I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3169

To amend the Job Corps program under the Job Training Partnership Act

to ensure a drug-free, safe, and cost-effective Job Corps, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 27, 1996

Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To amend the Job Corps program under the Job Training

Partnership Act to ensure a drug-free, safe, and costeffective Job Corps, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Job Corps Improve5 ment Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. SCREENING AND SELECTION OF APPLICANTS.

7 Section 424 of the Job Training Partnership Act (29

8 U.S.C. 1694) is amended by adding at the end the follow9 ing:
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1 ‘‘(d) In prescribing standards and procedures for the

2 screening and selection of applicants under subsection (a),

3 the Secretary shall require that, not later than 30 days

4 after the date on which an applicant applies for the Job

5 Corps, the applicant—

6 ‘‘(1) is tested for drug use and alcohol use; and

7 ‘‘(2) undergoes an appropriate background

8 check.’’.

9 SEC. 3. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT.

10 Section 430 of the Job Training Partnership Act (29

11 U.S.C. 1700) is amended by adding at the end the follow12 ing:

13 ‘‘(c)(1) The Secretary shall establish standards that

14 prohibit—

15 ‘‘(A) the possession, distribution, or use of con16 trolled substances by enrollees;

17 ‘‘(B) abuse of alcohol by enrollees;

18 ‘‘(C) acts of violence by enrollees; and

19 ‘‘(D) other related disruptive activities by en20 rollees.

21 ‘‘(2)(A) The director of a Job Corps center shall take

22 appropriate disciplinary measures against an enrollee, in23 cluding immediate dismissal of the enrollee from the Job

24 Corps, if the director determines that the enrollee has vio25 lated any standard under paragraph (1).
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1 ‘‘(B) A decision by a director of a Job Corps center

2 to dismiss an enrollee from the Job Corps shall be subject

3 to expeditious appeal in accordance with procedures estab4 lished by the Secretary.

5 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘con6 trolled substance’ has the meaning given such term under

7 section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.

8 802).’’.

9 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 438 of the Job Training

11 Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1708) is amended—

12 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by

13 striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) The

14 Secretary’’; and

15 (2) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(b) For any fiscal year, the Secretary may not obli17 gate or expend for the administration of the program an

18 aggregate amount that is equal to or greater than 16 per19 cent of the amount available for that fiscal year to carry

20 out the program.’’.

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 438(b) of such Act,

22 as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to fis23 cal year 1997 and subsequent fiscal years.
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1 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF JOB CORPS CENTERS.

2 (a) REVIEW.—Not later than March 31, 1997, the

3 Secretary of Labor shall conduct a review of the activities

4 carried out under the Job Corps program under part B

5 of title IV of the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C.

6 1691 et seq.), and submit to the Congress a report con7 taining the results of the review, including—

8 (1) information on the amount of funds ex9 pended for fiscal year 1996 to carry out activities

10 under such part, for each State and for the United

11 States;

12 (2) for each Job Corps center funded under

13 such part, information on the amount of funds ex14 pended for fiscal year 1996 under such part to carry

15 out activities related to the direct operation of the

16 center, including funds expended for student train17 ing, outreach or intake activities, meals and lodging,

18 student allowances, medical care, placement or set19 tlement activities, and administration;

20 (3) for each Job Corps center, information on

21 the amount of funds expended for fiscal year 1996

22 under such part through contracts to carry out ac23 tivities not related to the direct operation of the cen24 ter, including funds expended for student travel, na25 tional outreach, screening, and placement services,
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1 national vocational training, and national and re2 gional administrative costs;

3 (4) for each Job Corps center, information on

4 the amount of funds expended for fiscal year 1996

5 under such part for facility construction, rehabilita6 tion, and acquisition expenses;

7 (5) information on the amount of funds re8 quired to be expended under such part to complete

9 each new or proposed Job Corps center, and to reha10 bilitate and repair each existing Job Corps center, as

11 of the date of the submission of the report;

12 (6) a summary of the information described in

13 paragraphs (2) through (5) for all Job Corps cen14 ters;

15 (7) an assessment of the need to serve youths

16 in the Job Corps program, including—

17 (A) a cost-benefit analysis of the residen18 tial component of the Job Corps program;

19 (B) the need for residential education and

20 training services for youths, analyzed for each

21 State and for the United States; and

22 (C) the distribution of training positions in

23 the Job Corps program, as compared to the

24 need for the services described in subparagraph

25 (B), analyzed for each State;
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1 (8) an overview of the Job Corps program as a

2 whole and an analysis of individual Job Corps cen3 ters, including a 5-year performance measurement

4 summary that includes information, analyzed for the

5 program and for each Job Corps center, on—

6 (A) the number of enrollees served;

7 (B) the number of former enrollees who

8 entered employment, including the number of

9 former enrollees placed in a position related to

10 the job training received through the program

11 and the number placed in a position not related

12 to the job training received;

13 (C) the number of former enrollees placed

14 in jobs for 32 hours per week or more;

15 (D) the number of former enrollees who

16 entered employment and were retained in the

17 employment for more than 13 weeks;

18 (E) the number of former enrollees who

19 entered the Armed Forces;

20 (F) the number of former enrollees who

21 completed vocational training, and the rate of

22 such completion, analyzed by vocation;

23 (G) the number of former enrollees who

24 entered postsecondary education;
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1 (H) the number and percentage of early

2 dropouts from the Job Corps program;

3 (I) the average wage of former enrollees,

4 including wages from positions described in

5 subparagraph (B);

6 (J) the number of former enrollees who ob7 tained a secondary school diploma or its recog8 nized equivalent;

9 (K) the average level of learning gains for

10 former enrollees; and

11 (L) the number of former enrollees that

12 did not—

13 (i) enter employment or postsecondary

14 education;

15 (ii) complete a vocational education

16 program; or

17 (iii) make identifiable learning gains;

18 and

19 (9) job placement rates for each Job Corps cen20 ter and each entity providing services to a Job Corps

21 center.

22 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPROVEMENTS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor

24 shall, based on the results of the review under sub-
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1 section (a), make improvements in the operation of

2 the Job Corps program, including—

3 (A) closing 5 Job Corps centers by Sep4 tember 30, 1997, and 5 additional Job Corps

5 centers by September 30, 2000;

6 (B) relocating Job Corps centers described

7 in paragraph (2)(A)(iii) in cases in which facil8 ity rehabilitation, renovation, or repair is not

9 cost-effective; and

10 (C) taking any other action that would im11 prove the operation of a Job Corps center or

12 any other appropriate action, including closing

13 such additional Job Corps center as the Sec14 retary determines to be appropriate.

15 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—In implementing the

17 improvements under paragraph (1) with respect

18 to a Job Corps center, the Secretary shall con19 sider whether the center—

20 (i) has consistently received low per21 formance measurement ratings under the

22 Department of Labor or the Office of In23 spector General Job Corps rating system;

24 (ii) is among the centers that have ex25 perienced the highest number of serious in-
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1 cidents of violence or criminal activity in

2 the past 5 years;

3 (iii) is among the centers that require

4 the largest funding for renovation or re5 pair, as specified in the Department of

6 Labor Job Corps Construction/Rehabilita7 tion Funding Needs Survey, or for reha8 bilitation or repair, as reflected in the por9 tion of the review described in subsection

10 (a)(5);

11 (iv) is among the centers for which

12 the highest relative or absolute fiscal year

13 1996 expenditures were made, for any of

14 the categories of expenditures described in

15 paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subsection

16 (a), as reflected in the review described in

17 subsection (a);

18 (v) is among the centers with the least

19 State and local support; or

20 (vi) is among the centers with the low21 est rating on such additional criteria as the

22 Secretary may determine to be appro23 priate.

24 (B) COVERAGE OF STATES AND RE25 GIONS.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A),
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1 the Secretary shall not close a Job Corps center

2 in a State or a region of the United States in

3 which the center is the only Job Corps center

4 in the State or region, as the case may be.

5 (C) ALLOWANCE FOR NEW JOB CORPS

6 CENTERS.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of this section, if the planning or construc8 tion of a Job Corps center that received Federal

9 funding for fiscal year 1994 or 1995 has not

10 been completed by the date of enactment of this

11 Act—

12 (i) the appropriate entity may com13 plete the planning or construction and

14 begin operation of the center; and

15 (ii) the Secretary shall not evaluate

16 the center under this section sooner than 3

17 years after the first date of operation of

18 the center.

19 (c) BIENNIAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Sec20 retary shall report every two years to the Congress the

21 information specified in paragraphs (8) and (9) of sub22 section (a) and such additional information relating to the

23 Job Corps program as the Secretary may determine to be

24 appropriate.

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