[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 247 (Friday, December 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80960-80961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-32709]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Proposed Collection: Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden conducts a pre-clearance 
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 National Office of Job Corps is soliciting comments 
concerning the proposed new collection of Job Corps' Graduate and 
Former Enrollee Placement Re-verification and Follow-up Surveys.
    A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be 
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section 
of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee's section below on or before February 22, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Edna Primrose-Coates, U.S. Department, of 
Labor, Office of Job Corps, 200 Constitution Ave., NW., Room N4656, 
Washington, DC 20210, Tel. (202) 693-3135, Fax (202) 693-3113, or e-
mail [email protected]..

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Job Corps is the nation's largest and most comprehensive 
residential education and job training program for at-risk youth, ages 
16 and 24. Program participants are typically high school dropouts in 
need of further education and vocational training. 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.
    When they separate from Job Corps, youth are prepared to pursue 
employment opportunities related to their Job Corps training, post-
secondary educational and training experiences, or enter the Armed 
Forces. The purpose of this data collection effort is to provide the 
National Office of Job Corps with information on the status of Job 
Corps students after they separate from the program. Information will 
be collected on the status of placed graduates 13 weeks, 6 months, and 
12 months after their initial placement in a job or school/training 
program. Similar information will also be collected on the status of 
former enrollees (non-graduates who stayed at least 60 days) 13 weeks 
after they separate from Job Corps, and on non-placed graduates 12 
months after they complete the program. This data collection effort 
also includes re-verification of reported initial employment and/or 
school placements of graduates and former enrollees. These data will be 
used to:
     Provide information to Congress and the Secretary of Labor 
on the employment and education outcomes of Job Corps graduates and 
former enrollees per Workforce Investments act reporting requirements.
     Assessment graduates' and former enrollees' satisfaction 
with their Job Corps experience in order to identify useful program 
aspects and those factors that contributed to decisions to withdraw 
from the program prior to graduation, where applicable.
    Information to fulfill these objectives will be collected using 
telephone surveys. These telephone surveys will be conducted with 
graduates and former enrollees at the aforementioned times.
    The Secretary of Labor will use the data collected to assess Job 
Corps' effectiveness in meeting its objectives according to the 
Workforce Investment Act. In addition, the Director of Job Corps will 
incorporate these data into its Outcome Measurement System to evaluate 
the short-term post-center

[[Page 80961]]

outcomes of graduates and former enrollees, as well as the long-term 
post-center outcomes of graduates. The Director will also use this 
information on student outcomes and customer feedback to develop and/or 
refine policies in order to improve its delivery of educational and job 
training services to at-risk youth.

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 agency's burden estimates for the proposed 
data collection, including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 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

    This submission requests approval of three surveys that will be 
used to collect follow-up data on individuals who are no longer 
actively participating in Job Corps. The surveys are comprised of 
modules that include questions designed to obtain the following 
information: re-verification of initial job and/or school placements; 
employment and educational experiences; job search activities of those 
who are neither working nor in school; and information about former 
participants' satisfaction with the services provided by Job Corps.
    Additionally, this submission requests approval of two brief 
surveys (one for employers and one of the schools or training 
institutions) that will be used to collect initial placement re-
verification data for the subset of placed graduates and former 
enrollees that cannot be contacted directly.
    Type of Review: New.
    Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, National Office of Job Corps.
    Title: Job Corps' Graduate and Former Enrollee Placement Re-
Verification and Follow-up Surveys.
    Agency Number: If applicable; otherwise omit this line entirely.
    Affected Public: Individuals who separate from Job Corps; Business 
or other for-profit/Not-for-profit institutions.

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                                                                                        Average
                                       Total                                Total       time per      Burden
               Form                 respondents        Frequency          responses     response      (hours)
                                                                                       (minutes)
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Placed Former Enrollees at 13             6,020  One time only.......           6,020         15           1,505
 Weeks.
Placed Graduates at 13 Weeks.....        26,400  One time only.......          26,400         15           6,600
Non-Placed Former Enrollees at 13         1,330  One time only.......           1,330         10             226
 Weeks.
Non-Placed Graduates at 12 Months         1,365  One time only.......           1,365         10             228
Placed Graduates at 6 Months.....        24,640  One time only.......          24,640         12           4,928
Placed Graduates at 12 Months....        23,000  One time only.......          23,000         10           3,833
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      Totals.....................  ............  ....................          82,745  .........          17,320
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    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): Job Corps will initiate its 
telephone data collection from former enrollees and graduates starting 
after January 2001. Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) 
centers are being established at two contractors' locations. The total 
cost is estimated at $89,380, including $43,380 for hardware, $40,000 
for software and $6,000 for communications.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): The estimated annual 
cost of completing 82,755 interviews with Job Corps graduates and 
former enrollees is $2,482,650. This includes $220,500 for the former 
enrollee surveys--placed and non-placed; $40,950 for the non-placed 
graduate survey at 12-months; $792,000 for placed graduates at 13 
weeks; and $1,429,200 for placed graduate surveys and 6 and 12 months.
    Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be 
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: December 18, 2000.
Richard C. Trigg,
National Director of Job Corps.
[FR Doc. 00-32709 Filed 12-21-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M