Federally Assisted Employment and Training: A Myriad of Programs Should Be Simplified

In an attempt to determine the extent of coordination in federal employment and training programs, GAO examined the effectiveness of these programs in the Tidewater, Virginia, area. Some of the approaches used in the programs included public service employment, institutional training, on-the-job training, vocational rehabilitation, work experience, and job placement assistance. The success of the federal efforts to make people employable and place them in permanent unsubsidized jobs has been impeded by problems of program proliferation and coordination. Congress addressed this problem with the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, which consolidated 17 separate federal employment and training programs and channeled program funds through local and state governments. Over the years, however, additional employment and training programs have been established, and the problems of program proliferation and coordination remain.