Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO identified state and local youth training programs that incorporate four basic characteristics of the Job Corps Program: (1) serving a severely disadvantaged population; (2) providing basic education instruction; (3) focusing on vocational training services; and (4) providing those services in a residential setting.

GAO found that: (1) while many state and local youth training programs feature, to some extent, some of the Job Corps' basic characteristics, most do not feature all four characteristics; (2) most youth training programs provide disadvantaged youth with basic education; (3) states' residential youth programs generally target specific populations such as youths involved in the court system, disabled youth, or substance abusers; (4) although state and local youth corps programs most closely resemble the Job Corps, few are residential; and (5) the California Conservation Corps and Seaborne Conservation Corps in Galveston, Texas, feature all four Job Corps characteristics, but differ from Job Corps in program operations.