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1 1 (August 31, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdbqm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 01;0i E.$~ & August 31, 2020 Federal Youth Employment and Job Training Programs Congress has had a long-standing interest in ensuring that young people successfully make the transition to adulthood as skilled workers and taxpayers. Since the 1930s, federal employment and job training programs have been targeted to low-income and other youth with barriers to employment. The earliest programs focused on employing idle young men by engaging them in public infrastructure and related projects. More contemporary programs have provided support to young people through job training, educational services, and social services. Poor labor market outcomes among youth, particularly those who are low income or have barriers to employment, have not been fully explored in the research literature. Some studies have found that, on average, early youth unemployment has serious negative effects on future income and types of jobs they could obtain but not as strong of effects on future employment. Although the labor force situation improved for youth ages 16 to 24 following the 2007-2009 Great Recession, their employment prospects have diminished in the current recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, there are four major federal youth employment and job training programs: Youth Activities; Job Corps; YouthBuild; and Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO), which includes a youth component. Authorized under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA, P.L. 113-128), the programs are administered by the Department of Labor's (DOL's) Employment and Training Administration (ETA). These programs have varying eligibility requirements and are carried out under different funding arrangements. For example, DOL provides Youth Activities funding to state workforce development boards (WDBs), which in turn provide the funding to local WDBs. These boards, made up primarily of representatives of businesses, coordinate employment and training activities for states and communities. Under the Job Corps program, DOL enters into contracts with nonprofit and for-profit organizations and into an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Forest Service. DOL competitively awards YouthBuild and REO grants to nonprofit and other organizations and local communities. As shown in Table 1, funding for the four youth programs varies. WIOA provides funding authorization for them from FY2016 through FY2020. The programs are discretionary and funded on an annual basis through the appropriations process. Despite their differences, they generally have a common purpose to provide low-income and other vulnerable youth with educational and employment opportunities and access to leadership development and community service activities. Further, the programs use the same measures to evaluate performance, known as the primary indicators of performance. These measures focus on the share of current and former participants who are enrolled in education or training programs; the share of current and former participants who obtain a postsecondary credential or high school diploma; the share of former participants in unsubsidized employment and their median earnings; and program effectiveness in serving employers. Each program also uses additional measures to evaluate performance. Table I. Funding for Youth job Training Programs: FY201 5-FY2020 (dollars in thousands) Youth Youth- REO Youth FY Activities Job Corps Build Component I5 $831,842 $1,688,155 $79,689 $44,054 16 873,416 1,656,825 84,534 39,520 17 873,416 1,704,155 84,534 48,092 18 903,416 1,718,655 89,534 45,000 19 903,416 1,718,655 89,534 49,592 20 913,130 1,743,655 94,534 26,597 Source: CRS, based on enacted appropriations. MO~A Youd'h Activitk.- The Youth Activities program was originally established under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA, P.L. 105-220), which was replaced by WIOA. The program seeks to provide eligible youth with assistance in achieving success in school and the workplace through activities that improve educational and employment skills and foster youth connections to employers. In-school youth ages 14 to 21 and out-of-school youth ages 16 to 24 are eligible for the program. In-school youth are those who are attending school; are low-income; and meet specified criteria, such as being deficient in basic skills, pregnant or parenting, homeless, or currently or formerly in foster care. Out-of-school youth are those who meet certain criteria such as being a high school dropout or low-income. No less than 75% of funds must be used for out-of-school youth. In calendar year 2019, nearly 161,000 youth participated in the program. DOL allocates funds to state WDBs based on a formula that accounts for a state's relative share of unemployment and number of economically disadvantaged youth. In turn, state boards reallocate funding to local WDBs using the same formula by which funds are allocated to states. Each local WDB must offer 14 elements that include tutoring, study skills training, and other academic activities; alternative p\w -- , gn'a', goo mppm qq\ a , q 'S I 11LIANJILiN,

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