The Job Training Partnership Act Performance Standards and Information Systems

GAO discussed S. 2069, proposed amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act, focusing on potential implementation problems related to two provisions which would require the Department of Labor to expeditiously establish performance standards for the attainment of youth employment competencies and the longer-term success of participants in the labor market. GAO studies showed that: (1) Labor's data collection system has two serious limitations that raise questions about its adequacy as a basis for establishing performance standards and supporting congressional oversight; (2) Labor's proposed collection of postprogram data on adults' earnings and employment would provide information to allow it to add an adult performance measure that focuses on longer-term results; (3) a performance standard for youth employment competencies could provide a useful measure of program success, but the data Labor is proposing to collect on youth competency attainment would not be adequate to set that standard; and (4) the youth competency systems being implemented by local job training agencies vary widely, as do their definitions of what a youth must achieve to be reported as a positive termination. This lack of comparability across locations could also impact on the propriety of distributing incentive awards based on youth competency attainments. GAO believes that Labor needs to: (1) provide more detailed definitions of an acceptable competency system and positive youth competency terminations; and (2) consider collecting employment follow-up information for older youths whose employment success should also be encouraged.