Job Corps: DOL Could Improve Center Safety and Security Procedures and Assess Hiring Flexibilities for Drug Intervention Specialists
Fast Facts
The Department of Labor's Job Corps is the nation's largest residential, educational, career and technical training program for low-income youth.
Illegal drugs are not allowed at Job Corps' centers, and students must be tested for drug use when they arrive. Students testing positive must receive drug intervention services—to help them understand their substance use and how to abstain from it—and be retested. Students who test positive again must leave the program.
However, these centers have had difficulties retaining qualified drug intervention specialists. We recommended that Labor address hiring challenges at these centers.
Highlights
What GAO Found
Although four of the six selected Job Corps centers' safety and security protocols GAO reviewed included required elements to prevent illegal drugs from entering their campuses, two centers' protocol documents did not, but were approved by the Department of Labor (DOL). DOL national officials told GAO that they provide guidance on minimum requirements for the protocol documents, and the regions should not approve documents omitting required elements. However, GAO found that the broad guidance lacked the written procedures needed for regional offices to identify missing elements. Without such procedures, regional officials may continue to approve incomplete protocol documents, diminishing centers' efforts to prevent drugs from entering their campuses.
In program year 2018, 30 percent of students tested positive for drug use on program entry, and 61 percent of these students subsequently tested negative during follow-up drug tests, according to GAO's analysis (see figure). About 51 percent of these students completed an educational or technical training credential, compared to about 58 percent of students who tested negative for drug use on entry. After drug tests administered at entry to all students and follow-up drug tests for students testing positive at entry, students are not tested again unless there is reasonable suspicion of drug use.
Drug Test Results for Students Who Enrolled in Job Corps in Program Year 2018
Difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified specialists negatively affect a center's ability to provide intervention services to students who test positive for drugs, according to officials GAO interviewed in five of six selected centers. DOL requires intervention specialists to have a drug abuse counseling certification in the state where the center is located, but allows centers to waive the certification requirement for one year. Some centers used waivers over consecutive years, according to DOL information, indicating prolonged challenges recruiting certified specialists and retaining those hired using a waiver. DOL officials said the agency has not assessed specific options to address these hiring challenges. This would help ensure that centers are positioned to provide intervention services to help students successfully complete the program.
Why GAO Did This Study
Job Corps centers must ensure federally illegal drugs are not permitted on campus, and are required to test students for drug use within 48 hours of their arrival. Students testing positive must receive intervention services and be retested 37 to 40 days later. A subsequent positive test result is grounds for termination from the program.
GAO was asked to review Job Corps. Among other objectives, GAO examined (1) the extent to which selected Job Corps centers' safety and security protocol documents included minimum requirements, (2) the progress of students testing positive for drug use, and (3) perspectives of staff at selected centers on challenges assisting students.
GAO analyzed program year 2018 (the most recent complete data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) DOL and contractor data on drug testing and program completion. GAO also selected a nongeneralizable sample of six Job Corps centers to include a range of drug test rates, center sizes, and locations. GAO reviewed current center security protocols, interviewed officials, and distributed a student questionnaire from July through August 2022.
Recommendations
GAO is making three recommendations to DOL including developing procedures for reviewing and approving centers' security protocol documents and assessing actions to help centers recruit and retain drug intervention specialists. DOL agreed with GAO's recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Employment and Training Administration | The Assistant Secretary of ETA should develop written procedures detailing the steps regional office staff need to take to review and approve Job Corps center safety and security standard operating procedures, including clarifying how to address situations in which the requirements relate to uncommon circumstances. (Recommendation 1) |
In September 2024, DOL stated that the DOL Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) Office of Job Corps (OJC) developed a reporting tool and set of written procedures for regional Job Corps staff to validate compliance of Job Corps center safety and security requirements during their annual collection of Center Safety and Security Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Law Enforcement Agreements. DOL officials provided GAO with the written procedures. These procedures describe the roles and responsibilities of the regional and national Job Corps offices in reviewing these documents. The written procedures state that regional offices will use the newly established reporting tool to review the Center Safety and Security SOPs. While DOL has made progress in addressing this recommendation, GAO cannot fully evaluate the extent to which DOL's actions address the recommendation until DOL provides the reporting tool. As such, GAO will reevaluate the status of the recommendation once it reviews the reporting tool.
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| Employment and Training Administration | The Assistant Secretary of ETA should assess actions the national Office of Job Corps can take to help centers address challenges with recruiting and retaining TEAP specialists, such as assessing possible changes to national policy that allow greater hiring flexibility. (Recommendation 2). |
In September 2024, DOL stated that the DOL Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) Office of Job Corps (OJC) is leveraging Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) average wage data for the respective locale in which each Center is located to provide potential center operators with a greater understanding of the salary level required to recruit and retain TEAP Specialists. DOL also stated that OJC recognizes that the process of obtaining a TEAP credential generally requires more time for completion than the 12 months granted by the waiver. As a result, DOL stated that OJC is currently considering expanding the waiver period for TEAP Specialists to become credentialed from 12 months to 18 months in the Job Corps Policy and Requirements Handbook (PRH). GAO will close the recommendation when DOL provides documentation of these efforts, such as the use of the BLS data in requests for proposal and meeting notes or memos documenting DOL is considering expanding the waiver period.
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| Employment and Training Administration | The Assistant Secretary of ETA should require the national Office of Job Corps to collect and monitor data on recruiting TEAP specialists using waivers and retaining those who obtain certification. (Recommendation 3). |
In September 2024, DOL stated that the DOL Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) Office of Job Corps (OJC) established and implemented a TEAP waiver data collection tool and procedures to collect and monitor data on TEAP specialists working under an approved waiver. DOL provided GAO with the data collection tool, which includes tracking of the Job Corps Center, OJC TEAP Waiver Approval Date, TEAP Specialist Start Date, and TEAP Waiver Expiration Date. While the tool tracks data on the use of the waiver, it does not track certification and retention data for these specialists as specified in the recommendation. In addition, as previously mentioned, DOL officials stated that in addition to establishing the data collection tool, DOL also established procedures for collecting and monitoring the data. GAO will reevaluate the status of this recommendation once DOL provides additional support regarding the TEAP data collection tool and the procedures for collecting and monitoring data.
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