Job Training Partnership Act

Despite the large representation of women and minorities in the Job Training Partnership Act program, previous reports by GAO and others have pinpointed disparities in the services provided to some women and minorities. Generally, these reports found that these individuals were either less likely to receive occupational training or that the training they received was likely to be for lower wage jobs. This report addresses the extent to which disparities occur in the services provided to women and minorities; factors within the operation of local projects that contribute to such disparities; and efforts by states and the Department of Labor to monitor the services provided to various demographic groups.

GAO found: (1) in 20 percent of the service delivery areas (SDA) analyzed, white participants were more likely than minorities to receive classroom training, in 13 percent of SDA, white participants were more likely to receive on-the-job training, and in 18 percent of SDA, minorities were more likely to receive only job search assistance; (2) such disparities affected black participants more than Hispanic participants or other ethnic groups; (3) women received classroom training more often than men, and in some SDA, women were less likely to get training for jobs with higher placement wages; (4) the factors that appear to contribute to disparities include self-selection by participants, financial incentives in performance-based contracts, the lack of an independent and comprehensive participant assessment process, the lack of support services for some women and minorities, and the discriminatory actions of some employers and the acquiescence of some staff; (5) state and DOL monitoring activities are inadequate to identify and address disparities in the services provided to minorities and women; and (6) DOL has identified several disparities, but has not determined whether any civil rights violations have occurred.

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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