The National JTPA Study : Site Characteristics and Participation Patterns / James J. Kemple and Others.

One part of a study of the difference that services under Title IIA of the National Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) make in the employment, earnings, and welfare receipt of adults and out-of-school youths served by the program focused on the following: recruiting sites, monitoring the implementation of the research design, and describing and analyzing the characteristics of the local programs in the study and participation in JTPA services. A review of the 16 sites selected led to several basic findings: (1) the 16 sites, as a group, resemble the national average for all JTPA programs; (2) these sites successfully implemented a complex research design, randomly assigning more than 20,000 applicants to treatment and control groups and using one of three service strategies for each person randomly assigned; (3) the service strategies recommended (classroom training, on-the-job training, job search assistance, and subsidized employment) were implemented in most cases and will be evaluated in the 18-month impact report; (4) there were differences in the types of services in which the four target groups--adult men, adult women, male out-of-school youths, and female out-of-school youths--enrolled; (5) there were further differences among key subgroups (males were more likely to enroll in on-the-job training and job search assistance whereas females had higher rates of enrollment in classroom training; Black and Hispanic adults were more likely than Whites to enroll in classroom training and job search help and less likely to enroll in on-the-job training; White youths were more likely than Blacks to enroll in on-the job training); and (6) site administrative practices (private industry council role, performance-based contracts), success in exceeding performance standards, service emphasis, and patterns of enrollment for treatment group members varied considerably from site to site. (The report includes a list of 20 references; 66 tables; and appendixes that include profiles of the sites studied, supplementary tables, and data sources for the report.) (KC)

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