Senate Bill 543

GAO discussed S. 543, the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Youth Employment Amendments of 1989. GAO found that the bill would: (1) target more program resources and services to economically disadvantaged persons; (2) revise the funding allocations to give increased weight to economically disadvantaged eligibles; (3) establish a separate set of performance standards for training hard-to-serve eligibles; (4) provide funds to establish a youth demonstration grant program to serve non-college-bound youth; (5) tighten the circumstances under which noneconomically disadvantaged persons could enroll, but increase the allowable percentage of such persons from 10 to 15 percent; (6) encourage long-term training and placement; (7) include an adult performance standard for basic skills and workplace competence; and (8) provide an additional 10 percent for participant support services. GAO believes that Congress: (1) may wish to target services to those with multiple barriers to employment; (2) consider requiring local programs to assess and provide basic skills training; (3) modify the bill to emphasize long-term training in moderate or high skill occupations; (4) modify the bill to include a provision for collecting and reporting certain data needed for program management and oversight; and (5) be cautious in increasing funding for support services because it could alter current JTPA training success.