Testimony On The Job Training Partnership Act Amendments Of 1986

Catalog of reports, decisions and opinions, testimonies and speeches.

This document records the oral and written testimony of witnesses at a Congressional hearing held in April 1993 to assess the costs and outcomes of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Witnesses included officials from the U.S. Department of Labor, the General Accounting Office, consultants retained to evaluate the program, and several local Private Industry Councils (PICs). Testimony noted that approximately 36 million people face some type of employment barrier and are eligible to participate in JTPA programs, but fewer than 2.5 percent are actually being served, and only two-thirds of the participants are successfully completing their training and finding employment. According to a Labor Department official, JTPA programs have done a good job in training for occupational skills and job search methods, but have not provided very much help in improving reading and mathematics skills in persons with deficiencies in these areas and have done little in the areas of persons with disabilities. Only about half the program participants found jobs after completing their programs; of these, only half found them through program assistance. More than half the jobs paid less than $5 per hour. Many of the JTPA programs operate in isolation and they fail to serve the most economically disadvantaged persons. However, PIC officials also offered examples of programs that have been very successful. (KC)

This document records the oral and written testimony of persons testifying at Congressional hearings about proposed amendments to change and improve the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) of 1982. Witnesses testifying and/or presenting written testimony at the hearings included several Representatives, the Secretary of Labor (Lynn Martin), and representatives of local JTPA programs, Private Industry Councils, literacy programs, unions, and public agencies in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas. Witnesses said that there is concern about lack of oversight and fraud in the program, but that audits have found the actual incidence of fraud to be very small. Witnesses also stressed that the program has been successful and that more complicated government regulations could do more harm than good. Changes were suggested to allow the program to serve more than the "cream" of the eligible population, and additional funding was proposed to expand JTPA services to more than the 5 percent that are presently being served. More stringent and specific performance standards were also advocated. (KC)