Job Corps Improvement Act of 1996

Summary: Job Corps Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act with respect to the Job Corps program. 
Directs the Secretary of Labor to require that Job Corps applicants be tested for drug and alcohol use and undergo appropriate background checks. 
Directs the Secretary to establish Job Corps standards of conduct that prohibit enrollee possession, distribution, or use of controlled substances, abuse of alcohol, acts of violence, and other related disruptive activities.  Requires the director of a Job Corps center to take appropriate disciplinary measures against an enrollee, including immediate dismissal, upon determination that the enrollee has violated any such standard.  Subjects such dismissal decisions by directors to expeditious appeal procedures established by the Secretary. 
Limits the portion of Job Corps funds which may be used for program administration. 
Directs the Secretary to:  (1) review and report to the Congress on Job Corps activities; and (2) make improvements, based on review results, in the operation of the Job Corps program, including specified numbers of closings and relocations of centers.  Prohibits closing a Job Corps center if it is the only one in a State or a region.  Allows completion of planning or construction and beginning of operation of any uncompleted Job Corps center that received Federal funding for FY 1994 or 1995.  Prohibits the Secretary from evaluating any such center sooner than three years after the first date of operation. 
Directs the Secretary to report biennially to the Congress on specified matters relating to the Job Corps program.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Job Corps Improvement Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. SCREENING AND SELECTION OF APPLICANTS.

    Section 424 of the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1694) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) In prescribing standards and procedures for the screening and 
selection of applicants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 
require that, not later than 30 days after the date on which an 
applicant applies for the Job Corps, the applicant--
            ``(1) is tested for drug use and alcohol use; and
            ``(2) undergoes an appropriate background check.''.

SEC. 3. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT.

    Section 430 of the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1700) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c)(1) The Secretary shall establish standards that prohibit--
            ``(A) the possession, distribution, or use of controlled 
        substances by enrollees;
            ``(B) abuse of alcohol by enrollees;
            ``(C) acts of violence by enrollees; and
            ``(D) other related disruptive activities by enrollees.
    ``(2)(A) The director of a Job Corps center shall take appropriate 
disciplinary measures against an enrollee, including immediate 
dismissal of the enrollee from the Job Corps, if the director 
determines that the enrollee has violated any standard under paragraph 
(1).
    ``(B) A decision by a director of a Job Corps center to dismiss an 
enrollee from the Job Corps shall be subject to expeditious appeal in 
accordance with procedures established by the Secretary.
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term `controlled 
substance' has the meaning given such term under section 102 of the 
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).''.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 438 of the Job Training Partnership Act 
(29 U.S.C. 1708) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
        ``The Secretary'' and inserting ``(a) The Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) For any fiscal year, the Secretary may not obligate or expend 
for the administration of the program an aggregate amount that is equal 
to or greater than 16 percent of the amount available for that fiscal 
year to carry out the program.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 438(b) of such Act, as added by 
subsection (a), shall apply with respect to fiscal year 1997 and 
subsequent fiscal years.

SEC. 5. REVIEW OF JOB CORPS CENTERS.

    (a) Review.--Not later than March 31, 1997, the Secretary of Labor 
shall conduct a review of the activities carried out under the Job 
Corps program under part B of title IV of the Job Training Partnership 
Act (29 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.), and submit to the Congress a report 
containing the results of the review, including--
            (1) information on the amount of funds expended for fiscal 
        year 1996 to carry out activities under such part, for each 
        State and for the United States;
            (2) for each Job Corps center funded under such part, 
        information on the amount of funds expended for fiscal year 
        1996 under such part to carry out activities related to the 
        direct operation of the center, including funds expended for 
        student training, outreach or intake activities, meals and 
        lodging, student allowances, medical care, placement or 
        settlement activities, and administration;
            (3) for each Job Corps center, information on the amount of 
        funds expended for fiscal year 1996 under such part through 
        contracts to carry out activities not related to the direct 
        operation of the center, including funds expended for student 
        travel, national outreach, screening, and placement services, 
        national vocational training, and national and regional 
        administrative costs;
            (4) for each Job Corps center, information on the amount of 
        funds expended for fiscal year 1996 under such part for 
        facility construction, rehabilitation, and acquisition 
        expenses;
            (5) information on the amount of funds required to be 
        expended under such part to complete each new or proposed Job 
        Corps center, and to rehabilitate and repair each existing Job 
        Corps center, as of the date of the submission of the report;
            (6) a summary of the information described in paragraphs 
        (2) through (5) for all Job Corps centers;
            (7) an assessment of the need to serve youths in the Job 
        Corps program, including--
                    (A) a cost-benefit analysis of the residential 
                component of the Job Corps program;
                    (B) the need for residential education and training 
                services for youths, analyzed for each State and for 
                the United States; and
                    (C) the distribution of training positions in the 
                Job Corps program, as compared to the need for the 
                services described in subparagraph (B), analyzed for 
                each State;
            (8) an overview of the Job Corps program as a whole and an 
        analysis of individual Job Corps centers, including a 5-year 
        performance measurement summary that includes information, 
        analyzed for the program and for each Job Corps center, on--
                    (A) the number of enrollees served;
                    (B) the number of former enrollees who entered 
                employment, including the number of former enrollees 
                placed in a position related to the job training 
                received through the program and the number placed in a 
                position not related to the job training received;
                    (C) the number of former enrollees placed in jobs 
                for 32 hours per week or more;
                    (D) the number of former enrollees who entered 
                employment and were retained in the employment for more 
                than 13 weeks;
                    (E) the number of former enrollees who entered the 
                Armed Forces;
                    (F) the number of former enrollees who completed 
                vocational training, and the rate of such completion, 
                analyzed by vocation;
                    (G) the number of former enrollees who entered 
                postsecondary education;
                    (H) the number and percentage of early dropouts 
                from the Job Corps program;
                    (I) the average wage of former enrollees, including 
                wages from positions described in subparagraph (B);
                    (J) the number of former enrollees who obtained a 
                secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent;
                    (K) the average level of learning gains for former 
                enrollees; and
                    (L) the number of former enrollees that did not--
                            (i) enter employment or postsecondary 
                        education;
                            (ii) complete a vocational education 
                        program; or
                            (iii) make identifiable learning gains; and
            (9) job placement rates for each Job Corps center and each 
        entity providing services to a Job Corps center.
    (b) Implementation of Improvements.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Labor shall, based on the 
        results of the review under subsection (a), make improvements 
        in the operation of the Job Corps program, including--
                    (A) closing 5 Job Corps centers by September 30, 
                1997, and 5 additional Job Corps centers by September 
                30, 2000;
                    (B) relocating Job Corps centers described in 
                paragraph (2)(A)(iii) in cases in which facility 
                rehabilitation, renovation, or repair is not cost-
                effective; and
                    (C) taking any other action that would improve the 
                operation of a Job Corps center or any other 
                appropriate action, including closing such additional 
                Job Corps center as the Secretary determines to be 
                appropriate.
            (2) Considerations.--
                    (A) In general.--In implementing the improvements 
                under paragraph (1) with respect to a Job Corps center, 
                the Secretary shall consider whether the center--
                            (i) has consistently received low 
                        performance measurement ratings under the 
                        Department of Labor or the Office of Inspector 
                        General Job Corps rating system;
                            (ii) is among the centers that have 
                        experienced the highest number of serious 
                        incidents of violence or criminal activity in 
                        the past 5 years;
                            (iii) is among the centers that require the 
                        largest funding for renovation or repair, as 
                        specified in the Department of Labor Job Corps 
                        Construction/Rehabilitation Funding Needs 
                        Survey, or for rehabilitation or repair, as 
                        reflected in the portion of the review 
                        described in subsection (a)(5);
                            (iv) is among the centers for which the 
                        highest relative or absolute fiscal year 1996 
                        expenditures were made, for any of the 
                        categories of expenditures described in 
                        paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subsection (a), 
                        as reflected in the review described in 
                        subsection (a);
                            (v) is among the centers with the least 
                        State and local support; or
                            (vi) is among the centers with the lowest 
                        rating on such additional criteria as the 
                        Secretary may determine to be appropriate.
                    (B) Coverage of states and regions.--
                Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
                not close a Job Corps center in a State or a region of 
                the United States in which the center is the only Job 
                Corps center in the State or region, as the case may 
                be.
                    (C) Allowance for new job corps centers.--
                Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if 
                the planning or construction of a Job Corps center that 
                received Federal funding for fiscal year 1994 or 1995 
                has not been completed by the date of enactment of this 
                Act--
                            (i) the appropriate entity may complete the 
                        planning or construction and begin operation of 
                        the center; and
                            (ii) the Secretary shall not evaluate the 
                        center under this section sooner than 3 years 
                        after the first date of operation of the 
                        center.
    (c) Biennial Report to Congress.--The Secretary shall report every 
two years to the Congress the information specified in paragraphs (8) 
and (9) of subsection (a) and such additional information relating to 
the Job Corps program as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate.