Dislocated Workers

Local Programs and Outcomes Under the Job Training Partnership Act Gao ID: HRD-87-41 March 5, 1987

GAO reviewed the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Dislocated Worker Program, specifically the: (1) results achieved, such as placement rates and average wage levels; and (2) assistance provided to participants, including skill training.

GAO found that: (1) JTPA projects reported that they placed 69 percent of their participants in jobs at an average wage of $6.61 per hour; (2) the average wage was significantly higher than the wage levels other employment and training programs reported, but was generally lower than participants' prior wages; (3) projects emphasizing on-the-job training had higher-than-average placement rates and placement assistance generally took the form of job counseling; (4) JTPA projects enrolled a low proportion of older and less educated dislocated workers because of the concern that these two groups would experience more difficulty in finding new employment; and (5) project outcomes also varied with project characteristics, such as state approaches to funding local projects, the organizations operating the projects, and the extent to which projects focused on specific business layoffs.

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.

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