Job Training Partnership Act
Services and Outcomes for Participants With Differing Needs Gao ID: HRD-89-52 June 9, 1989Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program, focusing on: (1) participants' readiness to enter the job market; (2) the type and intensity of services participants received according to their job readiness; (3) participant employment outcomes; and (4) differences among JTPA service delivery areas (SDA).
GAO found that SDA: (1) generally served more and less job-ready participants in about the same proportion as their incidence in the eligible population; (2) did not target services to any particular job readiness group; (3) tended to underserve the eligible high school dropout population and offered little remedial education; (4) provided fewer and less intensive services to less job-ready participants than they did to more job-ready participants; and (5) provided placement assistance only or lower-skill or non-occupational training to over 50 percent of participants, who either did not get a job or obtained a low-skill job in a low- or no-growth occupation. GAO also found that: (1) participants receiving higher or moderate skill training, including the less job-ready, tended to obtain jobs at the same level of training; (2) on-the-job training contracts frequently exceeded the Department of Labor's (DOL) suggested training time; (3) DOL did not collect adequately detailed information regarding JTPA participants and services; and (4) JTPA and program guidance lack the necessary specificity to ensure that those most in need of services are appropriately served.
RecommendationsOur 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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