Katie Porter: “Mr. Chairman, the gentleman has raised the value of job training programs generally, and I would agree that there are…”

“Mr. Chairman, the gentleman has raised the value of job training programs generally, and I would agree that there are some that do some good. There are others that do not at all. For example, if we look at adult job training and we look at the Department's own reviews, they indicate the program is not very effective. The inspector general audit reports indicated only 53 percent of the participants in the adult job training obtained jobs. Furthermore, of the ones who got jobs, half said they found them without JTPA assistance. Last year the IG testified the program is being asked to address educational failures, physical dependencies, and emotional and physical disabilities with no demonstrated pattern of success. The IG said in testimony in 1993 that we continue to find phantom JTPA participants, bribery, and overbilling by consultants and contractors, abuses by brokers and other middlemen, and just plain stealing of JTPA funds by those who administer as well as participate in the program. In other words, there have been problems in the program.”