Book Description

This document reports the oral and written testimony submitted at a Congressional hearing on how job training works--how effective employment training programs succeed and how that success is measured. The hearing was based on a General Accounting Office study that found four hallmarks of effective job training: individual commitment, removal of personal barriers to employment, a focus on basic employment skills, and a close connection to the realities of the local job market. Witnesses included persons who had completed job training programs, operators of nonprofit organizations that conduct job training, government officials involved in job training programs, and representatives of corporations such as Marriott International that conduct extensive job training programs. The testimony focused on the need to coordinate efforts of job training programs so that potential participants do not have to work through a maze of hundreds of agencies. The witnesses pointed out that even well-educated people and professionals in the human services field have a hard time determining which agencies can help them and how to find those agencies. Some of the witnesses endorsed one-stop services such as those supported in the GI Bill and in a proposed Career Bill. (KC)