Hearings On Job Creation Proposals

This document records the oral and written testimony of persons who testified before or prepared reports for a Congressional hearing on the usefulness of the JOBS (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Program). Witnesses included persons who had participated in the programs as well as state and local administrators of JOBS programs, national organizations, and Congressional representatives. Testimony showed that the JOBS program had produced some useful results in training and placing people in jobs. Witnesses stressed that such efforts were successful only when they provided child care and job placement, especially if attention was paid to the types of jobs in which people were placed. Witnesses stressed the importance of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the need to pass some type of health care legislation for the working poor so that they are better off working than being on welfare. Problems with the JOBS program included the following: lack of money, resulting in long waiting lists; emphasis on participation rather than on outcomes; and lack of good of jobs available for people who were trained. (KC)