Labor Should Make Sure CETA Programs Have Effective Employability Development Systems

GAO undertook a review to determine what effect the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Amendments of 1978 have had on employability development systems. One of the primary aims of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) is the movement of program participants into unsubsidized jobs, but weaknesses in the development systems were hampering this movement. The 1978 amendments were designed to strengthen the development systems.

GAO found that the movement of participants into unsubsidized jobs failed to improve after the enactment of the 1978 amendments. CETA sponsors are to use the employability development systems to ensure that their programs meet the needs of participants to improve their employability and to assist in their subsequent placement in private jobs; however, at many sponsor locations, the preparation of employability plans was a paperwork exercise that did little to improve the plans. Neither the Department of Labor nor the sponsors emphasized improvement of the employability development systems because they were focusing attention on other requirements which did not directly relate to the movement of participants into unsubsidized jobs. GAO noted that Labor did not adequately monitor the systems or provide adequate assistance and that many sponsor officials complained about the vagueness and inconsistency of the assistance they did receive.

Recommendations

Our 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: Morton E. Henig Team: General Accounting Office: Human Resources Division Phone: (202) 275-5365