[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY
ACT REAUTHORIZATION: CREATING
OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
HIGHER EDUCATION AND
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT
of the
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MAY 13, 2021
__________
Serial No. 117-14
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via: edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
44-535 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut Ranking Member
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, JOE WILSON, South Carolina
Northern Mariana Islands GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
MARK TAKANO, California ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK De1ASAULNIER, California JIM BANKS, Indiana
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
LUCY McBATH, Georgia MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut BURGESS OWENS, Utah
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan BOB GOOD, Virginia
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
MONDAIRE JONES, New York VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York, Vice-Chair MICHELLE STEEL, California
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas Vacancy
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
Veronique Pluviose, Staff Director
Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE INVESTMENT
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida, Chairwoman
MARK TAKANO, California GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington Ranking Member
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
MONDAIRE JONES, New York JIM BANKS, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina JAMES COMER, Kentucky
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas BOB GOOD, Virginia
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
ARIANO ESPAILLAT, New York DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
RAUAE1L M. GRIJALVA, Arizona VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia (ex officio)
(ex officio)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on May 13, 2021..................................... 1
Statement of Members:
Wilson, Hon. Frederica S., Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Higher
Education and Workforce Investment......................... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 5
Murphy, Hon. Gregory F., Ranking Member, Subcommittee on
Higher Education and Workforce Investment.................. 6
Prepared statement of.................................... 7
Statement of Witnesses:
Fulmore-Townsend, Chekemma, President & CEO, Philadelphia
Youth Network.............................................. 9
Prepared statement of.................................... 11
Garrett, Byron, President & CEO, National Job Corps
Association................................................ 81
Prepared statement of.................................... 84
Lindner, Deb, Human Resources Manager, Precor Inc............ 76
Prepared statement of.................................... 78
Showalter, Thomas, Senior Advisor, National Youth Employment
Coalition.................................................. 56
Prepared statement of.................................... 58
Additional Submissions:
Chairwoman Wilson:
NAHB letter dated May 13, 2021........................... 128
Ranking Member Foxx:
July 2006, DOL OIG, ``National Park Service Has Not
Assured the Safety and Health of Students and Staff at
the Oconaluftee Job Corps Center''..................... 130
March 2007, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of the
Oconaluftee Job Corps Center for the Period July 1,
2004, through September 30, 2005''..................... 134
November 2006, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges
Facing the Department of Labor: Ensuring the
Effectiveness of the Job Corps Program''............... 135
November 2007, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges
Facing the Department of Labor: Ensuring the
Effectiveness of the Job Corps Program''............... 144
November 2008, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges
Facing the Department of Labor: Ensuring the
Effectiveness of the Job Corps Program''............... 152
November 2009, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges
Facing the Department of Labor: Ensuring the
Effectiveness of the Job Corps Program''............... 165
November 2010, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges
Facing the Department of Labor: Ensuring the
Effectiveness of the Job Corps Program''............... 178
November 2011, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges
Facing the Department of Labor: Ensuring the
Effectiveness of the Job Corps Program''............... 192
November 2012, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges
Facing the Department of Labor: Ensuring the
Effectiveness of the Job Corps Program''............... 214
November 2013, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges
Facing the Department of Labor: Ensuring the
Effectiveness of the Job Corps Program''............... 225
November 2014, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance
Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of Labor:
Ensuring the Safety of Students and Staff at Job Corps
Centers''.............................................. 236
November 2015, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance
Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''....... 246
November 2016, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance
Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''....... 262
November 2017, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance
Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''....... 278
November 2018, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance
Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''....... 294
November 2019, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance
Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''....... 294
November 2020, Department of Labor Office of the
Inspector General (DOL OIG), ``Top Management and
Performance Challenges Facing the U.S. Department of
Labor''................................................ 295
March 2010, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit for ResCare,
Inc., Job Corps Centers''.............................. 295
March 2010, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit for Education
and Training Resources, Job Corps Center Operator''.... 295
August 2010, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of MINACT,
Inc., Job Corps Center Operator''...................... 295
December 2012, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Needs to Improve
Timeliness of and Accountability For Maintenance
Repairs at Its Centers''............................... 295
February 2015, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Needs to Improve
Enforcement and Oversight of Student Disciplinary
Policies to Better Protect Students and Staff at
Centers''.............................................. 295
June 2018, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO),
``Job Corps: DOL Could Enhance Safety and Security at
Centers with Consistent Monitoring and Comprehensive
Planning''............................................. 295
August 2019, GAO, ``Actions Needed to Improve Planning
for Center Operation Contracts''....................... 295
June 1995, GAO, ``Job Corps: High Costs and Mixed Results
Raise Questions about Program's Effectiveness''........ 295
November 1998, GAO, ``Job Corps: Links With Labor Market
Improved but Vocational Training Performance
Overstated''........................................... 296
June 2017, GAO, ``Job Corps; Preliminary Observations on
Student Safety and Security Data''..................... 296
November 2009, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of DEL-JEN,
Incorporated Job Corps Centers''....................... 296
March 2017, DOL OIG, ``Review of Job Corps Center Safety
and Security''......................................... 296
December 2017, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Took Action to
Mitigate Violence, Drugs, and Other Student Misconduct
at Centers, But More Needs to Be Done''................ 296
March 2018, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Could Not Demonstrate
Beneficial Job Training Outcomes''..................... 296
September 2019, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Should Do More to
Prevent Cheating in High School Programs''............. 296
September 2007, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of the
Laredo Job Corps Center''.............................. 296
March 2009, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of Management
and Training Corporation Job Corps Centers''........... 296
September 2009, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of Adams and
Associates, Incorporated Job Corps Centers''........... 296
``Out of School, Out of Work,'' Washington Monthly, April
4, 2021................................................ 297
WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND
OPPORTUNITY ACT REAUTHORIZATION:
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR
YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
----------
Thursday, May 13, 2021
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Education and
Workforce Investment,
Committee on Education and Labor,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:15 a.m.,
via Zoom, Hon. Frederica S. Wilson (Chairwoman of the
Subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Wilson, Takano, Jayapal, Manning,
Bowman, Castro, Sherrill, Espaillat, Courtney, Bonamici, Scott,
Murphy, Grothman, Stefanik, Banks, Fulcher, Miller-Meeks, Good,
McClain, Harshbarger, and Spartz.
Staff present: Ilana Brunner, General Counsel; Rashage
Green, Director of Education Policy; Sheila Havenner, Director
of Information Technology; Eli Hovland, Policy Associate; Ariel
Jona, Policy Associate; Katie McClelland, Professional Staff;
Richard Miller, Director of Labor Policy; Max Moore, Staff
Assistant; Mariah Mowbray, Clerk/Special Assistant to the Staff
Director; Udochi Onwubiko, Labor Policy Counsel; Kayla
Pennebecker, Staff Assistant; Veronique Pluviose, Staff
Director; Banyon Vassar, Deputy Director of Information
Technology; Joshua Weisz, Communications Director Cyrus Artz,
Minority Staff Director; Courtney Butcher, Minority Director of
Member Services and Coalitions; Amy Raaf Jones, Minority
Director of Education and Human Resources Policy; Hannah
Matesic, Minority Director of Operations; Audra McGeorge,
Minority Communications Director; Jake Middlebrooks, Minority
Professional Staff Member; and Chance Russell, Minority
Professional Staff Member.
Chairwoman Wilson. The Subcommittee on Higher Education and
Workforce Investment will come to order.
Welcome, everyone. I note that a quorum is present. The
Subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on, ``Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act Reauthorization: Creating
Opportunities for Youth Employment.''
This is an entirely remote hearing. All microphones will be
kept muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary background
noise. Members and witnesses will be responsible for unmuting
themselves when they are recognized to speak or when they wish
to seek recognition.
I also ask that Members please identify themselves before
they speak. Members should keep their cameras on while in the
proceeding. Members shall be considered present in the
proceeding when they are visible on camera, and they will be
considered not present when they are not visible on camera.
The only exception to this is if they are experiencing
difficulty and inform Committee staff of such technical
difficulty. If any Member experiences technical difficulties
during the hearing, you should stay connected on the platform.
Make sure you are muted and use your phone to immediately call
the Committee's IT director whose number was provided to you in
advance. Should the Chair experience technical difficulty or
need to step away to vote on the floor, Mr. Takano or another
majority Member is hereby authorized to assume the gavel in the
Chair's absence.
This is an entirely remote hearing and, as such, the
Committee's hearing room is officially closed. Members who
choose to sit with their individual devices in the hearing room
must wear headphones to avoid feedback, echoes, and distortion
resulting from more than one person on the software platform
sitting in the same room.
Members are also expected to adhere to social distancing
and safe healthcare guidelines including the use of masks, hand
sanitizer, and wiping down their areas both before and after
their presence in the hearing room.
In order to ensure that the Committee's five-minute rule is
adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time using the
Committee's field timer. The field timer will appear on its own
thumbnail picture and will be named 001_timer. There will be no
one-minute remaining warping. The field timer will show a
blinking light when time is up. Members and witnesses are asked
to wrap up promptly when their time has expired.
While roll call is not necessary to establish a quorum and
official proceedings conducted remotely or with remote
participation, the Committee has made it a practice whenever
there is an official proceeding with remote participation for
the Clerk to call the roll to help make clear who is present at
the start of the proceeding. Members should listen carefully.
Members should say their name before answering and announcing
they are present. This helps the Clerk and also helps those
watching the platform and the livestream who may experience a
few seconds delay.
At this time I ask the Clerk to call the roll.
The Clerk. Chairwoman Wilson?
Chairwoman Wilson. Congresswoman Wilson, present.
The Clerk. Mr. Takano?
Mr. Takano. Congressman Takano, present.
The Clerk. Ms. Jayapal?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Omar?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Leger Fernandez?
[No response]
Ms. Jayapal. Jayapal is present. Sorry.
The Clerk. Mr. Jones?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Manning?
Ms. Manning. Present.
The Clerk. Mr. Bowman?
Mr. Bowman. Congressman Bowman is present.
The Clerk. Mr. Pocan?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Castro?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Sherrill?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Espaillat?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Grijalva?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Courtney?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Bonamici?
Ms. Bonamici. Suzanne Bonamici is present.
The Clerk. Mr. Scott?
Mr. Scott. Mr. Scott is present.
The Clerk. Ranking Member Murphy?
Mr. Murphy. Dr. Murphy is present.
The Clerk. Mr. Grothman?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Stefanik?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Banks?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Comer?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Fulcher?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mrs. Miller-Meeks?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Good?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mrs. McClain?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mrs. Harshbarger?
Mrs. Harshbarger. Harshbarger present.
The Clerk. Mrs. Spartz?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Letlow?
Ms. Letlow. Letlow is present.
The Clerk. Ms. Foxx?
[No response]
The Clerk. Chairwoman Wilson, that concludes the roll call.
Ms. Wilson. Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(c), opening
statements are limited to the Chair and the Ranking Member.
This allows us to hear from our witnesses sooner and provides
all Members with adequate time to ask questions. I recognize
myself now for the purpose of making an opening statement.
Today we meet on the first of three bipartisan hearings
focusing on reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act. It was last reauthorized in 2014 and is
commonly referred to as WIOA which is the foundation of our
Nation's workforce development system.
The hearing will focus on three youth programs: Youth
workforce investment activities, YouthBuild, and Job Corps.
These programs provide low-income, in-school and out-of-school
young people ages 14 to 24 with job opportunities, pathways to
further their education or training, and basic support services
that help them find good-paying jobs.
This is a timely and important movement. This is a moment
to invest in our youth-focused initiatives because millions of
young people in communities across the country are struggling
to cope with the fallout from the COVID0919 pandemic. Anywhere
from 6 to 10 million young people were estimated to be
disconnected from school and work at the height of the
COVID0919 pandemic, compared to roughly 4 million in 2019.
WIOA-funded programs are critical tools to create opportunities
for these young people.
This bipartisan reauthorization effort is a chance to make
important improvements to help ensure they can reach their full
potential. One area of improvement is better allocation of
youth workforce investments which received just over $920
million in Fiscal Year 2021. Under current law, no less than 75
percent of WIOA funds must be used to serve out-of-school
youth. This effort to target funding to the most vulnerable
group of young people has unfortunately had an unintended
consequence. Programs are often forced to wait until a
struggling student is fully disconnected from schools to offer
their services. Such a delay creates unnecessary barriers that
result in missed opportunities to intervene earlier and keep
students in school.
Another area for improvement is expanding paid work-based
learning opportunities. Connecting young people with jobs where
they can build skills is vital to their long-term success.
Studies show that teenagers who have a job between the ages of
16 and 18 are more likely to earn higher wages as adults.
Increasing the funding for these programs and extending forms
of work-based learning to include job shadowing, job
preparation, and youth apprenticeship programs can make a
meaningful difference in our communities.
Today we will also explore improvements to Job Corps which
provides tens of thousands of young people across 50 states
with residential education, vocational training, and job
placement services. I have heard from countless community
leader and residents who credit Job Corps with transforming
their lives, which is why I have championed this program
throughout my career in public service. I am extremely proud of
the Job Corps center in my district, and I have bragging rights
because it is ranked No. One in the country in programming in
the 2019 year based on performance indicators.
Job Corps enjoys widespread bipartisan support, and I hope
we can find bipartisan agreement to make it even more
effective. This includes changing the counterproductive zero-
tolerance language enacted during the Clinton administration
which requires automatic dismissal of young people for alcohol
abuse, minor drug offenses, and other infractions that would
instead be met with more reasonable and helpful interventions
like counseling and treatment. Blanket drug testing with
followup tests being required even before the chemicals may
fully have left a student's body have led to roughly 12,500
expulsions, 91 percent of which were from marijuana use. Today
recreational marijuana use is either legal or has been
decriminalized in nearly half of our states.
As with any organization, Job Corps' success relies on the
quality and the stability of the staff. Job Corps has struggled
to retain its best teachers, counselors, nurses, and managers
because it cannot pay competitive wages in the locality. For
that reason we should consider whether to remove the exemption
for Job Corps contractors from the Service Contract Act which
would set up a wage floor for Job Corps center employees that
is pegged to comparable local wages. Without that protection,
Job Corps centers cannot compete for instructional talent with
local public school districts, which is needed to reduce staff
turnover, which undermines the performance of the program.
Of course, the most important improvement we can make to
all WIOA programs is to increase their funding. Job Corps has
been underfunded relative to its authorization level by at
least $120 million each year for the past 5 years and more than
$239 million in the last year alone. Youth workforce
initiatives have been underfunded relative to its authorization
level by an aggregate $150 million since 2016. We get what we
pay for. No program can be expected to meet the needs of our
communities while we consistently underfund it every year.
Today's hearing kicks off a vital effort to give at-risk
young people the support they need to lead fulfilling lives and
will make our communities much, much stronger. I look forward
to working with my colleagues to reauthorize WIOA, and I now
recognize the distinguished Ranking Member for the purpose of
making an opening statement.
[The prepared statement of Chairwoman Wilson follows:]
Statement of Hon. Frederica S. Wilson, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on
Higher Education and Workforce Investment
Today, we meet for the first of three bipartisan hearings focusing
on reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. It was
last reauthorized in 2014 and is commonly referred to as WIOA, which is
the foundation for our Nation's workforce development system.
This hearing will focus on three youth programs: Youth workforce
investment activities, YouthBuild, and Job Corps. These programs
provide low-income, in-school and out-of-school young people--ages 14
to 24--with job opportunities, pathways to further their education or
training, and basic support services that help them find good-paying
jobs.
This is a timely and important moment to invest in our youth-
focused initiatives because millions of young people--in communities
across the country--are struggling to cope with the fallout from the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Anywhere from 6 to 10 million young people were estimated to be
disconnected from school and work at the height of the COVID-19
pandemic, compared to roughly 4 million in 2019.
WIOA-funded programs are a critical tool to create opportunities
for these young people. This bipartisan reauthorization effort is a
chance to make important improvements to help ensure they can reach
their full potential.
One area for improvement is better allocation of youth workforce
investments, which received just over $920 million in Fiscal Year 2021.
Under current law, no less than 75 percent of WIOA funds must be used
to serve out-of-school youth. This effort to target funding to the most
vulnerable group of young people has unfortunately had an unintended
consequence. Programs are often forced to wait until a struggling
student is fully disconnected from school to offer their services. Such
a delay creates unnecessary barriers that result in missed
opportunities to intervene earlier and keep students in school.
Another area for improvement is expanding paid work-based learning
opportunities. Connecting young people with jobs where they can build
skills is vital to their long-term success. Studies show that teenagers
who have a job between the ages of 16 and 18 are more likely to earn
higher wages as adults. Increasing the funding for these programs and
expanding forms of work-based learning to include job shadowing, job
preparation, and youth apprenticeship programs could make a meaningful
difference in our communities.
Today, we will also explore improvements to Job Corps, which
provides tens of thousands of young people across all 50 states with
residential education, vocational training, and job placement services.
I have heard from countless community leaders and residents who
credit Job Corps with transforming their lives, which is why I have
championed this program throughout my career in public service. I am
extremely proud of the Jobs Corps Center in my district-and I have
bragging rights-because it was ranked No. 1 in the country in program
year 2019 based on performance indicators.
Job Corps enjoys widespread bipartisan support, and I hope we can
find bipartisan agreement to make it even more effective. This includes
changing the counterproductive ``zero tolerance'' language enacted
during the Clinton administration, which requires automatic dismissal
of young people for alcohol abuse, minor drug offenses, and other
infractions that, should instead be met with more reasonable and
helpful interventions like counseling and treatment.
Blanket drug testing, with followup tests being required even
before the chemicals may have fully left a student's body, have led to
roughly 12,500 expulsions, 91 percent of which were for marijuana use.
Today, recreational marijuana use is either legal or has been
decriminalized in nearly half of our states.
As with any organization, Job Corps' success relies on the quality
and stability of the staff. Job Corps has struggled to retain its best
teachers, counselors, nurses, and managers because it cannot pay
competitive wages in the locality. For that reason, we should consider
whether to remove the exemption for Job Corps contractors from the
Service Contract Act, which would set a wage floor for Job Corps center
employees that is pegged to comparable local wages. Without that
protection, Job Corps centers cannot compete for instructional talent
with local public school districts, which is needed to reduce staff
turnover-which undermines the performance of the program.
Of course, the most important improvement we can make to all WIOA
programs is to increase their funding. Job Corps has been underfunded
relative to its authorization level by at least $129 million each year
for the past 5 years-and more than $239 million in the last year,
alone. Youth workforce activities have been underfunded relative to its
authorization level by an aggregate $150 million since 2016.
We get what we pay for. No program can be expected to meet the
needs of our communities while we consistently underfund it every year.
Today's hearing kicks off a vital effort to give at-risk young
people the support they need to lead fulfilling lives that will make
our communities much, much stronger.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to reauthorize WIOA,
and I now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member for the purpose of
making an opening statement.
______
Mr. Murphy. Thank you, Chairwoman Wilson. Congratulations
on your program's Number One ranking. That is fantastic. That
is fantastic.
Our conversation today could not be timelier as we know
that young people ages 16 to 24 are experiencing a decline in
employment and labor force participation. In fact, last year in
July, the labor force participation rate for the ages was the
lowest going back to July 1948 when the Bureau of Statistics
first began reporting the statistic.
The aim of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act,
the WIOA Youth Programs, is to prepare young adults to embark
on successful, fulfilling careers and is necessary for a
prosperous workforce. As such, I am thankful that reevaluating
these important programs is a task that House Republicans and
Democrats are tackling together. Before we jump into
reauthorizing these programs, we should also carefully examine
where they can better serve youth, as it appears there is room
for improvement to live up to the promise of the last
reauthorization.
For example, Job Corps is it--Job Corps exists to assist
disadvantaged youth, providing them with career and technical
education, and connecting them with the labor force. This
program was allocated $1.7 billion in fiscal 2021 but has faced
significant difficulty in the path both in maintaining safety
and security for program participants and improving their job
prospects.
For this program to serve its purpose, we must reevaluate
where the program has failed in the past and increase
accountability to ensure that these programs do not persist and
that the youth who take part in Job Corps are put on a course
that is successful to their pursuing their years. More broadly,
the workforce system is too often siloed and disconnected from
regional economic development needs and is not agile enough to
adapt to emerging demands from businesses.
How we allocate money always matters. But when it comes to
the programs that are preparing our kids for their future, it
is also much more about dollar signs. For the economy to
flourish, it is imperative that our Nation's youth are well-
prepared to enter the workforce. For the sake of our taxpayers
and our children, we cannot blindly funnel money into programs
without first considering what works best and what is needed by
employers in the region where the children live. However, if we
ensure that employers are at the table and the system is
focused on meeting the needs of America's youth and young
people, House Republicans believe that the WIOA's youth
programs will fulfill their promise to our Nation's kids.
As we begin conversations on a bipartisan reauthorization
of WIOA, I am asking that my Democratic colleagues continue to
work with us to ensure that these programs not only are well-
funded but they meet their primary goal of preparing American's
youth for meaningful years before we figure out if these
programs need to grow. I know that we all have the best
interest of America's children at heart, and that gives me
great hope as we work together to optimize these programs.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. I will yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Murphy follows:]
Statement of Hon. Gregory F. Murphy, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on
Higher Education and Workforce Investment
Our conversation today could not be timelier as we know young
people ages 16 to 24 are experiencing a decline in employment and labor
force participation. In fact, last year in July, the labor force
participation rate for these ages was the lowest rate for July dating
back to 1948, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics first began reporting
the statistic.
The aim of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
youth programs--to prepare young adults to embark on successful,
fulfilling careers--is necessary for a prosperous workforce. As such, I
am thankful that reevaluating these important programs is a task that
House Republicans and Democrats are tackling together.
Before we jump to reauthorizing these programs, we should carefully
examine how they can better serve youth, as it appears there is room
for improvement to live up to the promise of the last reauthorization.
For example, Job Corps exists to assist disadvantaged youth by
providing them with career and technical education and connecting them
with the labor force. This program was allocated 1.7 billion dollars in
Fiscal Year 2021 but has faced significant difficulties in the past
both in maintaining safety and security for program participants and in
improving their job prospects.
For this program to serve its purpose, we must reevaluate where the
program has failed in the past and increase accountability to ensure
that these problems do not persist and that the youth who take part in
Job Corps are put on the course to successful careers.
More broadly, the workforce system is too often siloed and
disconnected from regional economic development needs and not agile
enough to adapt to emerging demands from businesses.
How we allocate money always matters. But when it comes to programs
that are preparing our kids for the future, it's about so much more
than dollar signs. For our economy to flourish, it is imperative that
our Nation's youth are well-prepared to enter the workforce. For the
sake of our taxpayers and our children, we cannot blindly funnel money
into programs without first considering what works best and is needed
by employers in the region.
However, if we ensure employers are at the table and the system is
focused on meeting the needs of America's young people, House
Republicans believe that the WIOA youth programs will fulfill their
promise to our Nation's kids.
As we begin conversations on a bipartisan reauthorization of WIOA,
I'm asking my Democrat colleagues to work with us to ensure these
programs can meet their primary goal of preparing America's youth for
meaningful careers before we figure out if the programs need to grow.
I know that we all have the best interest of America's children at
heart and that gives me great hope as we work together to optimize
these programs.
______
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Representative Murphy.
And without objection, all of the Members who wish to
insert written statements into the record may do so by
submitting them to the Committee Clerk electronically in
Microsoft Word format by 5 o'clock p.m. on Thursday, May 27,
2021.
I would like to enter for the record a letter from the
National Association of Home Builders in support of
strengthening Job Corps and YouthBuild without objection.
Chairwoman Wilson. I will now introduce the witnesses. Ms.
Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend. Ms. Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend is the
President and CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network. In this
role she draws on her experience and research, social work, and
systems change to lead the creation of coordinated systems than
promote academic achievement, economic opportunity, and
personal success.
Mr. Thomas Showalter is a senior advisor at the National
Youth Employment Coalition where he leads work on education and
workforce policy and related areas including disability policy,
juvenile justice, and poverty programs, as well as Federal
policy development.
Ms. Deb Lindner. Ms. Deb Lindner is the human resources
manager for Precor in Whitsett, North Carolina, where she leads
the workforce planning and development, organizational
development, employment relations and leadership development
for the company.
Mr. Byron Garrett is the president and CEO of the National
Job Corps Association, a national organization representing the
121 active Job Corps campuses and their staff, the youth
service providers who manage the campuses, and the thousands of
students who Job Corps annually serves.
Welcome to every one of you. Thank you so much for joining
us on this most important forum. We appreciate your taking the
time to be with us today and to lend all of your knowledge and
advice to our Committee.
I want to remind the witnesses that we have you--and all of
us on our Committee have read your written statements and then
written statements will appear in full in the hearing record.
Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(d) and Committee practice,
each of you is asked to limit your oral presentation to a five-
minute summary of your written statement.
Before you begin your testimony, please remember to unmute
your microphone during. During your testimony, staff will be
keeping track of time. And a light will blink when the time is
up. Please be attentive to the time. Wrap up when your time is
over, and then remute your microphone.
If you experience any technical difficulties during your
testimony or later in the hearing, you should stay connected on
the platform, make sure you are muted, and use your phone to
immediately call the Committee's IT director whose number was
provided to you in advance.
We will let all the witnesses make their presentations
before we move to Member questions. And remember, when
answering a question, please remember to unmute your
microphone. The witnesses are aware of their responsibility to
provide accurate information to the Subcommittee and,
therefore, we will proceed with their testimony.
I will now recognize Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF CHEKEMMA FULMORE-TOWNSEND,
PRESIDENT & CEO, PHILADELPHIA YOUTH NETWORK,
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Chairwoman Wilson, Ranking Member
Murphy, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to speak today.
My name is Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend, and I am the
president and CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network, known as
PYN. Our vision is to use education and employment experiences
to interrupt the cycle of poverty. We connect young people 12
to 24 years old to the skills and mindsets needed to thrive in
school, career, and ultimately life.
Our work promotes equity in access and outcomes especially
for the most vulnerable in Philadelphia. We value youth voice
and seek to empower young people to shape their destiny. We use
collective impact to drive results and are not shy about our
beliefs that all young people are full of potential, powerful,
and capable of great progress.
At PYN, we do not work in a silo. Together with our
partners, PYN has provided more than 225,000 opportunities. We
have learned a lot about sustaining scalable results.
Madam Chair, life has been very difficult over the past 15
months for all of us including young people. The expectations
of work have changed which means our strategies and approaches
must advance to meet the needs of the next generation.
Disruptive events like the global pandemic, economic and health
disparities, and the racial awakening we are all facing forces
us to confront systemic and institutional bias with swift
action to close gaps in educational achievement and economic
earnings for vulnerable youth.
Across the Nation local workforce boards and youth-serving
organizations are employing new strategies and strengthening
partnerships. I know from personal experience the courage it
takes to be a cycle breaker in your family. I am a social
worker today because at 14 in my first job I learned that
helping was actually a career. For many young people the first
step to a prosperous future lies in the programs that WIOA
supports. I am truly humbled to share my thoughts here today.
My first, communities are unique, and policy works better
with flexibility. Reconsider the requirement of 75 percent
funding threshold required for disconnected youth. Holding to
this ratio means we must wait until youth are disconnected to
serve them, rather than take preventative measures to keep them
engaged and on track to meet their education and employment
goals. Let's simplify the enrollment process by using a set of
risk indicators for disconnection. Youth served should meet at
least one of the risk indicators, rather than overemphasizing
in-school or out-of-school status because the needs are
similar, despite the definitions.
Prioritize quality and continuous improvement. Consider
incentivizing approaches that imbed literacy and numeracy
skills, along with industry-specific instruction. Research
shows this strategy connects classroom learning to the demands
of the workplace.
Professional development for youth workers is a priority.
Too often the adults who are responsible for coaching students
do not receive the professional development needed to truly
prepare young people for the future of work. Employ innovative
strategies like our Opportunity Youth Fund to address barriers
including physical and mental health, housing stability,
transportation and childcare assistance, and food insecurity.
You cannot learn or grow when your basic needs are not met.
During the pandemic our Youth Opportunity Fund helped
nearly 1,000 young people stay connected to their programs. We
intentionally simplified the process to ensure emergency funds
were received in a way that best fit young people.
Invest more and followup services in early work
experiences, especially summer jobs. Adequate funding for
followup provides sustained employment for young people. WIOA
investments have declined since 2014. Current funding levels
will not be adequate to keep pace with the rapidly changing
world of work. Summer jobs needs specific attention. While WIOA
allows for summer youth employment, it is not enough. Since
1998, there has been no direct Federal support for summer jobs
other than the ARRA funding in 2009 and the Summer Jobs+
initiative in 2016. Summer comes every year, and so should the
support. We applaud Congressman Scott's Opening Doors for Youth
Act that would have authorized support for summer jobs which
has numerous benefits for young people, employers, and the
local community.
Philadelphia has invested more than $7 million annually for
summer and year-round jobs. Even during the pandemic, PYN with
our network of local policymakers provided more than 6,100
young people with summer jobs. Imagine what we could do with
consistent funding.
Everywhere youth workers are helping young people to
succeeds. Effective data collection, payment systems, are
career framework, and virtual intern toolkit have been
replicated in other cities.
Thank you to the Subcommittee Members for your interest and
bipartisan leadership in this work. Together we can create
high-quality opportunities that young people need and, more
importantly, deserve.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Fulmore-Townsend follows:]
Prepared Statement of Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Wilson. Thank you, Ms. Fulmore-Townsend.
And we will now hear from Mr. Showalter.
Mr. Showalter.
STATEMENT OF THOMAS SHOWALTER, SENIOR ADVISOR,
NATIONAL YOUTH EMPLOYMENT COALITION,
WASHINGTON, DC
Mr. Showalter. Good morning.
I am going to begin with the voices of young adults and a
practitioner connected to programs authorized by the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act.
``Being part of this program really changed how I saw
myself. Just having support from other people made me want--
made me feel more important and more worthy of success.'' --
Bethany.
``Staff give us opportunities for jobs. They tell us who is
hiring. They talk directly with employers at real jobs. This is
just a steppingstone really.'' --De'Mauria.
``During the pandemic we strive to keep engaged with the
youth who are able to participate. We were very fortunate to
identify a few tribes able to work with youth and provide safe
work sites, allowing youth to gain basic skills and work
experience.'' --Christina.
As Members consider updating this legislation, now is a
good time to consider the job prospects of today's young
people. Chairwoman Wilson, Ranking Member Murphy, and Members
of the Subcommittee, I am so grateful to be here with you
today. My name is Thomas Showalter. As the Chairwoman said, I
am a senior advisor at the National Youth Employment Coalition.
I am also and a senior fellow at the American Youth Policy
Forum and a consultant. In the past, I served Chairman Edward
M. Kennedy and Tom Harkin on the staff of the Senate Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
I am from Stillwater, Oklahoma, where I benefited from a
wide array of jobs in my teenage years: Scooping ice cream,
walking dogs, plating seeds in a botany laboratory, plus
numerous work study jobs and externships while I was in
college. These are the kind of early work experiences that all
young people need and that we can work together to make
possible.
As a Nation, we desperately need a new vision for the
transition to adulthood. In the years following World War II,
public policies mapped such a vision. Radical disparities
largely based on race were always present. But these policies
defined a path into the middle class and beyond for millions,
including my parents who grew up in those postwar years.
Most Americans are millennials, like yours truly,
Generation Z, or younger. We face a long-term decrease in good
jobs, a scarcity of career pathways for people without
bachelor's degrees, and a youth labor market that no longer
bounces back from recessions. In short, we need more good jobs
and more pathways to good jobs, and we need them now. Today as
many as one in three 16-to0924 year olds are disconnected from
education or employment. That is 10 million people. I
appreciate the Ranking Member for alluding to how low labor
force participation rates are now.
These opportunity youth, as they are often called, are
seeking opportunities and offer an opportunity to our Nation.
Many have already been touched by schools, the child welfare
and juvenile justice systems, or behavioral health programs but
they need a little more help getting connected to education or
employment. These are the young people targeted by WIOA
programs. Research tells us that opportunity youth want to
work, wish to attain higher education, and take responsibility
for their future achievement.
Even before the pandemic, there were huge gaps in who
becomes disconnected by race, by geography, by socioeconomic
status. The good news is that it is possible to prevent and
repair youth disconnection in the United States because some
places are doing it. WIOA reauthorization can begin to
articulate a new vision for the transition to adulthood. From
decades of research and practice, we know what strategies are
effective for connecting all kinds of young people to school
and work. Chekemma alluded to many of these.
In my written testimony I propose an alternative way to
think about the WIOA youth in-school youth, out-of-school youth
distinction and I agree with the Chairwoman we need better pay
and education for youth workers across the system.
In a knowledge economy, social capital, access to mentors,
executive skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset are critical
for upward mobility, but programs funded by WIOA and other
Federal programs do not prioritize. The law can also do more to
drive equity by race, by gender, by ability and to ensure that
lawmakers target resources to those who most need services. We
can do this. We have done this before. We can do it again.
I will close with some words from Emmanuel. I call
YouthBuild my stepping stool, the biggest step I have ever
taken in a positive direction. YouthBuild helped me realize
that my neighborhood, my community is more than just where I
live. My community is the world.
Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Showalter follows:]
Prepared Statement of Thomas Showalter
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Mr. Showalter. Thank you very
much.
Next, we will hear from Ms. Lindner.
STATEMENT OF DEB LINDNER, HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER, PRECOR,
WHITSETT, NC
Ms. Lindner. Chairwoman Wilson, Ranking Member Murphy, and
distinguished Members of the Higher Education and Workforce
Investment Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to speak
with you all today.
My name is Deb Lindner, and I am the H.R. manager and at
Precor, located in North Carolina. I have served as the
executive board Members with both NC local and State workforce
boards. I am also a part of the National Skills Coalition and
Business Leaders United Manufacturing Industry Recovery Panel.
Companies like Precor are actively engaging in efforts to
build a skilled pipeline of young workers in our industry. I am
urging Congress to support industry or sector partnerships that
bring together education and industry partners to support on-
the-job learning and incumbent worker training that helps us
upskill existing workers and create entry-level positions for
the next-generation workers appeared to support costs
associated with transportation and childcare that too often
serve as barriers to young people's success.
Today the workforce landscape has changed, and we have lost
a year of developing the next-generation workers. Workers that
we furloughed were forced to find jobs in other industries or
manufacturing subsectors or have left the area. Partnerships
that were the foundation of our hiring pipeline, those with
workforce boards, high schools, community organizations are not
producing the number of candidates we are used to.
We invest in workforce partnerships for two key reasons.
First, public investments in the infrastructure that bring
together small- and mid-sized companies enable us to scale our
impact. No single company can succeed alone, but the
infrastructure of these partnerships make it possible. Many
workers will need short-term training at the local community
college to get back up to speed on skills necessary to be
successful on the job, but Precor alone does not hire enough
workers for the community college to run a dedicated program
for our needs. We rely on organizations within these
partnerships including the local workforce board, Triad
Goodwill, and the community college to identify potential
applicants and help us hire young people who will be our
workforce of the future.
At Precor, consistently the most challenging aspect of
hiring new workers, especially young workers, is their access
to reliable transportation. Our plant is off any public
transportation routes. We have young adults who do not have
reliable transportation and must rely on others to get to and
from work.
For example, I hired a great candidate as a welder. Within
the first week, he started having attendance problems. In
speaking with him, he revealed that a family Member promised to
get him to and from work, decided all of a sudden to stop
providing the ride. So we as a company, we decided to book and
pay for a hotel room close to within walking distance so that
he could get at least two paychecks and purchase a vehicle.
I applaud the Committee's bipartisan efforts to modernize
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and for taking
time to identify the diverse strategies necessary to ensure our
public workforce system serves both businesses like Precor and
youth, people of color, and people without a high school
diploma who have been the hardest hit by the current crisis.
Job training will not solve our current crisis, but it is part
of the solution and critical to ensuring an inclusive economic
recovery.
First, ensuring public support for partnerships that bring
together small- and mid-sized companies like Precor and our
partners in the manufacturing council and community and
technical college and the public workforce system would make a
huge impact in our community. WIOA currently supports these
industry and sector partnerships but provides no dedicated
resources to empower states and local areas to invest in this
strategy.
For Precor, dedicated resources to support industry
partnership through WIOA reauthorization, National
Apprenticeship Act reauthorization, and any response or
recovery to the current crisis is critical to our ability to
support the infrastructure we already have established. These
partnerships should bring together employers, as well as
community organizations, that have historically served youth,
in particular opportunity youth, who are not connected to
school or employment.
We are making the investment in our workers and can invest
leverage and scale investments like ours when matched with
robust public investment. These investments would also support
costs of providing incumbent worker training of helping our
workers develop digital skills and upskilling on the job
training opportunities for young people.
Finally, to effectively reach the most robust and diverse
pipeline of young people in our communities, Precor needs
Congress to support investments in transportation and support
services as part of WIOA reauthorization.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today, and I look
forward to answering any questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Lindner follows:]
Prepared Statement of Deb Lindner
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ms.
Lindner.
And now we will hear from Mr. Garrett.
STATEMENT OF BYRON GARRETT, PRESIDENT & CEO, NATIONAL JOB CORPS
ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, DC
Mr. Garrett. Thank you, Chairwoman Wilson, Ranking Member
Murphy, and all the Members of the Subcommittee for inviting me
to testify today.
My name is Byron Garrett, and I serve as president and CEO
of the National Job Corps Association. As a long-life education
advocate including prior stints as a former school principal,
education commissioner for the city of Phoenix, CEO of the
National Parent Teacher Association, and co-convener of the
Helping America's Youth Initiative led by former First Lady
Laura Bush, it is a distinct honor to contribute to
conversations that will impact the lives of millions of our
Nation's youth.
I joined the Job Corps community in the summer of 2019,
motivated by the program's mission: To offer opportunity to our
Nation's most marginalized youth.
A little more than 6 months into my tenure, the COVID0919
pandemic made clear the importance of that mission. Millions of
Americans lost jobs, faced eviction, and turned to food banks
to fend off hunger. Congress created the Job Corps program
specifically to serve these students who are most impacted and
affected, the one in three who are disconnected in the ages of
16 to 24 who lack ample education and employment opportunities.
At over 120 campuses including one in every State, Job
Corps has the capacity to support tens of thousands of young
Americans. Job Corps provides opportunities to earn a diploma
or equivalency, career preparation for over 100 high-demand
professions, earn industry-recognized credentials, participate
in pre-apprenticeships and work-based learning, and the
opportunity to dually enroll in college. We do a lot. Some
programs such as the Benjamin L. Hooks campus in Memphis,
Tennessee, that Secretary Walsh and Second Gentleman Emhoff
visited last week, Job Corps even offers childcare and Head
Start programs.
And we have seen the proof in Job Corps. From homelessness
to Harvard, from a child of an incarcerated father and high
school dropout to celebrated tech entrepreneur and investor on
Shark Tank, from dropout to two-time heavyweight champion of
the world, and from the homeless child of farm-working
immigrants to become the chief judge on the Idaho State Court
of Appeals, these stories share the beginnings as millions of
disadvantaged youth whose futures can be brighter because of
Job Corps.
While most of our students did not go to Harvard or become
heavyweight champion of the world, by and large our students
achieve incredible outcomes under the guidance of our dedicated
educators and staff. The average Job Corps enrollee enters the
program reading below the eighth-grade level but advances two-
and-a-half grade levels after less than a year in the program.
In the last complete year before COVID, 92 percent of our
enrollees earned an industry-recognized credential with more
than 85 percent of graduates transitioning into employment,
post-secondary education, or enlisting in the military.
We are proud of the success of our students and what they
achieve in Job Corps and their lives after the program. But
they are also opportunities, some highlighted by the COVID
pandemic, to better orient our program to meet the needs of
marginalized youth and the employers who need skilled workers
to grow the American economy and our communities.
In recent years Job Corps has consistently had empty beds
and classroom seats across the country, while homeless shelters
were full and millions of young Americans were out of work and
out of school. Each year we expel thousands of students for
behaviors such as marijuana use that can instead be addressed
by our staff and enable those students to grow and become
productive Members of society.
Our staff are frontline essential workers who house, feed,
education, and care for young people during this pandemic who
had nowhere else to go. We have seen their wages fail to keep
pace with local school districts and even decrease in some
cases, making it impossible to retain our best staff. I would
offer the following four recommendations and priorities for Job
Corps reauthorization to help more socially and economic
disadvantaged young Americans.
One, reduce barriers to enrollment so that we can ease the
documentation process for entry. Two, allow a system of
positive behavioral interventions and supports and a
progressive disciplinary system to maintain campus safety,
while enabling more students to become responsible, employable
citizens. Three, enable flexibility to take a student and
employer-centered approach to Job Corps campus operations. And,
four, ensure that Job Corps teachers and staff are compensated
appropriately.
The COVID0919 pandemic has made clear the extraordinary
need for Job Corps. Since the start of the pandemic, about
20,000 struggling young Americans have applied to enroll. And
the stories that we see on public forums like Reddit are
absolutely heartbreaking. They are pleading for our support.
Many are homeless, hungry, or concerned about how to support
their children and Job Corps offers hope in a desert of
desperation and we consider this an investment in the future.
Any young person should be able to walk through the door of a
one-stop center or engage in the homeless support services and
be immediately referred to a Job Corps admissions counselor.
We look forward to engaging in this robust discussion. And
as I tell people all the time, if the mind can conceive and the
heart can believe it, then the hands can achieve it, because it
all begins in the mind.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Garrett follows:]
Prepared Statement of Byron Garrett
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Wilson. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Garrett.
And I just want to stay that in my respective community,
the president of the NAACP is a product of Job Corps and she
actually said to me that if it were not for Job Corps, she
would either be dead or she would be in prison because she was
a rebellious teenager and immigrant from Haiti and rebelled
against the grandparents that were raising her and Job Corps
saved her life. Thank you so much.
Under Committee Rule 9(a) we will now question witnesses
under the five-minute rule. I tell be recognizing Subcommittee
Members in seniority order. Again, to ensure that the Members'
five-minute rule is adhered to, staff will be keeping track of
time and the timer will show a blinking light when time has
expired. Please be attentive to the time. Wrap up when your
time is over, and remute your microphone. And as Chair of the
Committee; I now recognize myself for 5 minutes.
Mr. Garrett, how have the 2016 updates to the Job Corps
zero-tolerance policy impacted student retention in Job Corps?
And what reforms would you recommend to this policy to help
students stay connected to the Job Corps program?
Mr. Garrett. Thank you for that question, Chairwoman
Wilson, and thank you for that example.
We hear stories of students just like your NAACP present
who recognize the value of having benefited from the program.
We see that one in four Job Corps students are mandatorily
expelled. This accounts for the majority of students who don't
graduate. Many of those expulsions are for substance use or
minor behavioral infractions.
I was visiting the Milwaukee center 2 years ago and when I
was there on the ground, visiting a center, a student broke a
glass because they threw a ball. They broke a window. And that
was considered a major infraction, even though of us there saw
what happened. Had we not engaged at that point in time, the
way the policy is designed, that student could have been
immediately expelled.
And so the zero-tolerance policy, we ask that in
legislation that we have greater flexibility. We understand the
need for greater accountability, but we need greater
flexibility.
One final example is that each year over 6,000 students
enroll, test positive for marijuana use and, as a result, drop
out or they are expelled in less than 1091/2 months. But we
also find that when students go through our full program, we
are able to support them in getting the right behavioral
supports they need to change their behavior and, therefore, in
getting their academic needs met, as well as their
employability. And so we recognize that there are major changes
that need to shift within the way the current ZT policy, or
zero-tolerance policy, is structured.
Chairwoman Wilson. OK. It is my understanding that, as a
result of COVID0919, Job Corps now only has about 15,000
students enrolled, when they have the capacity of 60,000. What
challenges does Job Corps face in enrolling more students, and
what are some ways that we could address the eligibility
challenges Job Corps faces as a Congress?
Mr. Garrett. Thanks for that question as well, and you are
correct. The capacity is right around 60,000. And actually in
2012, it was lowered due to budgetary concerns about 18
percent. And even if we were at full capacity, because of that
lowering, there would still be additional space in many centers
across the country. And during the pandemic there was a slow
shift to move to virtual and distance learning. Distribution of
laptops took greater time than anticipated. Because of the
Federal process, the Department of Labor had to officially
procure those programs versus the actual youth service provider
being able to do that onsite. And we believe we could have
expedited getting more students engaged and connected from a
distance perspective.
I think the second piece, as you think about this
particular work and how we look where students need to be going
forward, we have a different type of responsibility in this day
and age. When we look at our population and we know who they
are, they oftentimes, Chairwoman Wilson, it is more difficult
for a Job Corps student or a student wanting to be in Job Corps
to apply for this program, because of the burden of paperwork,
than it is to apply for college. And we know that this process
must be streamlined to become much more efficient so that a
student can walk in 1 day, be referred the next, and not have
to wait weeks or months to officially enter the program. So we
strongly recommend really streamlining the applications and
admissions process to make it more readily available.
The last thing I would say is that many of our students, as
you know, coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, the health
information, finance information, being homeless or transient,
they don't even have the documentation required. And we know
that Congress has already designated opportunity zones which
tells us their economic condition. So if a student came from
that environment or were homeless, they should automatically be
eligible without having this additional hurdle to prove or
overcome that they belong in the program.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much.
Mr. Showalter, I am concerned about youth who have become
disconnected during the pandemic. How can we ensure that this
population does not fall between the tracks--the cracks?
Mr. Showalter. Chairwoman, I really appreciate that
question.
In our field we have been doing a lot to try to keep track
of adaptations and innovations that have been happening during
the pandemic. My organization, the National Youth Employment
Coalition, as well as the Aspen Institute Opportunity Youth
Forum, have done some great jobs in documenting some of the
adaptations that programs have made.
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of young people that
the disconnection rate has increased markedly and at this
point, you know, WIOA-funded programs only serve a little over
200,000 people each year out of, as several of us have alluded
to, the 10 million that are out there and, as I think you are
alluding to, the number of young people who school districts
may not even have counted as dropouts yet.
So programs are doing everything they can to find young
people, and for most programs they have a waiting line of young
people who want to get into the program.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much.
And now I am going to recognize Ranking Member, Dr. Foxx.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I appreciate this, and
I thank all our witnesses for being with us.
Mr. Garrett, you have painted a very, very rosy picture of
Job Corps but reports like these paint a very different picture
of Job Corps and show it at being almost totally dysfunctional.
We have over 30 different government reports and audits
raising concerns over the safety and security of Job Corps
participants. While the program is meant to be an outlet to
help disadvantaged youth gain the skills necessary to achieve a
good education, the past failures of the program do a
disservice to students, staff, and hardworking taxpayers who
fund these programs.
And I am very concerned about your saying you are at 25
percent capacity right now, and I am wondering how much of that
money is going to be recovered for the hardworking taxpayers
who continue to work during COVID and receive nothing from the
money they are giving to Job Corps.
A 2017 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office
found that Job Corps centers reported 61 deaths of students on
Job Corps campuses, another 204 that occurred offsite, a
quarter of which were reported as homicides. In 2018, GAO
reported there had been 13,673 incidents involving students in
just 1 year in which over 2,500 were reported cases of assault.
That same year the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector
General reported that of randomly sampled participants with a
documented employment history, over 50 percent were placed in
jobs similar to those they held prior to their participation in
the program and a number even returned to the same employer.
I would also like to submit for the record these reports,
along with the recent article in Washington Monthly, outlining
many of these same concerns.
Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Wilson. So noted.
Ms. Foxx. While I understand there are Job Corps students
who find some benefits to the program, there is clearly room
for substantial improvement. As we begin discussions about a
reauthorization of WIOA and the Job Corps program, how can we
increase accountability for center contractors and ensure that
performance improves going forward to better serve students and
we don't rely just on anecdotal stories from you?
Mr. Garrett. Thank you, Dr. Foxx, for that question and the
additional commentary. And I am well acquainted, as we all are
now, with both the OIG and the GAO reports.
What I would tell you is that, given the student population
we serve, what you identified, most of those deaths or centers
were actually medical. Almost all homicides and suicides were
off-center.
Our students, what we know, given their background, the
situation and circumstances that they come from, they are safer
in our care and on campus then they are in their respective
homes, even right now in the middle of the pandemic. We know
for a fact, as we have talked with students, as we have talked
with their families, the environments that they come from. Many
of them are literally homeless at this particular point in
time, just trying to get back into a center.
And so while there is room for improvement and there always
will be, as we see on college campuses that have incidents that
are similar and also quite alarming, we know for a fact that
the opportunities that we are providing young people to get
back to where it is they need to be, we know for a fact that
the program is highly effective and highly successful.
As it relates to what we can do with the youth service
providers in shifting their approach and their greater
accountability, we, too, share your concern in terms of
accountability and flexibility. We believe our Members and the
youth service providers need a greater flexibility for how they
operate their program, while at the same time the Federal
department, the Department of Labor, continues to offer the
level of accountability that is necessary. So this dual idea of
flexibility but also greater accountability is necessary.
The last thing I would say is this. As we think about young
people in this particular day and age in society as it has
adjusted and it has changed and the growing needs of our young
folks, the healthcare issues they have, the mental health
issues that go unaddressed, the Job Corps program meets the
total needs of those young people. And, again, while there is
room for improvement, we know for a fact that they are better
off in this particular program as we see from the successes
than if they were not.
Ms. Foxx. Well, I think we keep trying to put Band-aids on
programs. And until we look at what is causing these young
people to be in the situations they are in, then I think we are
doing nothing to improve our culture.
And, Mr. Showalter, we have run out of time. But I will
submit a question to you for a response relative to comments
that you made in your testimony.
This is a deeply trouble situation that we have here with
Job Corps. And it is unacceptable to the taxpayers, as well as
to the people who are participating in the programs and the
expectations that we have for it.
With that, Madam Chairman, I apologize for going over. And
I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Dr. Foxx.
And the last statement you made, you said that we needed to
look at what happens and causes children to be eligible for Job
Corps. And you and I started on a quest like this my first year
on the Committee. So I am saying to you in the public arena
that we are going to be having conversations, Dr. Foxx, about
what you said and that we are on the same path. And I
appreciate your comments.
And now we are going to have questions from Mr. Takano.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I appreciate a hearing on this very important topic for our
youth.
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend, from your experience at the
Philadelphia Youth Network, how have you seen work-based
learning programs such as internships, pre-apprenticeships, or
youth apprenticeship programs support student success?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Thank you so much for that question?
There are several ways in which we have seen internships,
pre-apprenticeships and youth work experience programs support
student success. First and foremost, it expands the world of
thinking for young people, and so they are able to make real-
world connections to what they are learning in the classroom.
Second, it exposes them to a greater social capital. They
actually connect with adults who support their goals. Our data
shows that 90 percent--almost 90 percent of the young people
who participate in our summer jobs program respond that they
feel more prepared for school and more prepared for a future
career after participating in our program.
Additionally, young people earn real dollars when they work
in the summer. And guess what they do with that money? They
reinvest it right back into the community. They use that money
to support their basic needs and prepare to return back to
school. And so we have seen students' success be bolstered by
employment experiences.
Mr. Takano. So, Ms. Fulmore-Townsend, let's unpack that
word ``social capital.'' It has been used several times by
witnesses. It simply just means these young people make
connections to contacts, adult contacts, or other contacts,
that will connect them to other opportunities. Is that the way
we think of social capital?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. I think about it a little bit more
deeply than that. So not just contacts but understanding the
behaviors and the expectations of the workplace, understanding
how relationships can be maximized to advance your goals,
becoming more comfortable with asking questions and seeking
help which are critical to any person's success. None of us
here today got to where we are alone and our young people need
an army, a village of adults to help them achieve their goals
as well. So it is more than contacts. It is about relationship
and true engagement.
Mr. Takano. Relationships that will often persist and
become a part of that young person.
Tell me, why is it so important that these opportunities be
paid?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. It is critical that the opportunities
be compensated. Young people have to learn the value of their
talents. And it is important because, again, as I share, young
people invest those dollars back into the community. And so we
are teaching them, by compensation, that not only is their
talent valued but what to expect from the workplace and how to
use that money to change community.
Mr. Takano. Well, thank you.
From your experience as the president and CEO of
Philadelphia Youth Network, as well as your role on the board
of the Community College of Philadelphia--I was a community
college trustee for 22years before I became a Member of
Congress--what insights or recommendations could you provide on
strengthening alignment between the workforce system and the
K0912 education system as well as community colleges?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Sure. I am proud to be a trustee at
the Community College of Philadelphia, where Dr. Guy Generals
is the president. And there are a few strategies that we are
employing locally that I think are worth mentioning.
The first is that we ensure support through our Catto
Scholarships so that young people can have early exposure to
the academic content for college.
We have dual enrollment programs, which are common across
the country. And I urge you to consider funding that adequately
so that young people are able to prepare for college while they
are still in high school--and not just prepare, but to acquire
credits during that time.
We also see opportunities for alignment with teachers and
college professors around math curriculum, literature skills,
as well as exposing both K0912 and college professors to the
industry needs.
And so there is great opportunity to close the gaps between
those systems by creating more early college programs, like our
Middle College--which, this year, we graduated our first class
of 90 students, who will not just graduate with a high school
diploma but will also have an associate's degree. That type of
innovation can be commonplace in America if we choose to invest
in it.
Mr. Takano. Thank you so much for that answer.
Madam Chair, I am such a big fan of dual enrollment and
middle colleges. And I know that my colleague Suzanne Bonamici
and the Ranking Member of the Committee, the full committee--I
hope that we are able to get some resources to have Members go
and visit these programs. And Philadelphia is so nearby; I hope
we can do that.
I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Mr. Takano. And that whole
dual enrollment is such a wonderful phenomenon that we are
experiencing all over the Nation.
And now we will hear from our Ranking Member, Dr. Murphy.
Mr. Murphy. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Let me just echo Representative Takano's statement. I think
dual enrollment has been a game-changer for young adults, that
they can actually pursue two different lines of education in a
much more efficient and productive manner. So I agree with him
completely.
Let me just turn my question to Ms. Lindner at first.
Ms. Lindner, your story is one that I hear over and over
again from employers in my district and from across the Nation,
that there is a disconnect between the need to get individuals
back to work and the skills that businesses like yours are
looking for in their future employees.
So it is one thing to give our youth a skill, but it is
quite another thing that it actually is a skill that local
employers need. But it seems far too often that businesses are
either not aware of the services that are provided by the
workforce system or that the system itself doesn't fit their
particular needs.
So tell me, what benefits has your company seen in
partnering with the workforce system to engage young people and
provide them with the experience to work?
Ms. Lindner. That is a great question.
Pre-COVID, you know, we had successful partnerships with
the workforce boards, Triad Goodwill, and a few others. But I
think, ultimately, I am seeing more challenges post-COVID,
meaning that I don't think that the workforce boards and some
of the partnerships out there--they are struggling just as well
as we are struggling, and I don't think they have a good
understanding of what a company like mine needs. And I think
that it might be that they are not tasked, or they are not
federally funded or what have you.
But, at the same respect, when you talk about the
successes: on-the-job training. Precor was one of six founding
companies for the Guilford Apprenticeship Program for high
school students. While it is very successful today, for me at
Precor, we struggled because a lot of the high school students
did not have transportation to come to my side of the county.
So that was a problem. So we ended up just doing our own
incumbent workforce upskilling training and just taking it on
ourselves.
And I think that is where I sit today, unfortunately. You
know, I have a lot of questions. Where do I need to go? I have
reached out to my business partners, and they are struggling.
So, while I don't know if I am actually answering your
question about success, I know it is out there, and I am
actually restarting everything. Because you have to remember,
we downsized, we furloughed last year, and now we are just
trying to build back better again. And so it is like I have to
restart all of my programs again with my community partners.
Mr. Murphy. Right. Well, thank you, Ms. Lindner. I do think
that the American businesses are struggling now because of the
effect of COVID, and even more so now because there seems to be
a large propensity of folks that are needed in the workforce
who are staying home--an entirely different thing that we are
dealing with and something that I think, with training, will
take a long time to pick back up.
In my time remaining, I am going to ask Ms. Townsend just a
question.
I appreciate you sharing your experience that your
organization does to support youth in and around Philadelphia.
And I hear the constant disconnect between employers and
individuals looking for work due to the vast and growing skills
gap, and obviously which has been exacerbated by COVID.
How have you developed relationships with the employers in
your area? And what do you think those businesses value when
bringing young people on board through your program?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Thank you so much, Congressman
Murphy.
With our employers, we learn quite a bit. First, employers
value ease, and they value options. So, when you are creating
an employer engagement system, you have to have a tiered and
customized approach to building relationships, understanding
their talent needs, ensuring that training is well-connected to
those talent needs, giving them space and voice in the
curriculum development, and building strong partnerships
between the youth-serving agencies and the organizations.
For us, our employers, it is more than just being civically
responsible; it is about building the next generation of
talent. And so we work together to create solutions like our
Career Development Framework, which is endorsed by our
employers, which translate the employer expectations to basic
skills that anyone can understand--a young person, a family
Member, an educator--so that we are all on the same page,
working together.
When employers told us they needed help with virtual
internships, we responded. We created a Virtual Internship
Toolkit. We provide coaching for their staff so that they can
be effective supervisors with young people.
We will stop at nothing in order to ensure our employers
are successful, because we know that helping them be successful
is the gateway to ensuring young people are employed.
Mr. Murphy. Great. Thank you so much. I think my time is
up. Thank you very much for your response.
Madam Chairman, I will yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much, Dr. Murphy.
We will now hear from Representative Jayapal.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Madam Chair, for this very
important hearing.
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is a powerful
tool to equip working people with the education and training
services that they need for today's labor market. As we
approach reauthorization recovering from the pandemic, we have
to address unique barriers to employment that are faced by
young people of color in this country. That means grappling
with the reality of systemic racism in today's labor market and
prioritizing support for jobs that pay people a living wage.
In my home State of Washington, lawmakers and civil society
organizations have long highlighted the specific issues facing
young people that are disconnected from education and the
workforce. Research shows that young people of color are less
likely to be employed between the ages of 16 and 29 and that
these early impediments leave Black, Latinx, and indigenous
students worse off when it comes to long-term career prospects
and economic security.
Despite the fact that racial discrimination claims are
among the most commonly filed claims with the EEOC, they have
the lowest rates of success, with only 15percent of cases
resulting in some form of relief in 2019.
Ms. Townsend, how can this Subcommittee use WIOA
reauthorization to address barriers to employment for young
people of color, such as employment discrimination?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Thank you so much for that question.
I alluded to some of the areas that I think are really
critical. The first is, we have to make sure that young people
of color are connected to training that is connected to a
sustainable wage. So we have to focus on growing industries, we
have to be very cognizant of STEM-related fields, and we have
to support any gaps in education and academic attainment that
will allow them to be successful.
But it is not just on the part of programs and young
people. We have to work with our employers to address hiring
standards, to uncover bias, and to support them in thinking
through what is actually needed for the position and how young
people can demonstrate competence for those positions.
Succinctly said, there is a bar on the hiring side that
every employee must clear, and we have to put the supports in
place so that our young people who have been traditionally
disadvantaged are able to clear that bar.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. Very helpful.
And as we think about the youth opportunity funds and the
importance of those funds, are there specific features of the
programs that we should be focused on improving to address the
unique needs of youth that have left the traditional classroom?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Certainly. I think focusing on
outcomes and being very specific--because what works for some
will not work for all, and we have to employ flexibility when
we think about how we measure success. Progress is equally as
important as the ultimate goals. And we often measure the
success of a program only by the end game, and there is a lot
of work in between the outcome, and that should be valued as
well.
I think, additionally, rethinking that 75 percent set-
aside. It really forces restrictions and, as Chairwoman Wilson
said earlier, unintended consequences. Intervention, prevention
is cheaper.
So we should be prudent with the economic resources that we
have and allow communities the ability to decide which strategy
is going to be most effective. They are closer to the problem;
they have the better solutions.
Ms. Jayapal. And last question for you: What difference
does it make for the long-term earnings potential of young
people of color when they are matched with jobs that pay a
living wage?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Significant difference.
And so what we have seen from the work that we have done in
surveying our alumni and collecting qualitative research as
well as quantitative research is that what young people--the
skills that they acquire they continue to apply. They are more
likely to keep their jobs. They are more likely to earn not
just a self-sustaining wage, they have better connections with
their family. They tend to be more civically engaged.
And so, in short, what we are building is more civic-
minded, prepared young people when they engage in WIOA
programming and succeed. It is important for us to reinforce
the things that work so that young people have a greater
opportunity to connect to the workforce but, more importantly,
to live their very best life.
Ms. Jayapal. That is a beautiful way to end. I think if we
want to truly serve young people, we have to equip them with
the skills and the resources that they need to flourish over
the course of their lives. And, you know, that is everything
from the counseling, the intervention that you talked about,
the counseling, the case management services, and the unique
employment barriers that young people of color face.
So I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to
meet the needs of all young people, including young people of
color, as we work to reauthorize WIOA this year.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much.
I would like to remind everyone that, pursuant to the
Office of the Attending Physician and Committee RuleTwo,
everyone, every single person in the Committee room, whether on
camera or not, is required to wear a mask, pursuant to the
instructions distributed by the Office of the Attending
Physician. If it is not your turn to speak, please wear your
mask for the health and safety of everyone else in the room,
including yourselves. Thank you.
If you are in the Committee room, please put on a mask so
that we can continue the meeting.
I now recognize Representative Grothman.
Mr. Grothman. OK. Can you all hear me? Thank you.
My first comment is just really a comment for Mr.
Showalter. He said something I was a little bit disturbed
about. ``Those without bachelor's degrees face a scarcity of
career pathways for young people without such credentials.''
At least in my district, and I think nationwide, there is a
plethora of people with bachelor's degrees who wind up deeply
in debt and don't have any skills that make them any more
employable. Meanwhile, whether you talk to the medical
community, the manufacturing community, the construction
community, there are so many great jobs out there that don't
require a 4-year bachelor's degree.
And I am a little bit concerned because you apparently are
in the area of employment. This advice, the ``bachelor's
degree, bachelor's degree, bachelor's degree,'' has allowed so
many people to wind up so in debt. And, frequently, they find
themselves--they go back and get a skill when they are 28 or
29years old.
I think some of this is driven by snobbery of people who do
have a college degree and think somehow their job makes them
better than people without a college degree. But I encourage
you to go to some construction sites, go to some medical
facilities, go to some manufacturers, and you will find great
jobs and, quite frankly, a lot more employment security than
people who have some vague degree in social work or something.
So now I want to switch over to Mr. Garrett.
Mr. Garrett, I had the privilege of visiting one of the
Milwaukee Job Corps centers outside my district with former
Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia prior to the pandemic. It was
very illuminating.
But, in addition to technical skills, what can we do to
better prepare young workers to meet employers' expectations
and to give employers confidence that these youth will be
responsible workers?
Mr. Garrett. Thank you, Congressman. First and foremost,
thank you, certainly, for visiting the center with Secretary
Scalia. We always try to tell folks, when you get to visit and
engage with students and also talk with staff, oftentimes their
perspective changes when you hear the real-life stories of how
the program benefits young people.
But, specifically to your question, there are a number of
things that we currently do and additional things that need to
be done.
So the whole notion as we talk about having positive
behavioral interventions and support in helping young people,
outside of their technical skill for their trade, gain the
actual soft skills, as some people refer to them, in business
that are still necessary. What does it mean to be responsible,
to show up on time, to dress and be prepared, to have
conversation and be able to engage, and follow and see things
through?
Many young people, as you know, especially coming from the
Milwaukee area or other areas across the country, oftentimes
they lack that type of structure and discipline and really rely
upon the program to allow them to be in a structured, safe
environment.
The other piece specific to employers is, they value the
soft-skills piece in addition to the trades and certifications,
because it creates a more well-rounded employee that comes to
work, and they understand that they are capable. That is why we
support work-based learning opportunities, to really show and
not just tell employers that students are capable.
Mr. Grothman. OK.
I have a general question for you. And this is kind of a
followup on what Representative Foxx said.
We talk about priority populations and people who come to
Job Corps without structure and discipline in their lives. What
type of background causes somebody to grow up without structure
and discipline in their life?
Mr. Garrett. Well, sir, I would say there are a host of
factors that come into that. I wouldn't say that there is some
broad, stereotypical generalization that I would make.
Oftentimes, economic conditions certainly exacerbate
challenges. If you come from an impoverished background or if
you are a 16-or 17-year-old young person who is literally
homeless and transient, you lack the structure, because you are
trying to figure out how do I just simply navigate day-to-day
living, literally hand-to-mouth every single day. Or if you
have--
Mr. Grothman. I guess what I am trying to get at, what type
of family background would lead someone to be homeless or lead
someone to not have any structure in their home? What type of
family background would--
Mr. Garrett. Well, there are a variety of family
backgrounds. And I would say, as one of the Members just
alluded to, systemic racism has created significant issues
geographically, depending on where you live.
But what we see is that students in our programs hail from
rural communities, urban communities, suburban communities,
come from a zero-parent household because they have lost family
Members. We see students who come from a dual-parent household.
We even see students that come from an educated household.
So folks want to say that you can cast this wide net and
then minimize it to say, this is the only factor that
contributed to this particular student's behavior or for them
to become so marginalized. And there are a number of factors,
depending upon where you are geographically in the country.
I would say, as the research shows, poverty is usually the
leading indicator, because you don't have access to the same
level of supports and resources, whether that is mental health
issues, whether it is education opportunities.
So there are a number of contributing factors that really
allow someone to end up in a position that they really need the
benefit of Job Corps.
The last thing I would tell you is that, also, our
traditional educational system, the way it is designed and
structured, does not meet the needs of every single young
person, and some people need an opportunity that they can just
focus. ``I want to focus on my academic career so I can
complete that.'' Or some say, ``I just really need to focus on
getting a great trade or a great certification so I can earn a
higher wage,'' and they want to be in a program that is really
going to position them to do that.
And if they are in a residential center, they don't need
the additional distractions and noise of the environment that
could allow them to be grouped with someone else, where they
can really focus on their trajectory and their dedicated
success.
And so there are a number of factors that contribute to how
a young person ends up at a Job Corps center.
Mr. Grothman. Either for you or anyone else, if I have a
couple seconds: Are we doing things to make sure that people,
when they have children themselves, have a more structured
environment for their children? Does anybody deal with that?
Chairwoman Wilson. You are over time.
Mr. Grothman. I am over time. Well, OK. That is OK. Thank
you.
Chairwoman Wilson. We will now go to Ms. Manning,
Representative Manning.
Ms. Manning. Thank you, Madam Chair.
My first question I will direct to my fellow North
Carolinian, Ms. Lindner.
In your testimony, you discuss the challenges that youth,
especially low-income youth, face in accessing employment
opportunities. And we have talked about that a little bit. But
I was struck by your example of how youth couldn't access
employment opportunities if they didn't have access to
transportation. And I appreciate your recommendation that we
expand access to supportive services for youth.
What additional supports do you see youth needing to come
prepared for the employment opportunities that your company
provides?
Ms. Lindner. You know, there is probably a lot of barriers
that I probably can't even begin to touch on. But, for me
personally, in my organization, besides transportation,
childcare. I would love to do youth apprentice programs, but,
you know, the dedicated staff that they require at my
organization, you know, is burdensome to a certain extent.
But, at the same respect, I think soft skills, tech skills,
access to technology. You know, as an employer whose
application process is done online, that is huge. I know one
thing that--you know, they may have a smartphone, they may be
able to do everything, but they may not have a computer. I know
that is--when I do get potential candidates, I send them to
Triad Goodwill, I send them to a lot of my workforce partners
that I know have the access or give them the training. But,
again, they have to be able to get there.
Most recently, due to COVID, Triad Goodwill that had a
career center right by our office, or our location, had to
downsize, and now it is 20miles away.
So I think you have to get a buy-in with employers. I think
you have to engage, you know--we have to kind of just redo it,
because it is different post-COVID, if that makes any sense. A
lot of things pre-COVID, you know, were working well, but this
has just changed. I don't know where everybody has gone, from a
candidate perspective.
Ms. Manning. Thank you.
Mr. Garrett, one of the criticisms of Job Corps is that
there is a wide variation in performance of programs across the
country, with some programs providing life-and career-changing
opportunities for individuals, with the performance of others
indicating that some students just go back to similar jobs they
have had before they started the program.
What can be done to improve performance across all centers?
And what are current barriers to improving performance?
Mr. Garrett. Ms. Manning, thank you for that question. And
I also wanted to share with you, I am a fellow North
Carolinian, hometown of Greensboro, from Guilford, and graduate
of formerly High Point College, now High Point University. Go
Panthers.
Ms. Manning. Well, I am from Greensboro as well, so glad to
have that connection.
Mr. Garrett. And we look forward to having you visit the
Kittrell Center if you have time.
I think, in relation to your question, as it relates to
performance across the board and across the country, we favor
the idea--and there are a number of challenges, right? So you
have students who have to complete a certain amount of academic
requirement, whether that is what they signed up for or whether
they came to the program, coupled with their career. And so we
believe that we need to have a more personalized experience for
each student regarding what their particular career outcomes
are and the desires for them to be engaged in the program.
And, also, on the youth service provider end, those who
actually operate the campuses across the country, we want to
ensure that we have a performance-based contracting process so
that we are ensuring that we are hiring the best staff that are
available and that folks who are operating campuses are those
who have the strongest track record for performance. And so we
continue to work with the Department of Labor, who issues
continuous guidance and great insight around how do we improve
those performance metrics.
But I will tell you, at the end of the day, just like a
K0912 system or higher-education system, it really involves us
more personalizing the experience for the student on what their
needs and goals are to really direct them on the right pathway
and not burden them with things that they don't find the
necessary priority.
If I dropped out of high school, the last thing I want to
hear, necessarily, is that you are telling me I need to
complete this 60-hour academic component, when I am really
saying, ``Look, I have two kids, I may be getting ready to get
married or not, and I am 20 or 19. I need a skill and trade
that will allow me to do better and perform better and make a
higher wage than if I just went to apply to a local employer
without actually having a recognized industry-level credential
or certification.''
Ms. Manning. Thank you, Mr. Garrett. And the Kittrell
center is now on my list for my next district visit.
Mr. Garrett. Outstanding. We will see you there.
Chairwoman Wilson. That is great. Thank you so much.
And now Mr. Fulcher.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I wanted to just acknowledge what Mr. Garrett said just a
little bit ago. He acknowledged Sergio Gutierrez, who went
through a Job Corps program. He was a justice in the Idaho
Court of Appeals. And so we are proud of him.
And, Mr. Garrett, thank you for that acknowledgement.
Also, Job Corps is a major pathway to help young people
connect in the labor workforce in my State--forestry
management, wildfire management, other jobs. And so I want to
leverage that to make my sales pitch. I am a sponsor of the
Forestry Education and Workforce Development Act, which is a
$20million discretionary grant program to provide degrees or
certificates in forestry and forestry-related fields. So I
wanted to just leverage that talking point with my sales pitch
on that bill.
But, anyway, thank you, Mr. Garrett. I do have a question
for you. You talked about the need for Job Corps to be flexible
enough to adapt to the skills offered for emerging industries.
How and what can be done to engage the business community more?
Can you speak to that, Mr. Garrett?
Mr. Garrett. Yes. And great question and thank you for
that.
And I will just highlight, just for a moment, the Job Corps
Civilian Conservation Centers. As we know, students through
those programs, for example, have earned over $6million in
wages in recent years fighting wildland fires and preserving
Federal lands. And we see those dollars going directly back in
the community. And, as we know, these aren't just opportunities
to learn skills, but those earnings are crucial to graduates as
they successfully make the transition from being housed and fed
and transported by Job Corps.
On each center, or on each campus, you will find that there
is usually a business community liaison position who is working
hand-in-hand with the local business community, the local
workforce investment board, to really determine how not only do
they place students but how do they identify opportunities, but
also what are the emerging career opportunities or trades that
are being projected, so that we could then align our program
and certifications to be able to produce graduates who could
move seamlessly into that.
And we see great partnerships like that across the country.
We want to see more of those replicated and certainly enhanced,
because we know that the demand is great and that we have
individuals who are willing to do that.
I will say, we have also been working with the Department
of Labor on trying to figure out how we shorten the timeline
for, when a new trade is introduced that may be market-specific
that is not nationwide, how can we accelerate the approval of
that to really meet the local needs of the local workforce
investment board in that particular emerging market.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you for that, Mr. Garrett.
And I would like to also ask a question of Ms. Chekemma
Fulmore-Townsend.
And, in your comments, you talked about how your
partnerships with local workforce boards and employers have
assisted you in preparing young people for future careers.
How do you get the word out? How do you advertise what you
do? How are those programs known? Promotional, if you could
speak to that, please.
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Sure. Thank you, Representative
Fulcher.
We do a couple of things to ensure that the program is
well-known in the community. The first is that we partner with
other nonprofit organizations that are housed in various
communities throughout Philadelphia. We support those
organizations in recruiting young people. We ensure that they
have adequate data collection. And we make sure that they have
all of the laws and regulations required for youth employment.
And so our nonprofit partners are a critical component.
We also partner with our local city government. And so we
are part of a larger initiative. It is not just summer jobs; it
is summer jobs connected to our Office of Children and Family
Services, and we are a part of a nexus to surround families in
need.
Third, we use social media very effectively in order to
inform parents. We have created videos so that young people
would understand what is needed for the world of work. We have
a call center so that if families are struggling to get through
the process, they can reach out to someone who can help
navigate them.
And we have also employed technology. We have a program
locator so that if you are in a community, you can find the
organizations that are providing those services for you.
All of those things help us get the word out. And then we
have 22years of performance and a track record of outcomes, and
the community knows us for delivering on our promises to young
people.
Mr. Fulcher. Great. Thank you.
And thank you to those who provided information today.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Well, thank you so much.
And now Mr. Bowman, the vice Chair of our Committee, of the
entire Education and Labor Committee.
Mr. Bowman. Thank you, Chairwoman Wilson.
And thank you to our witnesses for your testimony. This
hearing has been very informative and very powerful.
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend, can you speak to how you make
connections and build relationships with the K0912 system, if
at all? How are those relationships created, built, and
strengthened so there could be a streamlined effect from the
K0912 system into your program? Can you speak to that a bit?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Absolutely. We have a thriving
relationship with our local K0912 system, where Dr. William
Hite is the superintendent.
So it starts at the top. First, we look at partnership on
multiple levels. So not only am I in direct contact
consistently with the superintendent, but my staff have
multiple points of connection in the research office, in the
high school planning office, and we work intentionally to
design interventions and maximize local policy.
An example of that: Young people who are engaged in career
and technical education programs are supported through our Work
Ready Summer Program, and we help to connect them to employers
in the industries in which they are studying. So it makes the
classroom learning more important to the young people, and it
also gives employers a chance to advance curriculum.
We also provide school-year internships, and we could not
do that if we did not have good partnerships with our K0912
system.
We also, with our Career Development Framework, educators
were a huge part of developing a common framework so that we
could all approach career preparation in the same way. And so
they helped us build that framework, and, in turn, they apply
that framework to their approach to career readiness and
thinking through, what are the expectations of a high school
graduate?
We also monitor data together. So, when the information
indicates that there is a challenge, it is not one person's
problem; it is our problem collectively. And we use data to
inform and instruct rather than to criticize and convict. And
that has made us all more willing to work together, to be
vulnerable, and to plan for innovation.
Mr. Bowman. That is amazing. I would love to connect with
your office and learn more about that curriculum that you speak
of, because it seems like a really necessary and powerful,
powerful tool.
Mr. Garrett, can you respond to the same question, just
your relationship and connection to the K0912 system?
Mr. Garrett. Yes. Thank you, sir. And, you know, we do
great work in the South Bronx, just as an FYI. And we look
forward to you--I am going to always extend the invitation to
come to a center, given the number of students we serve--about
700 or so just in the last 2 years prior to COVID, as an FYI
for you.
As it relates to our connection to the K0912 system, that
varies across the board from campus to campus, but, in most
cases, again, our business community liaison, the center
directors, and many of the staff have robust partnerships with
the school districts.
So where we find that a student is not making their way
through the traditional K0912 system and they are looking for
an opportunity, how can they be placed directly in our program?
But we have to, again, streamline the process, because, again,
as you can imagine, if you are a student who is at your wits'
end in the K0912 system and you are looking for an immediate
opportunity, you don't have months to capture that student's
attention. The fact that they even expressed interest in the
first place or they were referred by their guidance counselor
or social worker or case management, depending upon their
status, we need a more expeditious process to get them directly
enrolled in days, not weeks or months.
And so we partner with school districts, we partner with,
again, local workforce investment boards and community partners
to ensure that they have a full understanding that Job Corps is
still relevant, the nature of the work that we do, the types of
opportunities that are available for students, and really work
with them ongoing, from beginning to end, what is the process
to get them in the door from their current situation to being
on campus.
Because we know, when a student successfully completes the
program, it doesn't just change the trajectory of their life,
but it really changes the trajectory of the lives of all of
those that they are connected to.
Mr. Showalter. Congressman could I also respond to that
question?
Mr. Bowman. Uh-huh.
Prior to coming to Congress, I worked in education for
20years as a teacher, school counselor, and middle school
principal. And what I have seen is a disconnect between what we
are teaching and how we are teaching and what we expect of
young people when it comes to post-secondary opportunities. And
it just seems like the work that you all are doing--and I will
focus on workforce development--needs to be not just an
intervention but needs to be part of core curriculum within the
K0912 system.
I think we can be doing a lot more in that space than we
are currently doing. And, you know, your testimony is really
important, and I think we need to continue to think about what
it looks like in our K0912 spaces. So thank you all for sharing
that.
Madam Chair, I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Mr. Bowman.
I had that exact conversation with the Committee staff
yesterday on an issue just as you referenced. There is a huge
line of demarcation that should not be there between K0912 and
post-secondary. It should be a smooth transition. And there are
so many issues that we need to address to make sure that that
transition is much smoother. And we have to educate our K0912
curriculum and superintendents and State legislators as to what
they need to be teaching to make it smoother.
So we will get to that in our Committee and thank you
again.
And now we go to Representative Miller-Meeks.
Welcome.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you so much, Madam Chair, Ranking
Member Dr. Murphy, and all the panelists presenting here today.
My congressional district is very fortunate to have the
Ottumwa Job Corps Center in my home community, which is one of
the newest and highest-performing centers in the country and
enjoys a very productive relationship with nearby Indian Hills
Community College. And as Dr. Murphy alluded to in his opening
remarks, this relationship and partnership does not exist
adjacent to or with every Job Corps center.
This partnership allows my constituents and the students at
a time when there is a study that has a plethora of trades
available at Indian Hills, such as advanced manufacturing,
while still benefiting from the wraparound support services and
residential environment at the Job Corps campus.
For Indian Hills, it allows them to send more remedial
students to Job Corps who might not be ready for a community-
college environment and to get the needed education, training,
and support services before they eventually matriculate back to
college.
Mr. Garrett, it is my understanding that these types of
community-college partnerships exist elsewhere, and Job Corps,
but may not be to the same degree as this one. How might we
improve the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act so that
these types of partnerships are easier to build and to
encourage more innovation at the local level?
Mr. Garrett. Thanks for that, Congresswoman Miller-Meeks.
And you are exactly right; the Ottumwa Job Corps Center is a
true beacon of hope, I think, for the entire country. The
partnership between Ottumwa and the Indian Hills Community
College represents the gold standard for the Job Corps-
community college partnership across the country, and we are
figuring out ways to really replicate that quickly.
As some may know, our former board Chair, Dr. Jim
Lindenmayer, was president of Indian Hills Community College.
And he really sought to help replicate the model, because he
was able to forecast and say, this is what is going to be
necessary, that we should be working in tandem and in
partnership.
And just to go a little further, for those that may not be
familiar, the Job Corps Scholars Demonstration Program, which
Indian Hills is currently participating in, it demonstrates
that the model works best when there is this unique partnership
between the Job Corps center and Indian Hills. And a prime
example is that it allows students to transfer not only from
the Job Corps center to Indian Hills, but it also allows for
students from Indian Hills who have remedial issues or
challenges to be referred to a Job Corps program where those
student's career goals could also be met.
And so the statute right now in the Department of Labor
should really be structured in a way that it encourages these
partnerships, but not separate grants in isolation. And we have
seen over recent years that we have seen funding come out or
opportunities come out that are separate and apart, and we all
need to do a better job to make sure that they are better
integrated.
The last thing I would say is just this notion of credit
transferability and credit for prior learning. College
partnerships really give our students access to college
credits. Similar to a high school student that is dually
enrolled, students in Job Corps centers also have that unique
opportunity. And then it lowers the barrier for college
completion by improving that credit transferability and the
credit for prior learning.
So we look forward to figuring out how we continue to
advance that partnership and showcase that, for others to then
also take advantage and follow in your stead in the State of
Iowa.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Well, thank you for that. And I have had
the opportunity to visit the center, and so I would encourage
others to do the same thing.
And, with that, you know, one of the policies--and I think
you discussed this, Mr. Garrett, in your remarks--is the impact
of the Job Corps' zero-tolerance drug policy. And you
recommended moving to a more positive behavioral intervention
model.
And I understand that there may be some nuances, you know,
that are not allowed in a zero-tolerance model. But I also
believe that we cannot lose track of accountability and that
there must be consequences for poor decisions.
How do you recommend we strike a balance so that we can
truly improve outcomes for these young individuals?
Mr. Garrett. Yes. Make no mistake about it, and you are
exactly right: Students will still be expelled who don't rise
to the occasion, who cause harm, or put the overall program or
other students in jeopardy.
And so no one is saying that, because we shift the zero-
tolerance policy, that we negate the notion of accountability.
In fact, you will find that students on campus and staff on
campus are all in agreement that we need to ensure that folks
who really want to be in this environment are doing their very
level-best, because no one wants the program to be jeopardized
in that way.
But when you think about positive behavioral interventions,
we look at our success rate for students that have tested
positive for marijuana use or substance use that go through the
program. Four out of five of them end up with a negative test
when they test the second time. So we know for a fact that,
once staff have the opportunity to work with students to change
their behavior, to help them understand why they need to shift,
that we see a significant outcome and a significant turn.
And so, in this process, our campuses are fully aware of
the need for accountability but also acutely aware that we need
a different approach than just simply saying, ``Oh, you tested
positive.''
I will use this quick example. If I were going to a center
next weekend and I was in an area where I may have used
marijuana or whatever I was doing that weekend, like any
student who would go to college, we would end up having a great
time that particular weekend, and then you show up on Monday
and all of the things you did you are now paying for in that
test, and we say, ``I am so sorry. This no longer works for
you.''
We have to think differently about the approach, which I
believe folks are in agreement with. It is a matter of how do
we nuance the language in a way that protects the
accountability but also provides flexibility, accounting for
who our students truly are and the backgrounds that they come
from.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you so much.
And I yield back my time, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much, Mrs. Miller-Meeks.
And now Representative Castro.
Mr. Castro. Thank you, Chairwoman.
I wanted to ask you all how you help students navigate,
those who are trying to attain a degree, a credential, what
often is a work-school tug-of-war, particularly for low-income
students who come from backgrounds where their families can't
just pay the full bill for them to go to college and yet
financial aid is not enough, so they are having to work,
sometimes many hours at a time, and that work is sometimes
interfering with their ability to complete their schooling.
And how do we navigate that? How do we help them navigate
that? And what should we do about it?
Mr. Showalter. Congressman, if I could jump in here, I
think one thing that we are lacking in this country is a real
continuum of work-based learning opportunities.
Apprenticeship is a very familiar model of an earn-and-
learn model. Summer youth employment is another way that we
think about it.
But we need a much more integrated continuum, starting in
middle school, that includes our higher-ed system, that
includes our workforce system, that gives young people agency
in choosing the kind of program where they can earn, where they
can learn, where they can take care of family Members.
There are lots of examples of this in another countries,
and there are some cities that are doing this well. So we just
need to replicate those kind of models.
Mr. Castro. Because we never--you know, for folks that are
trying to complete their degree, for example, you don't want
them to be so engaged in work that work becomes a distraction
from the goal that they are trying to achieve, right, which is
ultimately to get their 2-year degree or their 4-year degree
and then go into their career field.
But in my hometown of San Antonio over the years, I have
seen many people who have been stuck in this work-school tug-
of-war for quite a while, and ultimately work ends up winning
out, and they give up on their ultimate dream of being a nurse
or a doctor or an engineer or whatever it is, because they were
never able to get out of that work-school tug-of-war. And so I
raise that issue just because I have seen a lot of students who
are stuck in it.
I believe, for example, that we ought to expand Pell
grants, as I think a lot of us on this Zoom call believe; that,
also, we should make things like community college free, that
we should cancel some student debt, and so forth. But, you
know, we are not there yet on those policies.
And so I wanted to get you all's perspective on how we deal
with that very real situation that so many students are facing.
Mr. Garrett. And, Congressman Castro, if I could--and thank
you for being a caucus Member for us for Job Corps. I realize
you are speaking about it in the context of post-secondary and
going on to higher ed.
Mr. Castro. Sure.
Mr. Garrett. I just want to call out a clear example, too,
for students who are on the other end of the spectrum, who are
not quite there yet. That is one of the reasons we see that our
centers provide childcare and, like, Head Start programs, so
that the student is able to focus on their academic
requirement, whether that is getting their credential or their
GED or diploma, while at the same time getting their career
piece.
And we have seen that model work really well because
students grapple, to your point, with so many different issues
in trying to navigate the space. On our end and for the
students that we really serve, we have found that being able to
look at the totality of the students and trying to figure out
how do you support their needs across the board, it makes a
fundamental difference for them to stay focused on what they
need to do academically while they are also pursuing their
career opportunity.
I just wanted to add that for folks who may not have that
level of awareness. And we certainly appreciate your continued
support.
Mr. Castro. No, absolutely--
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Congressman Castro, I would also like
to--
Mr. Castro. Please.
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. I would like to offer an example from
the community college that I think could be particularly
instructive.
We have a single-stop model, where students are able to get
multiple needs met and also maximize public benefits toward
their education. So I do think that one strategy to managing
this tension is to make students more aware of the resources
that are available with them to help alleviate some of those
burdens so that they can navigate their basic needs while they
pursue their education.
And, additionally, as a student who worked two part-time
jobs and graduated a year early from an Ivy League institution,
I understand how challenging it can be. We have to empower
students and help them plan and navigate toward the end game,
which is achieving the diploma.
So enhanced case management, support for professional
development--those are the types of recommendations that will
equip adults to support students very differently as they
travel along this path.
Mr. Castro. No, well, thank you all. I am a caucus Member
and thank you for all the work that you all are doing for folks
around the country.
Ms. Lindner. Could I speak as an employer, if you don't
mind, real quick?
Mr. Castro. Yes, of course.
Ms. Lindner. This is where short-term Pell grants come into
play.
We, as an employer, have most recently started some part-
time work. That is nontraditional. We stepped out of the
regular, you know, 40910 schedule. We went to the community
college when we needed skilled welders, and we said, ``You are
in school. What is your school schedule? What can we do to work
around it?''
Mr. Castro. That is great.
Ms. Lindner. So we just thought out of the box.
So short-term Pell grants, definitely, that has to be
expanded.
Thank you.
Mr. Castro. No, thank you. Wonderful.
I yield back, Chairwoman.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much.
And now Representative Good.
Mr. Good. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
And thank you to all of our witnesses. It is a privilege to
engage with you all today on these topics.
We obviously have issues, as a country, with youth
unemployment, especially among those most disadvantaged, most
at risk, and most vulnerable. We also have major issues, as a
country, with out-of-control government spending that is
excessive, to say the least, poorly targeted to address real
issues, terribly mismanaged, and, at best, so often shows
little to no positive results.
The real issue plaguing our society is the breakdown of the
traditional family structure, which is the number-one cause of
poverty and other social ills. More government spending does
nothing to improve this and often incentivizes the wrong
things, the wrong behaviors, and, therefore, makes things
worse. So many government policies undermine marriage, the
family, our founding Judeo-Christian values, and even important
fundamentals such as work ethic, self-reliance, and personal
responsibility.
I have people close to me who work as employment
consultants for disadvantaged and at-risk individuals, and they
are extremely inhibited in their ability to help those who
won't take a job as long as Democrats keep giving them enhanced
unemployment. This is just another example of Democrat spending
that makes the problem worse instead of better. Business owners
will tell you, along with the ``help wanted'' signs that we see
posted everywhere and the nationwide backlog in manufacturing--
all tell us that this enhanced unemployment is making things
worse and keeping people from taking jobs.
The Democrat policies that caused our $30trillion deficit,
runaway inflation that we are starting to experience,
including, specifically, soaring education and healthcare
costs, and energy costs that are skyrocketing because of
reduced American energy production, these crazy climate and
environmental restrictions on the industry--and this is all
before the recent cyber-attacks on our infrastructure. All of
this increased cost, increased inflation, increased energy,
healthcare, and education costs, this all disproportionately
impacts these lower-income youths who we say that we want to
help.
Of course, my friends across the aisle have the same answer
for everything: more money, taken from the hardworking-
taxpayer-money tree, regardless of the lack of evidence of
results achieved other than isolated, anecdotal examples. I
share Ranking Member Foxx's already-expressed concerns about
the problems with these programs and the lack of demonstrated
results achieved.
The aforementioned by Representative Foxx, the 2018 GAO
report, which showed that Job Corps had nearly 14,000 safety
and security incidents in 1year. That breaks down to an average
of more than 100 per 120 centers throughout the country. So
more than 100, on average, for each of the 120 centers
throughout the country, with half of those being drug-related
incidents and assaults.
Of course, the Democrats want to therefore make the drug
offenses legal. And I hope they won't also make the assaults
legal too, after they eliminate our police and our correctional
facilities.
Furthermore, in a 2018 Department of Labor evaluation,
YouthBuild was shown to have a negligible effect on obtaining a
college degree or work participation despite $100million in
annual funding.
Of course, Democrats will say, ``We just need to spend more
money,'' since that is their measure of success. ``The more
money we spend, the more successful we are. Look what we are
doing for people. We are spending more money.''
I do have a question for Mr. Garrett, because the Old
Dominion Job Corps Center is just outside my district, and they
have highlighted some of their successes with my staff.
But I know how difficult, Mr. Garrett, it can be for a Job
Corps center to be nimble and shift trade offerings to respond
to employer needs. Often, bureaucrats in Washington are making
those decisions.
Can you speak to how we can help in Washington your ability
to shift trade offerings and training offerings to meet the
needs of employers?
Mr. Garrett. Thanks for that, Congressman Good.
And you are exactly right; the Old Dominion Job Corps
Center just outside of Lynchburg, as you know, has a phenomenal
relationship. And many employers that--you talk about folks
going back to work--like McLaren Corporation and Winnbo
Electric, directly in the area, they have already expressed the
need for highly skilled and motivated employees, which
oftentimes they receive from the Old Dominion Job Corps Center.
And this notion, how we can become more flexible, agile,
and nimble so that we can meet the needs of those employers in
our market, are one of the things we hope that the Subcommittee
and the ultimate Committee will tackle to lessen that
requirement of how DOL has to make the final authority and
offer the local campus that ability to really make the
adjustment, working in tandem with the local employer to meet
their needs, where students are ultimately going to be placed.
And I used this example earlier, and I will cite it again
for reference. We know that if a corporation approaches a
center, we shouldn't wait 9months to get an approval for an
official trade when we know that jobs are going to be available
in 6 to 9 or 12months. Instead, that local campus should have
the authority and autonomy and then be judged based upon their
performance, right?
But they are doing that in partnership to meet the local
demands in the communities so that those students, when they
complete their program, can go directly to work and be a
valuable, contributing citizen in that respective market.
Mr. Good. My time has expired. Thank you for your answer.
And I yield back, Chairman.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Mr. Courtney? Representative Courtney?
Mr. Courtney. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
And, again, I think the kickoff of the reauthorization of
WIOA today is, again, a really exciting opportunity for good
bipartisan support. And I don't just say that, you know, as a
sentiment. I was around in 2014 when we had the bill-signing
ceremony at the Executive Office Building when the last WIOA
was authorized. And we had Virginia Foxx and we had John Kline,
the Republican Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee,
and we had Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and it was a bipartisan
lovefest when that bill was signed into law.
And, you know--but it was not the Ten Commandments. We
certainly need to revisit some of the provisions. And I want to
thank all the witnesses today for their really thoughtful
input, because, you know, I am very optimistic that we move
forward.
By the way, with the job numbers that came out last week, I
think it is important to drill down a little bit deeper into
the data. And, actually, if you look, it was low-wage workers
where had the highest number of job growth in that report.
In fact, the cohort which was where I think the biggest
sort of frustration was, and I think all of us was frustrated,
was actually more higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs that were
not filled in the economy.
And that is precisely what we are talking about today,
which is trying to close that gap with a job-training system
that will get people the skills they need to succeed at a
higher level.
Madam Chairwoman, you have talked a little bit about the
well-intentioned language which was in the 2014 bill to
allocate 75 percent for out-of-school youth. Again, it was
well-intentioned. I think, you know, we thought that that was
really where the need was the greatest.
But, obviously, I am hearing from my workforce board that
that really has been pretty clunky, in terms of trying to get
the help out to, you know, the broadest number of people that
could benefit from the workforce programs that they have.
And, Mr. Showalter, maybe--you know, I know you talked
about it a little bit in your testimony as well. But, I mean,
at some point, we actually do have to put pen to paper. I mean,
can you give us a little more, sort of, input about how you
would fix that problem?
Mr. Showalter. Congressman, I would love to help you put
pen to paper.
As you may know, I was on the staff for Chairmen Kennedy
and Harkin when we were initially negotiating what became WIOA.
And the in-school-youth/out-of-school-youth distinction is a
carryover from previous laws. That was the framework within
which we could move at the time.
And I do think it is critically important that we stay
focused on the fact that this is one of the only Federal
funding streams designed to connect young people with barriers
to employment, to education, and work. So I think the most
important thing is to maintain that intent.
In my written testimony, I provide a way of kind of getting
past the in-school-youth/out-of-school distinction, which is
clunky and makes eligibility too complicated. We propose a
simpler ``priority populations framework,'' is what we called
it, where it is purely based on types of young people.
And the other critical part of that is allowing for self-
attestation, which DOL has already issued guidance on, many
States allow. Allowing young people to say, ``I am experiencing
homelessness,'' ``I am connected to the justice system,''
without having to bring 15 documents with them, would also make
work so much easier for providers and workforce boards to
implement this law.
Mr. Courtney. Great. Well, thank you.
And, Ms. Fulmore-Townsend, I don't know if you maybe wanted
to comment on that, about how we can make this, you know,
again, a much more flexible sort of program to get, you know,
the furthest success.
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. We definitely support Mr. Showalter's
recommendations regarding the priority population, but also
simplifying eligibility. It is triggering and traumatizing to
constantly relive your pain in order to get help. And I think
that we could do a better job of making services more available
to young people faster by having less eligibility restrictions
for the use of the services. And self-attestation would help
when they have challenges to secure some of the documentation
that is currently required.
Mr. Courtney. Great.
And one quick question for you. Again, our workforce board,
which just got an award last year as a pioneer for their
manufacturing pipeline program for the shipyard, they work with
unions. The metal trade unions were part of the curriculum that
was developed that has been so successful.
I mean, can you talk about the value of reaching out to
unions as we sort of, you know, develop--yes.
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Absolutely.
Congratulations on your award. I think innovative
partnerships like the one you described is a firm step forward
in making sure that young people are prepared for jobs.
It is important to look at the requirements of an industry
and to engage those industry leaders in the process to prepare
young people, in terms of training, in terms of opportunities
for work, and especially in the advanced space. And so I do
think that it is a critical strategy that we should see more of
throughout this country.
Mr. Courtney. Great. Thank you.
I yield back, Madam Chairwoman.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much.
Now Mrs. McClain of Michigan.
Mrs. McClain. Good morning or I should say good afternoon
to everyone.
Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and I do have to tell you I
love your hat. It always make me happy.
A couple of comments. First is, as you know, I am new to
Congress but it is so refreshing to hear the business
community, as well as the young people's program, actually
working together and having a partnership of togetherness with
the youth community programs, as well as the businesses. So
often I think we look as businesses as our enemy as opposed to
these are the people and the entities that actually provide the
opportunities.
So I can't tell you how refreshing that is, as well as it
is very refreshing to hear, again, how important it is we are
focusing on what outcomes do we need for our youth, because as
a former business owner, it is very important to make sure that
when we get people, employees, that their skills match our
needs. So, again, I am happy to hear this.
My biggest question is for you, Mr. Garrett, is coming out
of this pandemic, there is thousands of young Americans who can
benefit from Job Corps right now and need meaningful
employment. Many are likely single parents from whom there is
as desperate urgency to be able to enroll in Job Corps so they
can be housed and begin their career development. I am
questioning is: Have you resumed in-person learning? Are you
open for in-person development?
Mr. Garrett. Yes, and great question, Congresswoman
McClain.
So Job Corps centers have resumed operations at most sites
and returned many of our existing students. In some cases we
are awaiting approval from the Department of Labor to
officially enroll new students, but I am understanding we are
almost about to turn that particular corner.
The other thing you should know is that every Job Corps
center has also submitted a plan to begin virtual enrollment,
expediting that process to help students who were not already
on the books but new students begin to transition into in-
person learning as well.
I would just tell you that, you know, the Federal
Government's policy approval process though, it can be
laborious and slow moving at times. And you know as a former
business owner, that doesn't help anyone when you got a student
saying, I don't have months to wait. I need an immediate
solution now. And you have a bed and space. We shouldn't have a
Federal process in place that prevents that student from
getting to where they need to be.
But, yes, resumption has begun in most cases. And many of
the students have returned.
Mrs. McClain. Good. It is so refreshing, again, and I keep
using that word, and hopeful, in terms of we can figure out how
to keep everyone safe and--and that is the operative word--and
be productive.
Mr. Showalter, I have a question for you as well. As one of
the problems you discussed earlier was the--in your testimony
was that of rural opportunity deserts where the disconnection
rates among young people, they are almost four times greater.
What are the primary drivers of this rural urban divide?
Because I am very much a rural community in my district. And
how can we improve it? How can we help?
Mr. Showalter. Thank you for the question, Congresswoman.
As you might or might not know, I am actually from a small
town in Oklahoma. When I was a kid there, one of the biggest
employers was Mercury Marine which makes motorboat engines.
They left when I was a kid, and I've seen what has happened to
a lot of our rural communities.
As a side note, I think, like a lot of us, we will all be
very interested to see kind of what happens as remote work
picks up and whether that results in kind of some increases in
population in some rural parts of our country.
But something to underline that a quote that sticks with me
is one of my former board Members who is a youth director at a
workforce board, who works in a large city. She said we talk
about this system like it is a system. But once you get outside
the large systems in a lot of our states, it is not a system.
There is a patchwork of programs, but there aren't a lot of
opportunities.
And the workforce board, there isn't enough funding for it
to act as that convener that is really needed to knit together
all the different kinds of service offerings to build strong
relationships with employers, to work with economic
development, to bring in new employers.
So there is really a lack of infrastructure in a lot of
areas. We have over 500 workforce boards. A lot of those are
operating with one, $2 million, $3 million budget.
Mrs. McClain. Is it more of an employer issue where we need
to bring more employers to those rural areas?
Mr. Showalter. Yes. And I think we can do that, especially
with the rise of remote working. I would love to see that.
Mrs. McClain. Thank you.
With my time, I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. OK. Thank you so much.
And now Representative Bonamici.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Wilson. Thank
you, Ranking Member Murphy, but truly thank you to our
witnesses for this important conversation today.
It has been a really tough year and during, throughout, in
fact, this economic turmoil our workforce system has been
nimble and important and a way to support workers. I have had
many conversations with local workforce boards, community
colleges, labor unions, community-based organizations from
across northwest Oregon. You know, they are working on
supporting displaced and underemployed workers and getting them
the skills they need.
And they are striving to provide those workers,
particularly those with barriers to employment, with the skills
they need for meaningful employment. But we know that far too
many workers including many opportunity youth really lack
adequate housing, childcare, transportation, and other
supportive services they need to succeed to get through the
training but also these--once they get into these good-paying
jobs.
So we know that our workforce system has been chronically
underfunded and I don't know if Mr. Courtney is still with us
but I was there as well on that day, the bipartisan day in July
2014 when the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act was
signed into law. And as we reauthorize it, finding these
investments in workforce programs and the support services will
be--will help us truly build back better.
So I want to ask Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. You were talking
about this in your response to Mr. Courtney's question. But
what barriers do the students typically face in the WIOA youth
programs, and how does Philadelphia Youth Network help the
students overcome these barriers?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Thank you for that question.
In our experience the barriers range, depending on
circumstances, but some that we see are lack of childcare
assistance. Sometimes they need approval for the childcare
substance and that approval doesn't come in time for the
enrollment courses. Courses operate in 6, 8, or 12-week
increments. And you might in is the start of a next class
because you don't have the adequate childcare.
We definitely see insecure housing and so what we see is
not necessarily what you would define as traditional
homelessness but really a lot of couch surfing and it takes a
little while to discover that. Right?
Ms. Bonamici. Right.
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. ``I am staying with my friends.'' You
don't have a problem until your friend's parents say you can't
stay here any longer. ``I am staying with my cousin.'' So it is
a pattern of behavior that the professionals have to be really
keen to observe in order to understand that this housing
insecurity is really a challenge.
One of the things that I am proud of is that the Community
College of Philadelphia, they are working with our housing
authority to provide housing for those students. And we also
see independent living programs through our Department of Human
Services be really helpful in this space.
Additionally, we do see the need for enhancements of health
services and sometimes emotional supports and so being able to
connect young people with substance abuse treatment and support
for their mental health needs is another thing that we see.
Ms. Bonamici. So important
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. And how do we close the gap between,
you know, behavioral health entities and their requirements and
the requirements of the program? We should--
Ms. Bonamici. I appreciate that and I don't mean to really
cut you off, but I want to get a question in for Mr. Garrett
and my time is running out.
Mr. Garrett, I represent Tongue Point Job Corps in Astoria,
as well as the PIVOT, Partners in Vocational Opportunity
Training, in northwest Portland. And at these centers we know
students who have faced challenges in the traditional education
system can really thrive academically and earn credentials and
practical skills, welding, seamanship, which is really
important on the coast, landscaping, and others.
On the Committee we frequently hear about the need to
prepare for the future of work and technological changes in our
workplaces likely require the majority of workers including
youth to reskill or upskill to remain competitive. What
resources would Job Corps centers need to better help students
prepare for the future of work, and what are the current
barriers to Job Corps programs offering opportunities for the
sort of in-demand skills?
Mr. Garrett. Great question. Thank you for your continued
support, Congresswoman Bonamici.
And as you know, the students in Tongue Point and from the
Pivot satellite center, we have seen about almost a little less
than 80 percent of them have success rate being placed in
employment and higher education--
Ms. Bonamici. Right.
Mr. Garrett [continuing]. going into the military.
Ms. Bonamici. And they are very supported by the
communities.
Mr. Garrett. Yes. And I was going to say so at the local
level we really believe that the partnership with the business
community, trying to determine what are the future needs and
trends and then working with the center to then identify what
trades need to be structured to meet that projection.
Again, I will just reiterate this notion that at times the
slowdown process at the Department of Labor and getting the
approval for a new trade or a new opportunity sometimes can
pose a barrier. They work through it, but sometimes we miss the
window. Right? You miss the curve, because the employer is
going say either I need to pick another market, or I need to
pick another partner to help deliver this.
And so our students recognize it as well because they, too,
want the new in-demand jobs that are also high-wage and so we
continue to work in partnership and hope the Committee
continues to urge the notion of figuring out how we streamline
that approval process for new trades and opportunities.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Mr. Garrett.
My time has expired, but I know that we are all willing to
work on breaking down those barriers. So I yield back.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Wilson. OK. Thank you.
Mrs. Harshbarger of Tennessee.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Madam
Chair and Ranking Member Murphy and all the witnesses.
It is a big deal, and I am very involved in workforce
development and getting these young people trained. That is
most imperative, especially those that don't have an
opportunity.
We want to give them an opportunity to be contributing to
the workforce. I mean, we need them. And, you know, these
programs will do that if employers are on board and at the
table and the system is focused on meeting those young people's
needs.
While we are discussing the WIOA youth programs, I would
like to bring attention to the importance of occupational
licensing reform. There is this licensing requirements affect
approximately 25 percent of employees nationwide, and that
number is far higher for wage occupations. Many of these
professions are taught at programs like Job Corps and they
require an occupational license and the burden of acquiring
that license keeps a lot of those people out of the workforce.
Since these licensing requirements is a barrier for
entrance into the workforce, we are spending money on programs
to get Americans to work without fighting these licensing
requirements. We are really kicking ourself in the foot.
And I do have a bill, I want you to know. It is called the
Freedom to Work Act. It is H.R. 3145 that amends WIOA by
requiring states to include their plan to reduce and how to
reduce occupational licensing burdens as part of the WIOA State
plan. Any WIOA reauthorization bill should include those
provisions to reduce occupational licensing burdens on those
workers.
And I do have a question for Ms. Lindner. I know that one
of the challenges, as we have already spoken about, is many
employers are faced with school closures and it has forced
parents, who would otherwise be looking to reenter the
workforce, they have to stay at home and take care of that
child or their children. In particular, this has adversely
impacted women.
Has your company faced difficulties with recruiting those
women workers, because they have been forced to home school
their children or stay at home with those children?
Ms. Lindner. Good question. Good point.
Currently I am not seeing it per se but I know that when--
back in 2020, when we were coming back from, you know, we were
ramping back up after furloughing a majority of our workforce,
we knew that we would have, whether it be men, women, father,
mothers, or what have you, that they may not be able to come
back. So we put out a program, you know, asking: Do you have an
issue working full time? And we had several people come forth,
and so we worked around part-time work. We worked around to
make it work.
Now that we are actually full-scaling back up, there are
technically probably I would say less females and some single
fathers on top of it coming back--not coming back to the
workforce and we are recognizing that.
That is why I think I have said I have got to be out-of-
the-box thinking when it comes to hiring future candidates into
our workforce. The traditional isn't working. I am reaching out
to my workforce partners, asking for help. I don't know if I
have the exact one answer, but I know that what I was doing
pre-COVID isn't working and I have got to change as an
employer. I have got to think differently. Hopefully that
helps.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes, absolutely. It is not just you. It's
everybody. We are looking for people. It doesn't matter what
profession you are in either and, you know, we are trying to
get people into the workforce to teach them a skill, to make
them productive, to give them a future in a trade and something
they can carry on and it is hard. I mean, I am pharmacist. And
it is hard to get people to work in the pharmacy because in
some instances with certain jobs, you know, they are staying
out so--and especially women because they do have to take care
of those children. But it is an ongoing need and it is good
that you are thinking differently and when you find that
answer, please report back to us. That would be fantastic and
know we are working for you, too.
OK. Thank you. Madam Chair, I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much.
And now we will hear from the distinguished Chair of our
entire Committee, the Education and Labor Committee, Dr. Scott.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, and Ranking
Member Murphy.
I would like to start my questions with Mr. Garrett. Mr.
Garrett, the Ranking Member of the full Committee asked you
about all the deaths that were happening on campus and in the
Job Corps program. And I am looking at a chart that confirms,
in fact, people do die.
Per 100,000 people on a Job Corps site, who live on a Job
Corps site, about 4.26 per 100,000 die. If you are at the Job
Corps program but not onsite, it is 25.5. But the national
average--this is mortality rate--is 74.9, which suggests that
you are 6 percent--you are 6 percent as likely to die if you
are on campus than if you are just in the community. And the--
and the homicide rate, if you are in a Job Corps program, this
chart says it is 4 per 100,000 but 11.9, almost 12, almost
three times more in the community.
Is that what you meant by Job Corps is one of the safest
places you could be?
Mr. Garrett. Thank you, Chairman Scott.
And you are exactly right. And I appreciate the additional
statistics because you are right. A person is three times more
likely to potentially die from a homicide by not being on-
center.
We know for a fact the severity of the situations that many
of our students face who are either homeless, transient, or
their immediate family environment and going from pillar to
post that they are safer being on our campus. That does not
mean we don't have issues and challenges like programs do.
But what we know not only from anecdote but from the data,
as you just shared, the students not only are safe and secure
but they are also getting the education needs that they have,
the behavioral management in place so that they can then be an
employable citizen and we see significant differences as the
student matriculates throughout our program.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. And, Mr. Garrett, the appropriations,
the program is getting about $200 million less each year than
is authorized under WIOA. How does the shortfall affect your
ability to fulfill your mission?
Mr. Garrett. Well, sir, we have a number of issues.
As I talked about getting trade approval or new materials
and requirements or equipment as required, that is one piece of
it.
One of the more alarming pieces that affects almost every
campus in this country is the continued underfunding from a
construction perspective in terms of the requirements that are
needed to either update centers or to upskill them so that our
students cannot only continue to be safe, if it is fencing that
is required, but also have access to the appropriate equipment
they need. And so it has gone for a period of time.
The other piece of that conversation is also, because of
the enrollment pause or freeze in 2012 where we lowered the
number of available slots by 18 percent, even if we were at
full capacity, meaning we meet the DOL number, we still have
space and so there is still an opportunity for us to figure out
a better solution for that to actually get back to our original
numbers so that we can fulfill the mission and have more
students actually available and avail themselves of the
opportunity.
Mr. Scott. Thank you.
And Ms. Fulmore-Townsend, do you have any statistics about
the impact summer youth employment has on violent crime rates?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Yes, we do. We just recently received
a report from Dr. Heller about our work in 2017 and 2018. And
the research is showing that it not only encourages productive
behavior, it decreases incidents of violent crime and exposure
to risk factors for violence in Philadelphia.
Mr. Scott. Is it significant enough to show cost savings?
The one study in Chicago said they saved so much with the
summer jobs program, that they reduced crimes so much, that
they saved so much in future prison and whatnot that they paid
for the whole program.
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. We don't quite boast those statistics
as Chicago because our sample size was a little bit smaller and
our strategy is a little bit different than Chicago. However,
we are working with Dr. Heller to estimate the cost savings of
our approach.
Mr. Scott. You showed--thank you for mentioning the Opening
Doors for Youth Act. We are about to introduce that in a few
days. But you indicated a little frustration about the 75
percent being required for out-of-school, out-of-work rather
than for prevention. Can you say a word about that?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Sure. We endorse the priority
population format that Mr. Showalter talked about which would
allow us to look at different groups of young people and make
them eligible, rather than forcing communities to limit their
approach based on the 75 percent funding split.
Mr. Scott. Thank you.
And thank you, Madam Chairman. My time has expired.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you.
Now we will hear questions from Ms. Letlow of Louisiana.
Welcome.
Ms. Letlow. Chairwoman Wilson, Ranking Member Murphy,
Members of the Subcommittee, and witnesses, thank you for
taking the time to discuss opportunities for youth employment
under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
It is important that WIOA has dedicated resources aimed at
preparing young adults for fulfilling years. Programs like
YouthBuild are benefiting individuals in my district, providing
education and workforce development for out-of-school youth.
Northshore Technical Community College in Bogalusa hosts a
YouthBuild program that focuses on teaching carpentry skills.
Students are able to gain two industry-recognized
certifications. While participating in the programs, students
obtain a GED and have the opportunity to learn important life
and leadership skills.
Congress should ensure our youth are well-prepared to enter
the workforce. I believe that employers must be part of the
discussion when it comes to workforce education. Having input
from businesses on their needs creates meaningful workforce
development which will lead to higher employment rates.
My question is for Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. You mention that
Philadelphia Youth Network's career development framework was
designed to translate the expectations of employers into
attainable skills and incorporate it into other organizations'
programming. PYN chose not to make this framework industry-
specific and instead focused on providing skills that all
employers are looking for when hiring young people.
What feedback have you gotten from employers on what those
general skills include? Is there a particular model you use to
impart those skills to young people? Is this a model that other
programs beyond Philadelphia could adopt?
Ms. Fulmore-Townsend. Thank you so much for your questions.
So the first answer is, yes, our career development
framework can be applied in other communities and has been. We
took our approach and our cues from employers directly who
consistently told us we will teach our employees our employer-
specific skills. We will teach them how to it our way. We need
them to show up, ready to learn those things. And the things
that they wanted them to show up with are self-direction and
initiative, the ability to communicate with others, the ability
to work in a team, the ability to negotiate and be persuasive.
And so with that feedback, we looked at it and said every
industry is willing to teach you how to be the best employee
for company X. What they want you to do is show up ready to be
that. And we focus on what are the skills to show up ready to
do that.
Additionally, with the framework I will add it is divided
into developmentally appropriate strategies. So we
differentiate between early work experience, intermediate level
work experience, and advance training and work experiences for
young people so that we can match the activity to the
developmental needs and that leads to higher result itself.
Ms. Letlow. Great. Thank you so much for your comments.
Chairwoman, I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much.
I believe we have exhausted all of our questioning. And so
I want to remind my colleagues that, pursuant to Committee
practice, materials for submission for the hearing record must
be submitted to the Committee Clerk within 14 days following
the last day of the hearing, so by close of business on May 27,
2021, preferably in Microsoft Word format. The materials
submitted must address the subject matter of the hearing. Only
a Member of the Subcommittee or an invited witness may submit
materials for inclusion in the hearing record.
Documents are limited to fifty pages each. Documents longer
than fifty pages will be incorporated into the record by way of
an internet link that you must provide to the Committee Clerk
within the required timeframe, but please recognize that in the
future that link may no longer work.
Pursuant to House rules and regulations, items for the
record should be submitted to the Clerk electronically by
emailing submission to
[email protected].
Again, I want to thank our fabulous witnesses. I mean, this
has been a very informative Committee hearing. I want to thank
each of you for your participation today. Members of the
Subcommittee may have some additional questions for you, and we
ask the witnesses to please respond to those questions in
writing. The hearing record will be held open for 14 days in
order to receive these reports.
I remind my colleagues that, pursuant to the Committee
practice, witnesses' questions for the hearing record must be
submitted to the Majority Committee Staff or Committee Clerk
within seven days. The questions submitted must address the
subject matter of the hearing.
I now recognize the distinguished Member, Representative
Murphy, for a closing statement.
Dr. Murphy, are you still with us?
Mr. Murphy. I am right here. I am right here.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you.
Mr. Murphy. Thank you so much. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
And I want to thank all the Committee Members and our
witnesses again for sharing more about the wonderful and hard
work that you are doing and offering recommendations on how we
can best serve our Nation's youth through the workforce system.
There is clearly an issue that has been problematic and worse
and even made worse by COVID with closures of businesses and
schools across the country.
Let me take this off because then I can actually speak.
Chairwoman Wilson. Dr. Murphy is a medical doctor. You all
must know that.
Mr. Murphy. Sorry for that delay.
I am encouraged that the conversation today was done in a
wholly bipartisan manner that we discuss the reauthorization of
WIOA. However, there clearly remains work that needs to be done
improving the operation of these programs so that we can keep
our youth safe and begin them on pathways for successful
careers. I appreciate that we will discuss this with the need
for increased employer engagement so that our Federal dollars
are going toward programs that actually meet the needs of
industry partners.
The business engagement and voice, along with the renewed
focus on accountability and performance for taxpayer dollars,
will serve our young people well. We cannot simply just pour
money after programs that are not accountable, that are not
working, and improve. There is always room for improvement and
refinement in getting these programs successful.
Thank you again to our witnesses and to the Chair for
convening this very wonderful and very productive bipartisan
hearing. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
And I will yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Dr. Murphy.
I now recognize myself for the purposes of making my
closing statement.
I want to thank you again to all of our wonderful witnesses
for your testimonies and for helping launch a series of
bipartisan hearings on reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act.
As we discussed today, WIOA is the foundation of our
Nation's workforce development programs, particularly for young
people. In communities across the Nation, these programs play a
critical role in creating opportunities for young people to
succeed both in the workforce and throughout their life.
But as we heard from our expert witness today, many of
these programs face chronic underfunding and structural
obstacles that prevent them from achieving their full
potential. Now is the time for us to build on the broad support
of the WIOA and strengthen these critical services for the
millions of young people who urgently need them, particularly
now during this pandemic.
To that end I am grateful to my colleagues for contributing
to a productive and fruitful hearing. Today we not only
established that WIOA reauthorization must include investments
in youth workforce activities, YouthBuild, and Job Corps but we
also laid a strong foundation for our forthcoming hearings to
discuss principles for this reauthorization.
I look forward to continuing today's discussion with all of
my colleagues as we work toward providing all young people with
the support, they need to lead fulfilling lives and strengthen
our communities.
If there is no further business, without objection, the
Subcommittee stands adjourned. And thank you.
[Additional submission by Chairwoman Wilson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Additional submissions by Ranking Member Foxx follow:]
July 2006, DOL OIG, ``National Park Service Has Not Assured the Safety
and Health of Students and Staff at the Oconaluftee Job Corps Center''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
------
March 2007, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of the Oconaluftee Job Corps
Center for the Period July 1, 2004, through September 30, 2005''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add19.pdf
November 2006, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges Facing the
Department of Labor: Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Job Corps
Program''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2007, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges Facing the
Department of Labor: Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Job Corps
Program''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2008, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges Facing the
Department of Labor: Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Job Corps
Program''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2009, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges Facing the
Department of Labor: Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Job Corps
Program''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2010, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges Facing the
Department of Labor: Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Job Corps
Program''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2011, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges Facing the
Department of Labor: Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Job Corps
Program''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2012, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges Facing the
Department of Labor: Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Job Corps
Program''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2013, DOL OIG, ``Top Management Challenges Facing the
Department of Labor: Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Job Corps
Program''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
<
November 2014, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance Challenges
Facing the U.S. Department of Labor: Ensuring the Safety of Students
and Staff at Job Corps Centers''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2015, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance Challenges
Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2016, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance Challenges
Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 2017, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance Challenges
Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
------
November 2018, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance Challenges
Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add9.pdf
------
November 2019, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance Challenges
Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add10.pdf
------
November 2020, DOL OIG, ``Top Management and Performance Challenges
Facing the U.S. Department of Labor''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add11.pdf
------
March 2010, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit for ResCare, Inc., Job Corps
Centers''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add1.pdf
------
March 2010, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit for Education and Training
Resources, Job Corps Center Operator''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add2.pdf
------
August 2010, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of MINACT, Inc., Job Corps
Center Operator''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add3.pdf
------
December 2012, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Needs to Improve Timeliness of and
Accountability for Maintenance Repairs at Its Centers''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add4.pdf
------
February 2015, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Needs to Improve Enforcement and
Oversight of Student Disciplinary Policies to Better Protect Students
and Staff at Centers''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add5.pdf
------
June 2018, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), ``Job Corps:
DOL Could Enhance Safety and Security at Centers with Consistent
Monitoring and Comprehensive Planning''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add6.pdf
------
August 2019, GAO, ``Actions Needed to Improve Planning for Center
Operation Contracts''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add7.pdf
------
June 1995, GAO, ``Job Corps: High Costs and Mixed Results Raise
Questions about Program's Effectiveness''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add8.pdf
------
November 1998, GAO, ``Job Corps: Links With Labor Market Improved but
Vocational Training Performance Overstated''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add12.pdf
------
June 2017, GAO, ``Job Corps: Preliminary Observations on Student Safety
and Security Data''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add13.pdf
------
November 2009, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of DEL-JEN, Incorporated
Job Corps Centers''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add14.pdf
------
March 2017, DOL OIG, ``Review of Job Corps Center Safety and Security''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add15.pdf
------
December 2017, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Took Action to Mitigate Violence,
Drugs, and Other Student Misconduct at Centers, But More Needs to Be
Done''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add16.pdf
------
March 2018, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Could Not Demonstrate Beneficial Job
Training Outcomes''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add17.pdf
------
September 2019, DOL OIG, ``Job Corps Should Do More to Prevent Cheating
in High School Programs''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add18.pdf
------
September 2007, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of the Laredo Job Corps
Center''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add20.pdf
------
March 2009, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of Management and Training
Corporation Job Corps Centers''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add21.pdf
------
September 2009, DOL OIG, ``Performance Audit of Adams and Associates,
Incorporated Job Corps Centers''
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44535/pdf/
CHRG-117hhrg44535-add22.pdf
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Whereupon, at 12:45 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]