The General Accounting Office (GAO) reviewed states' implementation of the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training Program. GAO studied states' progress in implementing JOBS, decisions about which welfare recipients to serve and what services to provide, views on implementation problems or difficulties, and the nature and extent to which the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provided technical assistance. As of October 1990, all states had established their JOBS programs. States reported they were moving in the new directions indicated by the Congress with a new emphasis on targeting services to long-term and potential long-term recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children and with a shift of program emphasis from immediate job placement toward basic skills and long-term education or training. States reported the following difficulties that could reduce the potential of JOBS and slow progress in helping participants avoid long-term welfare dependence: (1) shortages in alternative and basic/remedial education; (2) child care and transportation in short supply; (3) difficulty in scheduling enough participants and having adequate staff to serve the required proportion of individuals; and (4) difficulty in collecting cost data from service providers and identifying JOBS funds spent on target groups. DHHS provided technical assistance on numerous topics, including participation, targeting, and financial reporting requirements. (YLB)