[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 67 (Thursday, April 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18131-18132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8445]



[[Page 18131]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden conducts a preclearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. 
Currently, the Employment and Training Administration is soliciting 
comments concerning the proposed renewal of Job Corps Placement and 
Assistance Record, ETA form 678. A copy of the proposed information 
collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the office 
listed below in the addresses section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addresses section below on or before June 5, 2000.

ADDRESSES: June P. Veach, Office of Job Corps, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Room N-4507, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 219-5556, ext. 
129 (This is not a toll-free number); Fax number: (202) 219-5183 (This 
is not a toll-free number); E-mail Internet address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

I. Background

    The Job Corps program is designed to serve low-income young women 
and men, 16 through 24, who are in need of additional vocational, 
educational and social skills training, and other support services in 
order to gain meaningful employment, return to school or enter the 
Armed Forces. Authorized by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, 
Job Corps is operated by the Department of Labor through a nationwide 
network of 118 Job Corps centers. The program is primarily residential, 
operating 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, with non-resident students 
limited by legislation to 20 percent of national enrollment. These 
centers presently accommodate more than 42,000 students. While students 
may stay in Job Corps up to two years to complete their programs, the 
average length of stay is eight months. Thus, more than 68,000 young 
people receive training in Job Corps in a year; of the number of 
students who separate from the program each year, 82 percent are placed 
in jobs, further education programs, or the Armed Forces. Seventy 
percent of all job placements are in areas for which students trained. 
The purpose of this collection is to gather information about each 
student's placement outcome after separation from the program. This 
form is critical to the placement process and measurement of placement 
outcomes and ultimately of program performance.

II. Review Focus

    The Department of Labor is particularly interested in comments 
which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarify of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.

III. Current Actions

    The form ETA 678 has expired. This form is used to evaluate program 
effectiveness. The introduction of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 
created a delay in the renewal process because of changes in Job Corps 
placement requirements mandated by the Act. Job Corps has continued to 
collect information because job, school, or military placements are a 
major indicator of program performance. The collection provides 
placement agencies with basic training information regarding separated 
students and provides the Department of Labor with information on the 
placement status of students subsequent to separation from the Program. 
No harm has been done while the form was used to collect data. No 
reports have been submitted and/or developed for Congress during the 
period. This action will effect a reduction in paperwork burden hours.
    The revisions involve the addition of collecting data on program 
graduates as required by the Act, and a change from the use of DOT 
codes to O*Net codes to determine the job category and training match. 
In addition, with the WIA-mandated follow-up of graduates' placement 
status and provision of placement services for a year following 
separation from the program, there is no need for the item asking 
whether the placement is perceived as permanent or temporary.
    Review: Reinstatement (with change).

    Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
    Title: Job Corps Placement and Assistance Record.
    OMB Number: 205-0035.
    Agency Number: ETA 678.
    Recordkeeping: The student is not required to retain records; 
contractor offices and Job Corps centers are required to maintain 
records for 3 years.
    Affected Public: Individuals who separate from Job Corps; Business 
or other for-profit/Not-for-profit institutions/Federal Government/
State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Total Respondents: 68,000.
    Frequency: one per person.
    Total Responses: 68,000.
    Average Time per Response: 20 minutes.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 22,666.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): Job Corps initiated electronic 
collection of placement data in 1994, with installation of 85 master 
placer PC units at the placement contractor headquarters. The cost was 
$240,000, including $170,000 for hardware, $50,000 for software and 
$20,000 for communications costs.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): The information on the 
form 678 related to the training completed on a Job Corps center is 
entered automatically on the form from the database. The remaining 
information related to the youth's placement is entered electronically 
by the contracted placement specialist who provides placement services. 
The estimated annual cost of completing the form for 68,000 separated 
Job Corps is estimated at $248,183. This includes $29,183 for youth and 
$255,000 to employers who hire them is for completing the ETA 678 for 
68,000 youth is to verify the placements.
    Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be

[[Page 18132]]

summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and 
Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also 
become a matter of public record.

    Dated: March 31, 2000.
Jackie Roberts,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Job Corps.
[FR Doc. 00-8445 Filed 4-5-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M