Multiple Employment Training Programs: Major Overhaul Needed to Reduce Costs, Streamline the Bureaucracy, and Improve Results

GAO discussed its review of the many federal employment assistance programs, focusing on: (1) the problems associated with program fragmentation; and (2) program effectiveness. GAO noted that: (1) there are 163 federal employment training assistance programs scattered across 15 federal agencies; (2) the programs often compete for the same clients and funds, share the same goals, and provide similar services, but they maintain separate administrative structures and service delivery mechanisms; (3) the fragmentation and multiplicity of federal employment training programs confuse and frustrate clients, employers, and administrators; (4) most federal agencies do not know how effective their programs are because they lack the basic information needed to manage and assess their programs; and (5) the few programs that compare participants' outcomes with nonparticipants' outcomes show only modest employment gains at best.