Job Training Partnership Act

Book excerpt: 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)