Even in good economic times, many adults in the United States have trouble finding jobs that pay enough to support their families. One policy response has been to help these workers build more skills, with promising findings from some sector-based programs that train individuals to work in specific high-demand industries. The Pay for Success Clean…

This paper discusses the importance of effective training and workforce development programs as part of a broader strategy to increase the competitiveness of American workers. Although rapid technological change and increasing global competition have delivered great economic benefits to the U.S. economy overall, the development of new and more…

As President Obama said in advance remarks about the American Graduation Initiative: "[T]he hard truth is that some of the jobs that have been lost in the auto industry and elsewhere won't be coming back. And that only underscores the importance of generating new businesses and industries to replace the ones we've lost, and of preparing our…

Following a review of programs conducted under the Job Training Partnership Act in Florida, the following recommendations were implemented: long-term performance was evaluated; local training efforts were examined; and employment training program oversight responsibility was assigned to Enterprise Florida Jobs and Education Partnership. Further…

Mondale discusses the current state and future trends of youth employment, focusing on the recommendations of the Task Force on Youth Employment. Included in the discussion are minority unemployment rates, private industry cooperation, and the increasing importance of education in two areas--basic skills and career preparation. (SK)

This paper presents the recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Job Corps to the Secretary of Labor pertaining to the review, development and implementation of policies, legislation and regulations for the Job Corps program. This document represents the culmination of an intensive and comprehensive nine-month process undertaken by the…

The two papers in this newsletter focus on youth employment and training programs in the United States and the government response to unemployment in Australia. In the first paper, "Looking at Other Countries, No. 1: United States. Youth Employment and Training Programs during the First Two Years of the Reagan Administration" by Ralph E.…

The federal proposal for Job Training 2000 is criticized for ignoring 30 years of job training programs. It would shift responsibility among existing programs but would not provide needed resources to train more workers. (SK)

Reviews education and training aspects of Clinton proposals and recommends funding of prenatal care, Head Start, and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); parenting training for WIC, Head Start, and welfare recipient parents; revival of career education; expansion of cooperative education and tech prep; assessment of national standards and…

The challenges facing youth who are disconnected from the nation's employment and education systems are expansive. In today's labor market, opportunities for employment at a living wage, and ultimately self-sufficiency, are dismal for those who lack the higher level of skills demanded by employers. The twenty-first century labor market is…

This document reports on and recommends for passage the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1993 (S. 1361), legislation proposed to establish a national framework within which states can create statewide School-to-Work Opportunities systems enabling youth to identify and navigate paths to productive and progressively more rewarding roles in the…

Attributes the lack of success among youth employment/education programs over the past 50 years in part to inadequate evaluation of concept development, program implementation, and individual outcomes. Discusses objectives, implementation, and results of various private and government-supported youth employment and school to work plans. (JCD)

The General Accounting Office (GAO) reviewed the labor market links and vocational training performance of the Job Corps, which is an employment and training program aimed at providing severely disadvantaged youth with a comprehensive array of services in residential settings. Data were collected from the following: interviews with Job Corps…

Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) and Private Industry Councils (PICs) were surveyed concerning their implementation of Exemplary Youth Employment Programs described in Section 205 of the Job Training Partnership Act. Surveys were mailed to over 500 agencies. Of the 219 responding agencies, 77 percent were operating at least one Exemplary Youth…

Vocational education is a must if the United States wishes to compete with the Europeans and Japanese. It cannot be relegated to secondary status in schools. The federal government must play a major role in seeing to a balanced approach to the economic and social goals of vocational education. (CT)