Department of Labor's Methodology for Dispersing FY 1983 Summer Youth Employment Program Discretionary Funds

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Labor's methodology for disbursing fiscal year (FY) 1983 Summer Youth Employment Program discretionary funds.

GAO found that the legislative history of the program is silent with respect to how the discretionary program funds should be disbursed; therefore, the Secretary of Labor had wide latitude in distributing the funds. The factors which were considered in allocating the funds in FY 1983 included unemployment rates, population, and geographic spread. Local youth unemployment statistics were not available for the age group served by the program; therefore, Labor used calendar year 1982 average unemployment rates as the basis for distributing the funds. The Philadelphia prime sponsor was not awarded any discretionary funds because it did not meet the minimum unemployment rate criterion established by Labor. Finally, Labor did not maintain information on prime sponsors' unspent FY 1982 formula program funds because the Job Training Partnership Act allowed sponsors to carry these funds into FY 1983.