Committee on Government Operations Investigation of the Department of Employment Services Administration of Job Training Programs Resolution of 1997

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Pursuant to Rules of Organization and Procedure for the Council of the District of Columbia Council Period XII, Section 602, notice is given by the Secretary of the Council, Phyllis Jones, that the Committee on Government Operations filed on September 28, 1997, in the Office of the Secretary, a resolution authorizing an investigation by the Committee on Government Operations into the job training programs administratered by the D.C. Department of Employment Services. A copy of that resolution is attached.

Kathy Patterson
Committee on Government Operations

A RESOLUTION IN THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

To authorize an investigation by the Committee on Government Operations into the job training programs administered by the Department of Employment Services.

RESOLVED, BY THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, That this resolution may be cited as the "Committee on Government Operations Investigation of the Department of Employment Services' Administration of Job Training Programs Resolution of 1997".

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Sec. 2. The Committee finds that:

(1) The Department of Employment Services ("DOES'') has as a primary part of its mission the task of providing job training and placement programs to the residents of
the District of Columbia;

(2) DOES expends millions of dollars annually in both local funds and federal funds on job training programs;

(3) The Committee has raised questions concerning the costs and effectiveness of DOES' job training programs;

(4) The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the United States Department of Labor undertook a review of the District of Columbia job training programs funded under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) because of "information that came to ETA's attention indicating the District's job training programs were not effectively meeting local needs and that the information which the District uses to generate federal reports was suspect and warranted further investigation;"

(5) On August 7, 1997, the ETA published its final report, entitled "District of Columbia Job Training Review," which was highly critical of the DOES' administration of federally-funded job training programs and which stated, among its findings:

"There is effectively no planning system. Goals are not set in relation to outcomes expected. The Private Industry Council is not involved in program decisions. Subsystems appear to have been constructed without regard to any vision for the program.

"Attention is on meeting vendor needs not customer needs;"

"Customer services (assessment, case management, and job development) do not serve the customers, instead, they serve vendors and administrative requirements;" and

"There is no effective management information system for JTPA. Data are used to make programs decisions. Even after extensive assistance the data remains suspect."

(6) In September 1997, DOES submitted 34 job training contracts with 29 separate contractors to the District of Columbia's Chief Procurement Officer for approval; the total amount of local funding for these contracts is $232,767, and the total amount of federal funding is $4,369,689;

(7) The Chair of the Committee has raised numerous questions about several of these contracts, including Contract No. TEA-120 with Congress Heights Training Center for $199,699; Contract No. TPK-320 with Automatic Information Management (AIM) for $145,000; and Contract No. TPF-120 with United Black Fund, Inc. for $120,000;

(8) The Committee has experienced delays in receiving additional requested information, including the best and final offers for the above-referenced three contracts and copies of the following contracts:

American Tech. International, Inc. Contract No. TTI-120
Greater Washington Urban League Contract No. THI-120
Davis Memorial Goodwill Industries, Inc. Contract Nos. TAB-120 and TAB-320 (3 contracts)
Job For Homeless People Contract No. TJH-120
Latin American Youth Center Contract No. TAP-120
O &: M Consultants Contract No. TOM-120
V.W. Associates Contract No. TPY-120
Congress Heights Training Center Contracts No. TEA-120 (2 contracts)
Crawford Edgewood Manager's Associates Contract No. TEB-120
Arch Training Center Contract No. TPI-120
Automatic Information Management Contract Nos. TPK-320, TPK-220, TPK 120 20
Freda White & Associates Contract No. TYA-120
United Black Fund, Inc. Contract No. TPF-120
World Rehabilitation Fund Contract No. TWR-120
Medlantic Health Care Contract No. TEE-120
Applied Career Training Center Contract TXJ-130
Berkley Contract TXI- 130
Career Blazers Contract No. TXD-130
Computer Learning Center Contract TXG-130
Executrain Contract No. TXL-130
Lincoln Technology Contract No. TXF-130
National School of Phlebotomy Contract No. TXK-130
TESST Contract No.TXE-130
Careers & Company TX0-130
Drake, Beam and Morin Contract TXN-130
GRW Contract No. TXN-130
Health Service Careers Contract No. TXC-130
Southeast Children's Fund Contract No. THX-130
Enterprise Exchange Contract No. TXP-130

(9) The Committee staff has received complaints from participants in DOES administered job training programs regarding the quality of the training and the participants' inability to obtain employment following training;

(10) The Committee staff has received complaints from potential DOES job training contractors regarding the burdensome and cumbersome nature of the DOES procurement process for job training contracts;

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Sec. 3. The Committee determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute reasons sufficient to warrant the conduct of an investigation, including the possible use of subpoenas issued by the Chair of the Government Operations Committee, into the administration of the DOES job training functions, provided for in section 413 of the District of Columbia Self-Governance and Governmental Reorganization Act of 1973, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 789; D.C Code §1-234(a)), and Section 601(b) of the Rules of Organization and Procedure for the Council of the District of Columbia, Council Period XII. Specifically, this investigation will examine:

(1) DOES policies and procedures relating to job training contract procurement;

(2) DOES performance in procuring, administering, monitoring and reviewing job training contracts in Program Year 1996 (July 1, 1996 to June 30, 1997) and in Program Year 1997 (July 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998);

(3) DOES expenditures and disbursements relating to PY 1996 and PY l 997 job training programs;

(4) DOES procedures for certifying and placing participants in job training programs;

(5) The number of persons who sought to participate in DOES-administered job training during PY 96 and PY97 and their disposition,

(6) The participants in DOES-administered job training PY 96 and PY 97 and the nature and extent of their training;

(7) The employment status of participants in DOES-administered job training during PY 96 and PY 97, including how long they remained employed, by whom, in what occupations, and how much they were paid;

(8) The underlying data to substantiate the Department's claim that PY 1996 costs declined and number of placement increased from PY 1995;

(9) With respect to the contracts specified in paragraph (7) of this section, each of which is an on-the-job training contract wherein the contractor acts as a broker who places participants with employers for training, the following information:

(a) Names of persons referred to each contractor by DOES and date of referral; for each person not accepted into the program by the contractor, the reasons the participants was not accepted;

(b) Names of participants in each contractor's program who were not referred by DOES; for each such participant, an explanation as to how the contractor recruited them and by whom they were certified,

(c) Information regarding pre-employment orientation by each contractor, including the time, place and content of the orientation, attendance sheets and all written materials distributed at the orientation sessions; copies of all participants' resumes prepared in conjunction with the orientation;

(d) Information regarding any other pre-employrnent training by each contractor, incl 'ding the time, place and content of such training, attendance sheets and all written materials distributed at the training;

(e) For each contractor, the names and addressees of all employers employing participants, including job positions and descriptions, rates of pay, and hours of work for each participant;

(f) Copies of jobsite agreements between each contractor and all employers providing on-the-job training,

(g) Copies of all other documents that contain the on-the-job employers' duties, obligations, or requirements to the participants and to the contractors,

(h) Information concerning the amount and type of training each participant has received from each employer, including copies of all written curricula and materials describing the employer's training and records of training actually received by participants;

(i) Information concerning post-orientation support services offered to participants by contractors, including records of any support services actually rendered;

(j) Copies of each contractor's written procedures for paying subsidies to employers; and,

(k) Copies of all participants' time and attendance records, copies of all participants' certified payroll records, and records of all subsidies paid by contractors to employers,

[l] Records of all payments by DOES to each contractor;

All evidence submitted by each contractor to DOES to demonstrate completion of contractual performance benchmarks;

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Sec. 4. The Clerk of the Committee on Government Operations shall file this resolution, upon its adoption, with the Office of the Secretary, in accordance with section 601(b) of the Rules.

Sec. 5. This resolution shall take effect immediately.