United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-10-21 monographic deposited born digital 80 p. GA 1.13:HEHS-98-1 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-1 P0b002ee180398e5c f:he98001 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-1 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-1 HEHS-98-1 Attrition rates Vocational education Disadvantaged persons Youth employment programs Contractor performance Training utilization State-administered programs Eligibility criteria DOL Job Corps Program DOL Student Pay and Allowance Management Information System Letter Report HEHS

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Job Corps program's recruitment and placement contractors, focusing on: (1) whether Job Corps' policy guidance regarding eligibility criteria is consistent with the legislation and regulations; (2) how the use of recruiting contractors could be improved to increase participant retention in the program; and (3) how the use of placement contractors could be improved to enhance positive outcomes.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) Job Corps' policy guidance for 2 of the 11 eligibility criteria was ambiguous and incomplete, which has led to an eligibility determination process that fails to follow the requirements of the law and program regulations; (2) in GAO's visits to several outreach and admissions contractors, GAO found that those with higher retention rates follow procedures aimed at identifying applicants with the committment and motivation to remain in and benefit from the program; (3) in GAO's analysis of participant characteristics, GAO identified certain characteristics significantly related to the likelihood of remaining in the program for at least 60 days; (4) Labor could use some of these characteristics to design outreach efforts or to establish priorities among establish priorities among eligible applicants; (5) although Job Corps is a performance-driven program and Labor uses performance measures to make decisions on placement contractor renewal, two of the measures Labor used were not meaningful and, thus, Labor did not have the information it needed to accurately assess the performance of placement contractors; (6) placement measures held contractors responsible for placing individuals who may have received little or no benefit from the program or who demonstrated behavior that normally would be unacceptable to most employers; (7) the job-training match measure did not accurately portray the extent to which participants obtained jobs related to their vocational training because of the wide latitude placement contractors have in deciding whether a job is related to the training received and the creativity contractors used in recording the occupational titles of the jobs obtained; (8) one aspect of placement contractors' operations associated with better performance was having staff solely responsible for placing Job Corps participants; (9) seven contractors visited by GAO with high placement rates had staff solely responsible for placing Job Corps participants; (10) in contrast, four of the five contractors having lower placement rates had the same staff responsible for performing outreach and assessment as well as placement; and (11) as a result of its concern about performance, Labor has not renewed 12 of the 18 contracts with state agencies. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-1/html/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-1.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-1/pdf/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-1.pdf GAO/HEHS-98-1 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-1 Letter Report GAO/HEHS-98-1; Job Corps: Need for Better Enrollment Guidance and Improved Placement Measures; Attrition rates Vocational education Disadvantaged persons Youth employment programs Contractor performance Training utilization State-administered programs Eligibility criteria DOL Job Corps Program DOL Student Pay and Allowance Management Information System Title 29 Section 1501 29 U.S.C. 1501