Nguyen provided graphic design assistance; and Kathleen
van Gelder assisted in the message and report development.
[End of section]
Related GAO Products:
Multiple Employment and Training Programs: Funding and Performance
Measures for Major Programs. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-589]. Washington, D.C.: April 18,
2003.
Multiple Employment and Training Programs: Overlapping Programs
Indicate Need for Closer Examination of Structure. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-71]. Washington, D.C.: October 13,
2000.
Multiple Employment Training Programs: Information Crosswalk on 163
Employment Training Programs. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-95-85FS]. Washington, D.C.:
February 14, 1995.
Multiple Employment Training Programs: Major Overhaul Needed to Reduce
Costs, Streamline the Bureaucracy, and Improve Results. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/T-HEHS-95-53]. Washington, D.C.:
January 10, 1995.
Multiple Employment Training Programs: Overlap Among Programs Raises
Questions About Efficiency. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-94-193]. Washington, D.C.: July
11, 1994.
Multiple Employment Training Programs: Conflicting Requirements
Underscore Need for Change. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/T-HEHS-94-120]. Washington, D.C.:
March 10, 1994.
Multiple Employment and Training Programs: Major Overhaul is Needed.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/T-HEHS-94-109].
Washington, D.C.: March 3, 1994.
Multiple Employment Training Programs: Overlapping Programs Can Add
Unnecessary Administrative Costs. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-94-80]. Washington, D.C.: January
28, 1994.
Multiple Employment Training Programs: Conflicting Requirements Hamper
Delivery of Services. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-94-78]. Washington, D.C.: January
28, 1994.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] GAO, Multiple Employment and Training Programs: Overlapping
Programs Indicate Need for Closer Examination of Structure,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-71] (Washington, D.C.:
Oct. 13, 2000), and GAO, Multiple Employment and Training Programs:
Funding and Performance Measures for Major Programs, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-589] (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 18,
2003).
[2] We did not conduct a legal analysis in order to identify programs,
their objectives, requirements, or goals.
[3] Consistent with prior reports, we excluded federal student loan
programs and economic and community development programs, such as the
Community Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. While these programs
may provide some workforce development activities, they do not focus
on employment and training as a key program goal. See Appendix I for
our detailed scope and methodology, including the list of programs we
excluded.
[4] An impact study assesses the net effect of a program by comparing
program outcomes with an estimate of what would have happened in the
absence of the program.
[5] Pub. L. No. 105-220 (1998).
[6] Pub. L. No. 105-220 §199(b)(2), (c)(2)(B).
[7] Pub. L. No. 105-220 §§126 et seq., 131 et seq.
[8] Pub. L. No. 105-220 §134(c)(2)(A). WIA required that one-stop
centers be established in participating states.
[9] Pub. L. No. 105-220 §121(b)(1)(B).
[10] GAO, Multiple Employment and Training Programs: Overlapping
Programs Can Add Unnecessary Administrative Costs, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-94-80] (Washington, D.C.: Jan.
28, 1994), GAO, Managing for Results: Using the Results Act to Address
Mission Fragmentation and Program Overlap, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-97-146] (Washington, D.C.: Aug.
29, 1997), and GAO, Multiple Employment Training Program: Major
Overhaul Needed to Reduce Costs, Streamline the Bureaucracy, and
Improve Results, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/T-HEHS-95-53] (Washington, D.C.: Jan.
10, 1995).
[11] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-71] and
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-589].
[12] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-589].
[13] Agency officials responsible for 10 programs were unable to
report an estimate of the amount of funding used on employment and
training services. See appendixes II and III for a full listing of
programs and the amounts they spent on employment and training
services in fiscal years 2009 and 2010.
[14] In our 2003 report, we identified 44 programs in fiscal year 2002
that spent $12.7 billion on employment and training services in fiscal
year 2001. One program we identified in our 2003 report, Youth
Opportunity Grants, which was administered by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development, has become the YouthBuild program and
is now administered by the Department of Labor. Some other programs
included in our 2003 report were excluded from our list of programs
because they no longer met our definition of an employment and
training program. See appendix I for more details on our scope and
methodology.
[15] Pub. L. No. 111-5 (2009).
[16] The Recovery Act created three new Labor programs: (1) program of
competitive grants for worker training and placement in high growth
and emerging industry sectors, (2) Community College and Career
Training Grant Program, and (3) Industry or Sector Partnership Grant
Program for Communities Impacted by Trade. According to agency
officials, the first program became operational in fiscal year 2010
and the second will be operational in fiscal year 2011. Officials said
that no funds were appropriated for the third program.
[17] TANF has four goals: to reduce dependency by promoting job
preparation, work, and marriage; to assist needy families so that
children can generally be cared for in their own homes; to reduce and
prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and to encourage the formation and
maintenance of two-parent families. To help accomplish these goals,
TANF provides cash assistance to families, and jurisdictions may
generally use TANF funds in any manner reasonably calculated to
accomplish TANF goals. TANF provided cash assistance to about 1.8
million families in September 2009.
[18] Officials responsible for eight programs were unable to estimate
the number of participants served (see appendix IV).
[19] Twenty program officials reported tracking outcome measures
developed as part of OMB's common measures initiative under which many
federally funded employment and training programs began tracking four
common outcome measures for youth or adult programs in fiscal year
2004.
[20] Officials from the following programs reported that they did not
track any outcome measures at the federal level in fiscal year 2009:
Indian Vocational Training--United Tribes Technical College, SNAP
Employment and Training Program, and Transition Assistance Program.
[21] These 4 programs were Community Services Block Grant, Job Corps,
Native American Employment and Training, and WIA Youth Activities.
[22] For example, an impact study of an employment and training
program would compare participants' outcomes with those of
nonparticipants--typically by using a randomly assigned comparison
group--to isolate program impact from other factors such as
participants' independent job search efforts.
[23] GAO, Welfare Reform: More Information Needed to Assess Promising
Strategies to Increase Parents' Incomes, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-108] (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 2,
2005).
[24] Richard Hendra, Keri-Nicole Dillman, Gayle Hamilton, Erika
Lundquist, Karin Martinson, and Melissa Wavelet with Aaron Hill and
Sonya Williams, How Effective Are Different Approaches Aiming to
Increase Employment Retention and Advancement? Final Impacts for
Twelve Models (New York, N.Y., MDRC, 2010).
[25] Carolyn J. Heinrich, Peter R. Mueser, and Kenneth R. Troske,
Workforce Investment Act Nonexperimental Net Impact Evaluation, Final
Report, December 2008.
[26] PART was designed by OMB to provide a consistent approach to
assessing federal programs in the executive budget formulation
process. PART was a standard series of questions meant to serve as a
diagnostic tool, drawing on available program performance and
evaluation information to form conclusions about program benefits and
recommend adjustments that may improve results.
[27] Officials from 6 of these 23 programs cited PART reviews that
were completed prior to 2004, and an official from 1 program provided
a citation for a study that had not been publicly released and was not
available for our review. In the course of our work, we found that 1
additional program was assessed using OMB's PART in 2004, but this
review was not identified by the program official who completed our
survey.
[28] The 3 programs that do not overlap with other programs are: the
Brownfield Job Training Cooperative Agreements program, the Senior
Community Service Employment Program, and the Women in Apprenticeship
and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) program. Each of these programs
targets their services to a population--residents of Brownfield-
impacted communities, older workers, and women, respectively--that is
not targeted by any of the other programs we surveyed. In determining
overlap, we reviewed survey responses from agency officials and did
not conduct a legal analysis.
[29] For a list of these programs, see appendix X. While other
programs do not require participants to be economically disadvantaged,
they may still serve low-income individuals.
[30] For a list of programs by target population, see appendix VII.
[31] Education officials could not estimate the amount of money spent
on employment and training services for 4 of these programs, and could
not estimate the number of participants who received services for 3 of
these programs.
[32] Officials from three of these five programs specified that their
programs primarily served out-of-school youth.
[33] Agency officials were unable to estimate the amount spent on
employment and training services for the Conservation Activities by
Youth Service Organizations program.
[34] For more information on program objectives and eligibility, see
appendix XI.
[35] 25 U.S.C. §3403.
[36] The WIA Adult program provides three types of services: core,
intensive, and training. Core services include outreach, job search
and placement assistance, and labor market information. Intensive
services may include comprehensive assessments, development of
individual employment plans, counseling, and career planning. Training
services link participants to job opportunities in their communities,
including both occupational training and training in basic skills.
Training participants use individual training accounts to select an
appropriate training program from a qualified provider.
[37] TANF work activities include unsubsidized and subsidized
employment, work experience, on-the-job training, job search and job
readiness assistance, community service, vocational educational
training directly related to employment, job skills training and, in
certain circumstances, education directly related to employment.
[38] Specifically, these PART reviews found that the ES, WIA Adult,
and WIA Dislocated Worker programs provided some of the same services.
[39] WIA core services include self-service activities. WIA self-
service activities are defined in 20 C.F.R. §666.140(a)(2) as core
services that are made accessible to the general public, that do not
require significant staff involvement, and that are designed to inform
and educate individuals about the labor market and their employment
strengths, weaknesses, and the range of appropriate services.
[40] We have recently reported that there are gaps in the information
available at the federal level on how many families receive TANF
services and how states use TANF funds to meet TANF goals. See GAO,
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Implications of Caseload and
Program Changes for Families and Program Monitoring, GAO-10-815T
(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 21, 2010). We have also previously reported
that any efforts to address TANF information gaps at the national
level should strike an appropriate balance between flexibility for
state grantees and accountability for federal funds and goals. See
GAO, Welfare Reform: Better Information Needed to Understand Trends in
States' Uses of the TANF Block Grant, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-414] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 3,
2006).
[41] States are required to have a specified proportion of their cash
assistance recipients in certain work activities or the state will
face financial penalties. While states may vary in their practices, an
adult receiving TANF cash assistance is typically assigned a
caseworker who conducts a review of the client's employment prospects,
including factors that may affect his or her ability to hold a job.
The caseworker then develops an individual responsibility plan
outlining actions that the client is to take in order to obtain
employment and become financially self-sufficient and monitors the
client's progress.
[42] See Pub. L. No. 104-193 (1996). PRWORA created the TANF block
grant to states, which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC) Program, and gave states greater flexibility to design
employment and training services for clients receiving cash
assistance. TANF also gave states more flexibility in determining the
nature of financial assistance, the types of client services, the
structure of the program, and the ways in which services are provided.
[43] 20 C.F.R. §652.215.
[44] 20 C.F.R. §662.100(c).
[45] Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King, The Workforce Investment
Act in Eight States. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration. The Nelson A. Rockefeller
Institute of Government, February 2005.
[46] 29 U.S.C. §2822(a), (b)(8).
[47] States and localities may colocate TANF services at individual
one-stop centers, or they may make TANF a partner in their one-stop
system statewide. According to Labor, as a one-stop partner, TANF core
services (e.g., outreach, intake, initial assessment, and job search
and placement assistance) are available at a minimum of one
comprehensive one-stop center in each local workforce investment area.
[48] Specifically, we reported that colocating community college staff
at one-stop centers can result in these benefits. See GAO, Workforce
Development: Community Colleges and One-Stop Centers Collaborate to
Meet 21ST Century Workforce Needs, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-547] (Washington, D.C.: May 15,
2008).
[49] Alan Werner and Kendra Lodewick, Report on Highlights of Site
Visits: Serving TANF and Low-Income Populations through WIA One-Stop
Centers. Prepared by Abt Associates, Inc. for the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Planning & Evaluation, HHS, Cambridge, Mass.,
January 2004.
[50] In these nine states, ES services were neither physically
colocated nor electronically linked with WIA Adult services or other
employment and training services. See GAO, Workforce Investment Act:
One-Stop System Infrastructure Continues to Evolve, but Labor Should
Take Action to Require That All Employment Service Offices Are Part of
the System, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-1096]
(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 4, 2007). In its comments on the report,
Labor said that there are no standalone ES offices that are
unaffiliated with one-stop centers. We responded that our survey
results were based on verified data, and we stood by our findings and
our recommendation that Labor step up action to ensure that all
standalone offices are affiliated with the one-stop system. In October
2010, Labor provided an update on the status of this recommendation
and expressed confidence that one-stop centers are in compliance with
regulations that require ES offices to operate as affiliated sites or
be electronically linked to the one-stop system. According to Labor
officials, this compliance is assessed through regular monitoring
visits by regional staff. Officials also stated that Labor remains
committed to a fully integrated system and continues to provide
technical assistance to state and local grantees and partners to
promote better system integration.
[51] GAO's questionnaire, administered in 2007, asked state workforce
officials which programs, including TANF, were most often provided on
site at a typical comprehensive one-stop center in their states. The
questionnaire did not ask officials whether TANF services were
available at a typical comprehensive one-stop center through
electronic linkages or referrals. GAO defined a comprehensive one-stop
center as a designated location where multiple employment and training
programs provide access to services for job seekers and employers.
[52] GAO's survey of state workforce officials, which was conducted in
April and May of 2007, found that there were 1,637 comprehensive one-
stop centers nationwide. According to Labor officials, as of August
2010, there were over 3,000 one-stop centers nationwide, including
both comprehensive one-stop centers and affiliated sites.
[53] We have previously reported that officials' perspectives on how
best to serve TANF clients can affect whether TANF services will be
offered in one-stop centers. Specifically, we found that while some
workforce and welfare agency officials believed that TANF clients are
best served in separate social service facilities by staff trained to
meet their specific needs, others believed that coordination through
the one-stop center was more beneficial. Some officials raised
concerns that TANF clients who have multiple barriers to employment
might not receive priority of service in a one-stop center
environment. See GAO, Workforce Investment Act: States and Localities
Increasingly Coordinate Services for TANF Clients, but Better
Information Needed on Effective Approaches, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-696] (Washington, D.C.: July 3,
2002).
[54] The House (in 2005) and Senate (in 2006) passed different
versions of H.R. 27. In its cost estimate for H.R. 27, the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) did not estimate the specific costs
associated with making TANF a mandatory partner in the one-stop system.
[55] In 2007, we reported that 27 states used TANF funds to pay for
part of their one-stop center infrastructure costs in program year
2005. However, most states reported that WIA and ES were the primary
funding sources used to support one-stop center infrastructure costs.
See [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-1096].
[56] In 2000, Florida consolidated its state workforce programs and
the employment and training part of the TANF program under its new
Agency for Workforce Innovation. In 1995, Texas consolidated 28
employment and training programs from 10 agencies into one agency, the
Texas Workforce Commission, including the employment and training
services under the TANF program. In 1997, Utah consolidated six
agencies that were administering 23 employment and training programs
into the state Department of Workforce Services. We chose to interview
officials in these three states since they are considered to be the
furthest along in their efforts to consolidate agencies.
[57] See Mark Greenberg and Jennifer L. Noyes, "The Opportunities for
Service Integration Under Current Law," Focus, Vol. 23, No. 2, Summer
2004. This article summarized a 2004 CLASP analysis of the legal
issues related to integrating TANF employment services with WIA
programs. The article defined a fully integrated workforce development
system as one where all unemployed and employed workers could seek
employment assistance from a universal system, and states and
localities could structure service strategies based on individualized
assessments and needs instead of on federal rules specifying
particular approaches for particular categories of claimants.
[58] To estimate the amount states spent on administrative costs for
employment and training services under TANF, we used data reported by
states on the Form ACF-196 for fiscal year 2009 to calculate the
percentage of total expenditures used for work-related activities, and
multiplied the total administrative costs by this percentage. It is
likely that the administrative costs for work-related activities were
actually higher or lower than this amount.
[59] TANF administrative costs are limited by law to 15 percent of the
grant amount and are defined in 45 C.F.R. §263.0(b).
[60] Program year 2009 ran from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.
These costs do not include Recovery Act funds, which also could have
been used for administrative costs.
[61] U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means,
Background Material and Data on Programs Within the Jurisdiction of
the Committee on Ways and Means. Section 15-3, [hyperlink,
http://www.democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/singlepages.aspx?NewsID=1049
0] (accessed Jan. 11, 2011).
[62] These 5 programs are Career and Technical Education--Basic Grants
to States, Tech-Prep Education, Career and Technical Education--Indian
Set-aside, Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical
Institutions, and Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education.
[63] Pub. L. No. 109-270 (2006).
[64] The CFDA is a database of all federal programs available to state
and local governments, including the District of Columbia; federally
recognized Indian tribal governments; territories (and possessions) of
the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private for-
profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized
groups; and individuals.
[65] This is the same definition of an employment and training program
that was used in two prior GAO reports on this topic [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-589] and [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-71].
[66] Consistent with prior reports, we excluded federal student loan
programs and economic and community development programs, such as the
Community Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. While these programs
may provide some workforce development activities, they do not focus
on employment and training as a key program goal.
[67] To develop a definition for a "small" program, we reviewed the
characteristics of the employment and training programs included in
GAO's 2003 report. Since all of the programs included in the 2003
report served more than 100 participants per year and received at
least $250,000 in annual appropriations, we decided to define a
program as "small" if it fell beneath either of these thresholds.
[68] GAO, Multiple Employment and Training Programs: Overlapping
Programs Indicate Need for Closer Examination of Structure,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-71] (Washington, D.C.:
Oct. 13, 2000); GAO, Multiple Employment Training Programs: Major
Overhaul Needed to Reduce Costs, Streamline the Bureaucracy, and
Improve Results, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/T-HEHS-95-53] (Washington, D.C.: Jan.
10, 1995); GAO, Multiple Employment Training Programs: Overlap Among
Programs Raises Questions About Efficiency, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-94-193] (Washington, D.C: July
11, 1994).
[69] For example, we combined the "Native Americans" and "Native
Hawaiians" population group categories into one category called
"Native Americans."
[70] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-589].
[71] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-71]. The 2001
review was the most recent review that contained information on the
amount spent, by program, on employment and training services.
[72] In our questionnaire, we cited 11 employment and training
services that are common among workforce development programs. We
asked agency officials to indicate which services their programs
provided during fiscal year 2009. We also gave them the opportunity to
specify other services that were not listed in the questionnaire but
that their programs provided. In addition, we asked officials to
indicate whether each service was a primary or secondary program
activity.
[End of section]
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