THIS STUDY EXAMINED THE SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS OF MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING ACT EX-TRAINEES, THE SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGES THAT OCCURRED AFTER TRAINING, THE LONG- AND SHORT-RANGE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SERVICES RECEIVED UNDER THE MDTA PROGRAM, AND HOW THESE MAY BE IMPROVED. FOR APPROXIMATELY 500 PERSONS WHO COMPLETED AN MDTA PROGRAM IN ST. LOUIS, KANSAS CITY, AND JOPLIN, MISSOURI, FROM OCTOBER 1, 1964, THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 1965, FOLLOWUP INTERVIEWS WERE HELD AT 6-, 12-, AND 18-MONTH INTERVALS, AND EMPLOYERS RATED THEIR PERFORMANCE FOLLOWING EACH OF THE THREE INTERVIEWS. ADDITIONAL DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM THE RECORDS OF RELEVANT STATE AND LOCAL PUBLIC AGENCIES. SOME FINDINGS WERE: (1) 21.4 PERCENT OF THE EX-TRAINEES WERE RECEIVING SOME FORM OF WELFARE FOR AN AVERAGE OF 14.8 MONTHS SOME TIME DURING THE 18 MONTHS PRECEDING TRAINING, (2) PRETRAINING WORK HISTORY WAS BOTH ERRATIC AND IRREGULAR, (3) PERSONAL SERVICE, SEMISKILLED, SKILLED, AND UNSKILLED, IN THAT ORDER, TOGETHER WITH CLERICAL, ACCOUNTED FOR THE MAJORITY OF POST-TRAINING JOBS, AND (4) NEITHER THE TYPE OF JOB NOR THE WAGES RECEIVED SEEMED TO HAVE ANY APPRECIABLE BEARING ON ATTITUDE TOWARD THE JOB, AND MOST LIKED THEIR WORK VERY WELL OR FAIRLY WELL. FINDINGS LED TO 10 MAJOR CONCLUSIONS AND SIX RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF MDTA PROGRAMS. COPIES OF THE DATA-GATHERING INSTRUMENTS USED AND 62 DETAILED STATISTICAL TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (ET)