Job Corps: Vocational Training Performance Data Overstate Program Success
(Testimony, 07/29/98, GAO/T-HEHS-98-218).
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Job Corps'
vocational training services, focusing on the: (1) Department of Labor's
efforts to ensure the appropriateness of vocational training and its
relevance to local labor markets; (2) extent to which program
participants are completing vocational training programs and obtaining
jobs related to the training received; and (3) appropriateness of
Labor's use of sole-source procurement for a substantial portion of this
training.
GAO noted that: (1) Labor has several activities to foster Job Corps'
employer and community linkages to ensure the appropriateness of its
vocational training to local labor markets and its relevance to employer
needs; (2) Labor has industry advisory groups regularly review
vocational course curricula to ensure its relevance for today's job
market; (3) Labor has also introduced a school-to-work initiative
designed to link Job Corps with local area employers, combining
center-based training with actual work site experience at more than half
the Job Corps centers; (4) Labor involves local business and community
leaders in deciding which vocational training programs to offer at newly
established Job Corps centers; (5) in addition to these national
efforts, three of Labor's regional offices have developed their own
initiatives to improve linkages between Job Corps and local labor
markets, including modifying vocational training to meet local employer
needs; (6) information reported by Labor on the percentage of Job Corps
participants who complete their vocational training and obtain jobs
related to that training is misleading and overstates program results;
(7) although Job Corps reported that in program year 1996, 48 percent of
program participants nationwide completed vocational training, GAO's
review concluded that only 14 percent of program participants had
completed all requirements of their vocational training curricula; (8)
the rest of the participants that Job Corps counted as completing
training had completed only some of the duties and tasks of a specific
vocational training program; (9) Labor also reported that 62 percent of
the participants nationwide who obtained employment found jobs that
matched the vocational training received in Job Corps; (10) the validity
of about 41 percent of the job placements reported by Labor to be
training related was questionable; (11) Labor has been awarding
sole-source contracts to national labor and business organizations for
vocational training for more than 30 years; (12) it has not adequately
justified procuring these training services on a noncompetitive basis;
(13) the main reason Labor has justified awarding these contracts on a
sole-source basis is that these organizations are available to place Job
Corps participants who complete their training; and (14) Labor has
provided no data to support the extent to which these sole-source
contractors actually place Job Corps participants nationwide.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: T-HEHS-98-218
TITLE: Job Corps: Vocational Training Performance Data Overstate
Program Success
DATE: 07/29/98
SUBJECT: Disadvantaged persons
Vocational education
Youth employment programs
Sole source procurement
Attrition rates
School-to-work transition programs
Program evaluation
IDENTIFIER: DOL Job Corps Program
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Cover
================================================================ COVER
Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Government
Reform and Oversight, House of Representatives
For Release on Delivery
Expected at 10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, July 29, 1998
JOBS CORPS - VOCATIONAL TRAINING
PERFORMANCE DATA OVERSTATE PROGRAM
SUCCESS
Statement of Cornelia M. Blanchette, Associate Director
Education and Employment Issues
Health, Education, and Human Services Division
GAO/T-HEHS-98-218
GAO/HEHS-98-218T
(205380)
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
JOBS CORPS: VOCATIONAL TRAINING
PERFORMANCE DATA OVERSTATE PROGRAM
SUCCESS
============================================================ Chapter 0
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:
We are pleased to be here today to discuss Job Corps, a $1 billion
program administered by the Department of Labor that serves
economically disadvantaged youths aged 16 to 24. For over 30 years,
Job Corps has been helping young people who need and can benefit from
an intensive program of education, training, and support services
operated mainly in a residential setting. Job Corps is intended to
prepare youths to either obtain and hold gainful employment, pursue
further education or training, or satisfy entrance requirements for
careers in the Armed Forces. Job Corps participants spend on average
about 7 months in the program; per participant cost is on average
about $15,000, making Job Corps the nation's most expensive job
training program. Reasons for this high cost include the program's
severely disadvantaged participants, who face many barriers to
employment and its comprehensive services provided in a residential
setting.
My testimony today focuses on Job Corps' vocational training
services. Specifically, I will first describe Labor's efforts to
ensure the appropriateness of vocational training and its relevance
to local labor markets; second, I will discuss the extent to which
program participants are completing vocational training programs and
obtaining jobs related to the training received. In addition, as the
Subcommittee requested, I will discuss our examination of the
appropriateness of Labor's use of sole-source procurement for a
substantial portion of this training. Much of my testimony is drawn
from a study we are conducting at the request of the Subcommittee as
well as from reports on the Job Corps program we have issued since
1995.\1
In summary, Labor has several activities to foster Job Corps'
employer and community linkages to ensure the appropriateness of its
vocational training to local labor markets and its relevance to
employer needs. Labor has industry advisory groups regularly review
vocational course curricula to ensure its relevance for today's job
market. Labor has also introduced a school-to-work initiative
designed to link Job Corps with local area employers, combining
center-based training with actual work site experience at more than
half the Job Corps centers. In addition, Labor involves local
business and community leaders in deciding which vocational training
programs to offer at newly established Job Corps centers. In
addition to these national efforts, three of Labor's regional offices
have developed their own initiatives to improve linkages between Job
Corps and local labor markets, including modifying vocational
training to meet local employer needs.
Information reported by Labor, however, on the percentage of Job
Corps participants who complete their vocational training and obtain
jobs related to that training is misleading and overstates program
results. Although Job Corps reported that in program year 1996,\2 48
percent of program participants nationwide completed vocational
training, our review concluded that only 14 percent of program
participants had completed all requirements of their vocational
training curricula. The rest of the participants that Job Corps
counted as completing training had completed only some of the duties
and tasks of a specific vocational training program. Labor also
reported that 62 percent of the participants nationwide who obtained
employment found jobs that matched the vocational training received
in Job Corps. At the five centers we visited, however, the validity
of about 41 percent of the job placements reported by Labor to be
training related was questionable.
Finally, Labor has been awarding sole-source contracts to national
labor and business organizations for vocational training for more
than 30 years. It has not adequately justified, however, procuring
these training services on a noncompetitive basis, according to our
review. The main reason Labor has justified awarding these contracts
on a sole-source basis is that these organizations have a national
placement network and are better able than non-national organizations
to place Job Corps participants who complete their training. Labor
has provided no data, however, to support the extent to which these
sole-source contractors actually place Job Corps participants
nationwide.
--------------------
\1 Job Corps: Need for Better Enrollment Guidance and Improved
Placement Measures (GAO/HEHS-98-1, Oct. 21, 1997); Job Corps: High
Costs and Mixed Results Raise Questions About Program's Effectiveness
(GAO/HEHS-95-180, June 30, 1995); Job Corps: Comparison of Federal
Program With State Youth Training Initiatives (GAO/HEHS-96-92, Mar.
28, 1996); and Job Corps: Where Participants Are Recruited, Trained,
and Placed in Jobs (GAO/HEHS-96-140, July 17, 1996).
\2 A program year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the
following year. A program year is designated by the year in which it
begins. Thus, program year 1996 began on July 1, 1996, and ended on
June 30, 1997.
BACKGROUND
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:1
Job Corps was established as a national employment and training
program in 1964 to address employment barriers faced by severely
disadvantaged youth. Job Corps enrolls youths aged 16 to 24 who are
economically disadvantaged, in need of additional education or
training, and living under disorienting conditions such as a
disruptive home life. In program year 1996, the most recent year for
which information was available, nearly 80 percent of the
participants were high school dropouts and almost two-thirds had
never worked full time. Participating in Job Corps can lead to
youths' placement in a job or enrollment in further training or
education. It can also lead to educational achievements such as
attaining a high school diploma and learning reading or math skills.
In program year 1996, Job Corps provided comprehensive services to
more than 68,000 youths. Labor reported that 80 percent of these
youths were placed in employment, joined the armed services, or
enrolled in full-time schooling.
Job Corps is one of a few remaining federally administered training
programs. It uses four sets of contracts--three are awarded on a
competitive basis, the fourth on a sole-source basis. Specifically,
Labor uses one set of competitive contracts for recruiting and
screening new participants, another set for operating 84 of its 112
Job Corps centers nationwide, and a third set for placing youths in
jobs or providing them additional training upon termination from the
program.\3 Labor awards the fourth set of contracts on a sole-source
basis to national labor unions and business organizations to conduct
about a third of Job Corps' vocational training.\4
Major corporations and nonprofit organizations manage and operate 84
Job Corps centers under contractual agreements with Labor. Labor
selects these contractors through a competitive procurement process
that takes into account a contractor's expertise, proposed costs, and
prior program performance. In addition, the U.S. Departments of the
Interior and Agriculture operate 28 Job Corps centers, called
civilian conservation centers, on public lands under interagency
agreements with Labor. Labor competitively awards a set of contracts
for recruiting and screening Job Corps participants and another set
of contracts for placing participants. Private contractors, the
contractors operating Job Corps centers, and state employment service
agencies are among the organizations that have been awarded these
contracts. Vocational training may be provided in any combination of
three ways. Most vocational training is offered by instructors that
are Job Corps center staff; other training is taught by private
providers under subcontract to the center. These providers typically
include vocational schools and community colleges. The rest of
vocational training is provided by national labor unions and business
organizations under sole-source arrangements made directly with
Labor.
Each Job Corps center provides participants with a wide range of
services, including basic education, vocational skills training,
social skill instruction, counseling, health care, room and board,
and recreational activities. One unique feature of Job Corps is
that, for the most part, it is a residential program. About 90
percent of the youths enrolled each year live at Job Corps centers
and receive services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The premise for
boarding participants is that most come from a disruptive home life;
therefore, they can benefit from receiving education and training in
a different setting where a variety of support services are available
around the clock. The comprehensive services Job Corps provides make
it a relatively expensive program. According to Labor's program year
1996 figures, the average cost per Job Corps participant was more
than $15,000. Cost varies according to the length of time a
participant stays in the program. Participants stay in the program
for an average of about 7 months but may stay as long as 2 years.
Labor estimates the cost for a participant who remains in the program
for a year to be about $25,000.
Vocational training is an important element of the Job Corps program.
This training is designed to offer individualized, self-paced, and
open entry/open exit instruction to allow participants to progress at
their own pace. Overall, Job Corps offers training in 100 different
vocations. Although the number of vocations offered at any Job Corps
center varies, most centers offer training in 7 to 10 different
vocations. Some centers offer training in as few as 5 vocations,
while one offers training in 31 different vocations. Some vocations
are offered at most centers, while others are offered at only a
single center. For example, over 80 percent of the centers offer
training in business clerical, culinary arts, building and apartment
maintenance, and carpentry. On the other hand, 35 vocations,
including computer programmer, asphalt paver, barber, teacher aide,
and cable television installer, are only offered at a single center.
Many centers also offer off-site advanced career training at such
institutions as vocational schools, community colleges, and
universities for participants who have been in the program for at
least 6 months. Regardless of who provides the training, Job Corps
requires all vocational training programs to use competency-based
curricula that contain a series of skills, or competencies, that
participants must accomplish. According to Labor officials, each
vocational training program's curricula and required skills are
regularly reviewed and updated by industry advisory groups consisting
of business, industry, and training providers.
--------------------
\3 "Placement" means getting a job, entering the military, returning
to school, or entering another training program.
\4 The remaining two-thirds of the vocational training is provided by
Job Corps center staff or by local training providers under
subcontract to the Job Corps center.
PROGRAM GOALS IN RESPONSE TO
THE RESULTS ACT
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:1.1
The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 is aimed at
improving performance of government programs. In a time of limited
budgets, the Results Act is a powerful tool that disciplines program
management by requiring agencies to clarify their missions, establish
goals and a strategy for reaching them, measure performance, and
report on their accomplishments. The Results Act requires virtually
every executive agency to develop strategic plans that clearly define
their mission and articulate comprehensive mission statements that
define their basic purpose. It also requires agencies to establish
long-term strategic goals as well as annual goals linked to them.
Agencies must then measure their performance toward the goals they
have set and report publicly on how well they are doing. In addition
to monitoring their ongoing performance, agencies are expected to
evaluate their programs and to use the results from these evaluations
to improve the programs.
Beginning in fiscal year 1999, executive agencies are to use their
strategic plans to prepare annual performance plans. These
performance plans are to include annual goals linked to the
activities cited in budget presentations as well as the indicators
the agency will use to measure performance in reaching
results-oriented goals. Annual performance plans connect the
long-term goals of the strategic plan to daily activities. Agencies
are subsequently to report each year on the extent to which goals
have been met, provide an explanation if these goals have not been
met, and present the actions needed to reach any unmet goals.
Labor's plan includes separate plans for its units. The Employment
and Training Administration includes Job Corps in its performance
plan, which has a goal of placing 75 percent of Job Corps
participants in jobs or further education with an average wage of
$6.50 an hour for those placed in jobs or the armed forces.\5
--------------------
\5 This same goal is also included in Labor's departmentwide
performance plan overview. In addition to these measures, Labor uses
other measures to assess the performance of Job Corps and its center
operators, including the proportion of participants who complete
their vocational training and the proportion of participants placed
in jobs related to their vocational training.
EFFORTS TO ENSURE THE
APPROPRIATENESS AND RELEVANCE
OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:2
Labor has several activities to foster Job Corps' employer and
community linkages to ensure the appropriateness of vocational
training to local labor markets and its relevance to employer needs.
Since 1984, Labor has used industry advisory groups to regularly
review vocational course curricula to ensure the relevance of course
content to the job market. In program year 1995, Labor introduced a
school-to-work initiative at three Job Corps centers, combining
center-based training with actual work site experience. Labor
expanded this initiative to another 30 centers in program year 1996
and an additional 30 centers in program year 1997. In addition,
Labor involves local business and community leaders in deciding which
vocational training programs to offer at newly established Job Corps
centers. For example, one such new center that we visited had
decided the vocations to be offered 2 years before the center's
contract was awarded. The center's decisions on vocational training
were made with input from local business and community leaders,
including representatives of the mayor's office, the private industry
council,\6 the school department, and local businesses. As a result
of this decisionmaking process, this center does not offer many
traditional Job Corps vocational programs such as clerical, culinary
arts, landscaping, and building and apartment maintenance. Instead,
it offers nine vocational training programs in such high-demand
occupations as medical assistant, phlebotomy/EKG technician, and
computer repair.
In addition to national efforts, three of Labor's regional offices
have developed their own initiatives to improve linkages between Job
Corps centers and area employers. For example, one regional office
has two initiatives in place to modify training programs to meet the
needs of local employers in the shipbuilding and automotive service
industries. In both instances the employers had direct input into
the vocational training curriculum and donated equipment for the
training. One program--the welding program for the shipbuilding
industry--involves students training at the Job Corps center under
conditions similar to a shipbuilding work site. The shipbuilding
company tests the students and then provides additional training at
the shipbuilding site. In the automotive service program, the
employer provides the equipment, the instructor, and the training
curriculum. Both employers have hired graduates of these programs
and are satisfied with their relationship with Job Corps.
Two other regional offices have tried to increase employer
involvement with Job Corps. In one instance a regional office held a
series of meetings with representatives of various employers and
center staff to bridge the gap between the needs of private industry
and the Job Corps program. These meetings led to recommended actions
and suggested new strategies to resolve employer issues. In the
other example, a regional office is sponsoring a project to increase
employer involvement in all facets of the Job Corps operation,
including curriculum development, customized training, work-based
learning, mentoring, identifying workforce needs, and donating staff
resources and equipment.
Individual Job Corps centers have also established linkages with
employers. These linkages include negotiating with employers to
provide furniture and vocational training equipment and contracting
with employers to train and hire program participants. For example,
one center obtained a four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle from an
automobile manufacturer for students in the auto repair vocational
training course. Local auto dealers, familiar with the center's
linkages to the national automobile manufacturer, have also donated
cars needing repair. In addition, local auto dealers have trained
students through the school-
to-work program and hired many Job Corps program participants.
Another center holds monthly employer and community relations
meetings during which approximately 200 local employers and community
representatives attend a luncheon catered by the center's culinary
arts students to discuss local employment opportunities and donate
funds to benefit Job Corps participants.
--------------------
\6 Under the Job Training Partnership Act of 1983, a private industry
council, comprising representatives of private-sector employers,
local education agencies, organized labor, rehabilitation agencies,
community-based organizations, economic development agencies, and the
public service employment agency, is appointed by local elected
officials of each service delivery area and approves a job training
plan designed to meet local employment and training needs.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING COMPLETION
AND PLACEMENT IN
TRAINING-RELATED JOBS
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:3
Data on vocational training completion and placement outcomes are
misleading, and as a result two performance indicators that Labor
uses to evaluate Job Corps' success are overstated. Labor reports
that about 48 percent of all program participants nationwide complete
their vocational training and that about 62 percent of the jobs
obtained by program participants relate to the vocational training
received. Only about 14 percent of program participants nationwide
satisfied all their vocational training requirements, according to
our review, and about 41 percent of the reported training-related job
placements at the five centers we visited were questionable. Labor
needs complete and accurate program performance information for
evaluating program success and for identifying areas needing
improvement.\7
--------------------
\7 We also questioned the validity of 15 percent of the reported
placements we sampled at six centers in GAO/HEHS-95-180, June 30,
1995.
LABOR'S VOCATIONAL
COMPLETION DESIGNATION DOES
NOT MEAN THAT ALL VOCATIONAL
TRAINING TASKS WERE
COMPLETED
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:3.1
Job Corps reported that in program year 1996, 48 percent of its
participants nationwide completed vocational training. The
information Labor uses to define vocational completion, however, is
misleading. Only about 14 percent of the program year 1996
participants actually completed all the required tasks of their
vocational training programs, according to our review. Job Corps'
national data system has three categories for identifying a
participant's level of vocational training progress: trainee,
completer, and advanced completer. A trainee is a participant who
has not completed any vocational training component, a completer has
accomplished at least one part of a vocational program, and an
advanced completer has fully satisfied all required parts of a
vocational training program. Participants in the last two categories
are considered vocational training completers. Thus, Job Corps'
reported statistics on vocational completers include participants who
have only partially completed the required skills of their vocational
training programs.\8
Each vocational training program in Job Corps has a comprehensive
list of duties and tasks that participants are expected to perform.
For example, the clerical vocational training program has 140 duties
and tasks that participants must accomplish to fully complete the
program, food service has 109, and carpentry has 75. Each vocational
training program is divided into several segments. For example, in
the food service vocational training program, the first segment
entails making a sandwich and preparing a salad (covering 39 of the
109 tasks); the second segment adds preparing breakfast dishes;
heating convenience foods; preparing meats, poultry, fish, and pasta;
and cooking vegetables; and the final segment adds preparing soups,
sauces, and appetizers, as well as food management skills, such as
preparing a menu, setting a table, developing a food preparation
schedule, and conducting safety inspections.
Vocational training instructors assess participants' performance for
each identified duty and task. Job Corps policy permits participants
to be classified as vocational completers if they accomplish the
duties and tasks associated with any one segment of the vocational
training program--
regardless of whether they can perform all the duties and tasks
required in the entire vocational training program. Depending on the
vocation, the percentage of tasks that a participant must accomplish
to be considered a completer ranges from virtually 100 percent--for
the health occupations vocational training program--to about 25
percent for the welding program (see table 1).
Table 1
Number of Tasks Participants Have to
Accomplish to be Considered Vocational
Completers in Selected Vocational
Training Programs
Minimum Percentage
Number of number of of total
tasks tasks tasks
required to required to required to
fully be be
complete considered a considered a
Vocation training completer completer
---------------- ------------ ------------ ------------
Health 189 179 95
occupations
Electrician 79 56 71
Painter 50 32 64
Carpentry 75 42 56
Building and 123 64 52
apartment
maintenance
Clerical 140 67 48
Landscaping 167 71 43
Bricklayer 64 26 41
Food service 109 39 36
Welding 128 36 28
----------------------------------------------------------
Thus, Job Corps policy allows participants to be classified as
vocational completers if they can perform some portion of the
required curricula. For example, in the food service vocational
training program, accomplishing only the tasks associated with the
salad/sandwich making segment would qualify a participant as a
vocational completer. At the centers we visited that had a food
service program, nearly half of the reported vocational completers
had completed only this first segment of the food service program.
At the five centers overall, 43 percent of the vocational completers
had completed only the first segment of their vocational training
programs.
Job Corps' reported percentage of vocational completers at the five
centers we visited substantially overstated the percentage of
participants who fully completed their vocational training programs.
At the five centers, only about 1 in 3 reported vocational completers
had actually completed all the vocational training requirements. The
percentage of program year participants fully completing vocational
training programs ranged from about 11 percent at one center to about
27 percent at another center. Nonetheless, these two centers had
reported vocational completion rates of 65 and 73 percent,
respectively (see fig. 1).
Figure 1: Reported and Full
Completion Rates for Vocational
Training Nationwide and at Five
Job Corps Centers, Fiscal Year
1996
(See figure in printed
edition.)
--------------------
\8 Placement in a job does not depend on a participant's completing
any of the required skills of a vocational training program. Job
Corps requires placement contractors to help all participants with
placement regardless of how long they were in the program or the
reason they left.
TRAINING-RELATED JOB
PLACEMENT STATISTICS ARE NOT
MEANINGFUL
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:3.2
Labor reported that in program year 1996, 62 percent of those placed
in employment found jobs that matched the Job Corps training they
received. Our review of this information at the five centers we
visited, however, suggests that this overstates the program's
accomplishments. At the five centers, 63 percent of the job
placements were reported as training related; however, the validity
of about 41 percent of these job training matches was questionable.
In checking this information, we first reviewed all the job
placements at the five centers we visited to assess the validity of
reported job training matches. We then verified our results by
contacting a representative sample of employers who had hired the Job
Corps participants.\9 We questioned job training matches because
either the job title did not seem appropriate for the employer listed
or the job title did not seem to relate to the vocational training.
We then interviewed a random sample of 175 employers who had hired
these Job Corps participants whose job placement was listed as
related to the vocational training they received but that we
questioned. Placements listed as training related but that we
questioned included a participant placed as a cashier at a fast food
restaurant after having received secretarial training and a
participant placed at a gas station who had trained to be a bank
teller.\10 Table 2 shows additional examples of jobs reported as
being training related that we questioned.
Table 2
Examples of Reported Job Training
Matches We Questioned
Vocational training Job placement Employer
---------------------- ---------------- ----------------
Accounting Bank teller Cable Car
Linen room Cleaners
attendant Sheraton Hotel
Auto repair Detailer Vintage Car
Wash boy Wash
Mesa Ford
Bricklaying Janitor Waffle House
Material handler Roger's
Supermarket
Carpentry Municipal Piggly Wiggly's
maintenance grocery store
worker Ro-An Jewelers
Stone polisher
Clerical Bank teller McDonalds
Cashier Dunkin Donuts
Diesel mechanic Laundry machine Elks Lodge
washer K-Mart
Stock checker
Electronic assembly Car wash Vintage Car
attendant Wash
Machine cleaner Baskin & Robbins
Food service Housekeeper Pilar De La
Personal Torre
attendant Consuelito's
Boutique
Home health aide Appointment Vision Dry
clerk Cleaning
Information Alamo Car Rental
clerk
Hotel/motel clerk Fast food McDonalds
worker Regal Theaters
Ticket seller
Medical assistant Information Delia's
clerk Restaurant
Sanitarian Wendy's
Painting Janitor McDonalds
Material handler Federal Express
Plumbing Assembler Sealy Mattress
Material handler United Parcel
Service
Welding Material handler Popeye's
Utility worker Chicken
KC Pools
----------------------------------------------------------
At the five centers we visited, we questioned between one-quarter and
two-thirds of the job placements that were reported to be related to
the training participants received. (See fig. 2.)
Figure 2: Reported and
Questionable Training-Related
Job Placement Rates at Five Job
Corps Centers
(See figure in printed
edition.)
Our discussions with employers provided examples of participants who
seemed, on the basis of the reported job title, to have obtained jobs
related to the training received. These participants, however, were
actually hired to perform duties unrelated to their training; thus,
they were erroneously reported as being placed in a job related to
their training. For example, one participant trained in welding was
reported as obtaining a job as a welding machine operator at a
temporary agency, but the employer informed us that this individual
was actually hired to shuttle vehicles between airports. Another
participant trained in auto repair was reportedly hired as a
petroleum and gas laborer, but the employer told us that the person
was actually hired to clean residential homes. A third participant
received clerical training and was reportedly hired as a sales
correspondent, but the employer told us that the person actually
sorted bad tomatoes from good ones on a conveyor belt. All three of
these Job Corps participants, on the basis of the reported job title,
had seemed to obtain jobs related to the training received, but they
were actually hired to perform duties unrelated to their training;
thus, they were erroneously reported as being placed in a job related
to their training.
Labor's monitoring of reported job training matches appears to be
inadequate. Labor officials stated that Job Corps regional offices
monitor all aspects of placement contractor performance, but the
offices have no fixed schedule for conducting such monitoring. Labor
officials stated that regular desk reviews of all placement forms,
both for accuracy and completeness, take place as part of the process
of paying for vouchers submitted by placement contractors. On the
basis of our findings, this procedure may not be adequate to ensure
the accuracy of that reported information.
--------------------
\9 We identified 598 questionable job training matches at the five
centers. We contacted a random sample of 175 of the listed employers
to verify information about the reported job placement and used the
results of this sample to estimate the number of questionable
matches. We estimate, at the 95-percent confidence level, that
between 520 and 564 job training matches are questionable at these
centers.
\10 We also questioned Job Corps' policy of providing an automatic
job training match for any individual enlisting in the military,
regardless of the assigned duties. At the five centers, military
enlistments accounted for about 5 percent of the reported job
training matches, although at one center about 13 percent of the
reported job training matches were for military enlistments.
However, we did not include these reported job training matches in
our questionable category.
SOLE-SOURCE PROCUREMENT OF
VOCATIONAL TRAINING SERVICES
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:4
At the Subcommittee's request, we reviewed Labor's justification for
using sole-source procedures for procuring vocational training
services through national training contractors and determined that
Labor's justification fails to provide sufficient facts and rationale
to support its claimed need to use noncompetitive procedures. Labor
has contracted with national labor and business organizations under
sole-source arrangements for more than 30 years. Currently, Labor
has nine sole-source contracts with national labor and business
organizations totaling about $46 million (see table 3). This
represents about one-third of the expenditures for vocational
training activities in program year 1996.
Table 3
National Training Contractors
Latest Number
Year of award of
initial (million training
Contractor award s) slots
---------------------------- -------- -------- --------
AFL/CIO Appalachian Council 1974 $4.2 542
Home Builders Institute 1974 $13.5 4,090
International Brotherhood of 1969 $4.1 1,280
Painters and Allied Trades
International Masonry 1971 $3.5 910
Institute
International Union of 1966 $2.5 450
Operating Engineers
National Plasterers and 1970 $5.3 1,440
Cement Masons International
Association
Transportation- 1972 $4.2 380
Communication International
Union
United Brotherhood of 1968 $6.3 2,260
Carpenters and Joiners of
America
United Auto Workers 1978 $2.5 396
==========================================================
Total $46.1 11,748
----------------------------------------------------------
Federal procurement regulations require several conditions to be met
for an agency to award a contract on a sole-source basis. These
include (1) establishing the need for services that can be only
provided by a specific entity, (2) documenting through a market
survey or other basis that no other known entity can provide the
required services, and (3) stating a plan of action the agency may
take for removing barriers to competition in the future.
Labor used three broad considerations as justification for making
sole-source awards in 1993 for about a third of Job Corps' vocational
training rather than using full and open competition: (1) the
contractor's past relationship with Job Corps, that is, experience
with Labor's Employment and Training Administration in general and
Job Corps, specifically, and thorough knowledge of Job Corps'
procedures and operations; (2) the contractor's organizational
structure, that is, a large nationwide membership related to a trade
and its strong relationship with national and local apprenticeship
programs; and (3) the contractor's instructional capability, that is,
the availability of qualified and experienced instructors; ability to
provide training specifically developed for the learning level of Job
Corps students; and the ability to provide recognition of training as
credit toward meeting the requirements of becoming a journey-level
worker. In addition, Labor officials have stated that a main reason
for its justification for these sole-source awards is the
contractors' maintaining an extensive nationwide placement network.
Labor acknowledged that its national data system has no information
to indicate the extent to which national training contractors were
directly responsible for placing Job Corps participants in jobs.
Our review of Labor's current and proposed justification for its
sole-
source contracts and our previous work\11 on this issue raise
questions about Labor's long-standing practice of awarding
sole-source contracts. Labor's 1993 sole-source justification
essentially lists the qualities Labor expects in a contractor. Labor
lacks data to support its contention that contractors maintain an
extensive nationwide placement network and failed to demonstrate that
no other entity is available to bid on the contract. Labor's
proposed justification for upcoming contracts has many of the
weaknesses of the current justification.
--------------------
\11 GAO/HEHS-95-180, June 30, 1995.
CONCLUSIONS
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:5
Job Corps is an expensive job training program that provides
comprehensive services to a severely disadvantaged population. For
over 30 years, Job Corps has been helping young people who need and
can benefit from an intensive program operated primarily in a
residential setting. However, our work raises serious questions
about Labor's claims about the program's achievements. Reported
statistics on placement rates, the percentage of participants who are
vocational completers, and the percentage of participants who
obtained jobs related to the training they received are misleading
and overstate Job Corps' results. The Labor Department and the
Congress need meaningful and accurate information if they are to
effectively manage and oversee the Job Corps program.
In addition, Labor has continued its long-standing practice of
awarding sole-source contracts for a substantial portion of Job
Corps' vocational training--a practice we suggested it re-evaluate in
1995. To date, Labor has failed to provide adequate support to
justify sole-source procurement for vocational training services
provided by the nine national labor and business organizations.
Labor's justification for sole-source procurement does not explain or
demonstrate the basis for Labor's determination of need.
We will be making recommendations to address these issues in a
forthcoming report to the Subcommittee.
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:5.1
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. We would be
happy to answer any questions that you or Members of the Subcommittee
may have.
*** End of document. ***