This dissertation examines the dual relationship Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) students at Kentucky community colleges have with their institution as provider of academic education and as a social service agency. JTPA is an employment training program that focuses on securing employment for the unemployed. JTPA provides the financial means for short-term job training for in-demand occupations. Recipients are unemployed, economically disadvantaged adults, youth, and dislocated workers. The federal government assumes a minimal role in the program, which is largely the responsibility of state and local governments. The author interviewed 16 JTPA participants during their third and fourth semesters at the community college. Students were contacted again three months and 6 months after their designated graduation date. The author aimed to discover if the students' situations had changed after their 3-month follow-up, once the scaffolding of financial and emotional support offered by the program was removed. Some of the participants were experiencing setbacks. However, all students believed setbacks would be temporary, and that their lives had improved as a result of the program. The author found there to be a forced satisfaction with the program due to an unequal distribution of power. The dissertation argues for JTPA offering a bachelor's degree in order to allow true participation in the workforce. Research instrument is appended. (Contains 81 references.) (NB)