Timeline of Job Training Programs

1962: Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA)

1964: Job Corps

Established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964; offered training and counseling in a residential environment to highly disadvantaged youth.

1967: Work Incentive Program (WIN)

Provided training to welfare recipients.

1973: Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)

CETA consolidated various job training programs and turned the administration and operation of the programs to local officials.

1981: WIN demonstration programs (WIN Demos)

Gave states the option to assume responsibility for the administration and oversight of the WIN program for their state.

1982: Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)

Largest federal job training program. Highly decentralized block grant program administered by local communities with minimal federal regulation and oversight. Consolidation reduced the amount of money spent of job training for the disadvantaged: in 1981, federal expenditure for training was $4.4 billion whereas by 1994, the amount had fallen to $2.4 billion.

1985: Food Security Act

Established a training program for food stamp recipients which was largely designed and administered by the state.

1988: Jobs Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS)

Replaced the WIN program. Provided federal matching funds for states to design their own welfare-to-work programs (replaced by TANF in 1996)

1996: Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF)

TANF provides states with a block grant to meet the needs of low-income families with children. With the funds, states must provide cash assistance to needy families and operate a program to put welfare recipients to work (components may include job search, job training, day care, and other programs).

1997: Welfare-to-Work grants (WtW)

Established under the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1997, the WtW grants complement TANF in that the Wtw are specifically designated for work-related activities and not cash payments. Target those groups in the welfare population who are the least employable or face serious barriers to employment. Can also serve non-custodial fathers of children on TANF. WtW funds cannot be used for pre-employment job training or education, but rather, can only be used once a person has begun work.

1998: Workforce Investment Act

Consolidated a number of Labor Department job training programs and created one-stop-centers in every state for job seekers.

**In 1999, there were 40 federal programs that spent an estimated $11.7 billion on job training or job placement assistance.

**There has been a trend in job training programs and legislation towards consolidating the diverse programs and establishing more local and state design and control of job training programs.

**The most effective welfare-to-work programs share a flexible, balanced approach that offers job search, education, job training, and work.

Policy Suggestions

  1. Place strong emphasis on employment, but rely on a more individualized, mixed strategy combining job search, education, and training, and rather than urge participants to take any job, expressly focus on helping participants find better jobs.
  2. Give extra credit to states that help families obtain higher-paying jobs, which will give an added incentive for states to help participants seek higher-paying and long-term jobs, not just any job.
  3. General Accounting Office recommendations:

-The number of programs needs to be reduced, and the ease of access to the remaining programs needs to be increased.

-Conflicting federal requirements and duplicative administrative procedures need to be eliminated.

-A wide array of employment training services needs to be offered, with the programs developed in partnership with employers to ensure relevance to labor market needs.

-Program administrators need to be held accountable, while at the same time states and local agencies need to have the flexibility to design the program to be responsive to local conditions, which requires clearly defined goals and performance standards.