Audit Reports of Job Corps from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG)

The following link will take you to the Office of the Attorney General’s (OIG) website.  You will find audit reports where Job Corps Centers and Job Corps Contractors did not follow required policy procedures in the areas of awarding sub contracts to vendors. And, where numbers and statistics where overstated in order to bring the center higher in overall rankings. The very first one speaks of questionable “overstatement” of costs by MTC Corporation (Management and Training Corporation) of over one million dollars.  Take note, MTC is a name you will hear often in the audit reports for their continuing practice of “overstating” costs and erroneous records reflecting “overstated” outcomes on their reports. OIG says “this is a continuing problem.” Read the reports…

Filed under: Adams and Associates, Contractors, Department of Labor, DOL, Fraud, Improper billing, Job Corps, Job Corps Centers, Management and Training Corporation, number manipulation, OIG Reports, Performance, Shriver Job Corps Center, Audit, Job Corps, Job Corps Center, Management and Training Corporation, MTC, Office of the Inspector General, OIG, overstating, Shriver Job Corps Center

Anti-Job Corps Protests at Center (2008) Iroquois Job Corps Center

Read the news article here:

Back in 2008 former employees, students, others and an attorney picketed outside the Iroquois Job Corps Center in Medina, New York.  The center is managed by ETR (Education and Training Resources).  Some of the complaints involved mismanagement by high level staff, discrimination and unfair discharge policies.

Six former employees and one student  from Iroquois had filed charges in the past against the center with the New York State Office of Human Rights and the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Attorney Michael O’Keefe, representing the former plaintiffs was present at the protest. All cases were allegedly investigated” and discharged with a ruling of no probable cause. Attorney Michael O’ Keefe said:

“In my opinion Division of Human Rights did not investigate properly.”

Rhett Dallas, with corporate support from the Boston Regional Office of the Department of Labor said:

“Since ETR — Educational and Training Resources — took over the center on Jan. 1, 2005, the Iroquois Job Corps has climbed from the 117th ranked position to 40th. “When the numbers come out next week, we’re going to be higher,” Dallas said, attributing the center’s success to good management”.

In my opinion, such a meteoric rise in three short years can also be attributed to high pressure on employees to produce more, and new ways to manipulate numbers on the part of the contractors.  If we are to believe all the published newspaper reports and Office of the Inspector General’s Audit Report findings of number manipulation and fraud posted on this website and the internet it appears that something seriously has gone awry here. Shouldn’t someone have questioned what methods the center used to rise above the ranks so quickly?

Job Corps is in the business of protecting it’s image at all costs, and it is a well known fact that many Job Corps Centers have incestuous relationships with their local press and DOL authorities.  It is our hope that someday, all of Job Corps’ wrongdoing will be brought to light to the American public.  For me, having seven claimants hire an attorney and having all seven cases dismissed is a cause for suspicion and great concern.  When will someone wake up and investigate the investigators?

Filed under: Contractors, Department of Labor, DOL, Education and Training Resources (ETR), Employees, Fraud, Iroquois, Job Corps, Lawsuits, Newspaper Reports, Education and Training Resources, EEOC, ETR, investigation, Iroquois Job Corps, protest

How to file a Complaint Against Your Job Corps Center

Did you know that most of the wrong doing bought to light against unscrupulous Job Corps contractors has come about by employees filing Hotline complaints with the Office of the Attorney ?General (OIG)?

Are you aware that the OIG will never give out your name to your Job Corps Center if you file a complaint?

This short article details the best way to file a complaint against your Job Corps Center.

“The OIG operates a hotline to receive and process allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse concerning DOL grants, contracts, programs and operations…”

What to include in your complaint:

• who is involved,
• when the situation you are reporting took place and whether it is still ongoing,
• where the situation occurred,
• what happened that was inappropriate and prompted you to contact the OIG Hotline, and
• how the situation took place.

Your complaint must be specific and factual.  It must also contain names, dates of the occurence and where the OIG Inspector can find the false information.  For instance,

“On June 15, 2009 I was required to place a student on Work Based Learning when the student had already separated from the center.  The student’s name is John Smith, I placed him on WBL from June 15 – August 1, 2009. The leave report is in Citrix and dated the same, enclosed please find a copy of the student’s resignation letter from Job Corps dated June 14, 2009.”

The above is an example of fraud. Because Job corps contractors receive $75 per day for each student while they attend Job Corps or are off center in a legitimate training program the center will continue to receive this amount of money despite that the student has officially resigned and is no longer attending.

Your complaint absolutely cannot contain gossipy suppositions, such as:

“The center director spends a lot of time with students behind closed doors and we are certain he is a sexual predator.”  Or, “The center director drives around in a big, fancy car and we are sure he is stealing Job Corps money to pay for the expensive car… how else can he afford it on his salary?”

In both of these examples, there is absolutely no proof that anything is going on, only a lot of assumptions that can get one into trouble.  Perhaps the center director’s wife received an estate settlement and purchased a new car for her husband? One cannot make empty accusations and expect the OIG to take the complaint seriously.

The OIG is bound by law to investigate every legitimate complaint, however, its powers of prosecution are limited.  It can bring fraud and wrong doing to light but, in and of itself, it cannot prosecute for fraud.  The OIG can suggest fines and request reimbursement for monies obtained illegally but, usually, there is no criminal prosecution involved for the contractors who encourage the wrong doing.

Make sure to read the link here:

And, when you are ready to file your complaint, the phone number or the address is as follows:

Telephone: 202-693-6999 or 1-800-347-3756

Fax: 202-693-7020

Mail Address:
Attention: Hotline
Office of Inspector General
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Room S-5506
Washington, D.C. 20210

This is the link for the online form: (In the scroll down window, select Job Corps as the agency)

You can also send an Email to the Hotline Department

hotline@oig.dol.gov

If anone has any questions, you can also Email me at:

jobcorpsfraud@yahoo.com

Filed under: complaints, Contractors, Fraud, Job Corps, OIG Reports, Hotline, Job Corps complaints, Office of the Attorney General, OIG

Job Corps: One of the Most Wasteful, Least Effective Programs in Federal Government (1998)

In publishing this Congressional Testimony from Congressman John Duncan (TN) (1998) I ask my readers, “What has changed about Job Corps since this speech was given before Congress?”

1. The cost of participation for each Job Corps student has increased yearly to $28,000 per student and $1.7 billion per year.

2. Even more proof of fraud and mismanagement of funds by contractors and Job Corps has been exposed by the Office by The Office of the Attorney General in the past twelve years. The fines and repayments have increasingly amounted to the millions of dollars since this was published.

3. Much of Job Corps evidence of success has been based on flawed, unscientific studies that subsequently were proved to be number manipulation by the federal contractors and center operators.

4. It should have made national front page news when actual scientific studies proved that Job Corps had little or no influence on students earning power or increased the success of its attendees.

See this blog for the 2008 outcome study and David Mulhausen’s PhD 2008 report here:

It is important for us to learn the history of Job Corps and to read the older reports in order to see how the proof of wrong doing  in Job Corps is increasing, not lessening. Job Corps’ “truth” is well hidden by the media and sophisticated communications and public relations specialists in order to present a positive image to the public.

excerpts from Mr. Duncan’s testimony:

“However, one of its programs has become one of the most wasteful and inefficient in the entire Federal Government and should either do much, much better or be abolished. Yet this agency, because on the surface it appears to be one for young people, seems to believe it should be immune from criticism and simply get one increase after another.

I am speaking of the Job Corps. Today, it costs over $26,000 per year per Job Corps student, according to the GAO. We could give each Job Corps student an allowance of $1,000 a month, send them to some expensive private school and still save money.

The GAO reported in testimony before the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight this past July 29 that only 14 percent of program participants completed the requirements of their vocational training.
*An  earlier report found that only 4 percent end up in jobs for which they were trained, unless one does, as the Job Corps has at times done, and grossly distorts and exaggerates the figures and counts as a success about any former student who has gotten any type of job.”

*-Andrea from Job Corps Fraud-

When I worked at Shriver Job Corps in 2009 as an employment coordinator, I saw this practice still being carried out for instance, if a student completed automotive trade and got a job in their uncle’s repair shop as a part-time janitor it was considered a “trade match.”

Filed under: congress, Contractors, Fraud, Government Accounting Office, high costs, Job Corps, Legislative and Congressional Reports, number manipulation, OIG Reports, outcome study, Congressional Testimony, Congressman John Duncan, David Mulhausen, Job Corps Fraud, Job Corps number manipulation, Shriver Job Corps

Jacksonville and Earle C. Clements Job Corps Centers and Accounting Audit Findings (OIG 2005)

From 2004 – 2005 the Office of the Inspector General performed an audit of 12 Job Corps Centers

WHY READ THE REPORT Read the report here: M.D. Oppenheim & Company, under contract to the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, conducted a performance audit of Job Corps Center operating costs at 12 contractor operated Centers for the period October 2004 through March 2005. Center operating costs are reported monthly to the Office of Job Corps on Form ETA-2110, Job Corps Center Financial Report, and include direct Center expenses such as Center staff salaries, student food, student clothing, utilities, and medical expenses, as well as contractor fees and indirect general and administrative expenses. The audit was performed in conjunction with the audit of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consolidated Financial Statements for Fiscal Year 2005.

there was a lack of adequate internal controls over program expenditures at the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center;

there was improper recording and reporting of indirect administrative costs at the Jacksonville Job Corps Center; and

journal entries were not properly approved, adequately supported, or correctly recorded at five Job Corps Centers.

Instances of noncompliance such as these can result in overbilling to the government and an increased possibility of fraud through the manipulation of accounting records.

Jacksonville Job Corps is operated by Applied Technology Corporation and Earle C. Clements Job Corps is operated  by Management and /Training Corporation.

Filed under: applied Technology Corporation, Earle C. Clements Job Corps, Fraud, Jacksonville Job Corps Center, Job Corps, Job Corps Centers, Management and Training Corporation, OIG Reports, accounting audit, Earle C. Clements Job Corps, Jacksonville Job Corps Center, Job Corps Fraud, manipulation of numbers, Office of the Inspector General, OIG Reports

Office of the Inspector General’s Message from 1999

Nothing ever changes… look at the names in this report and the fraud OIG found from eleven years ago: Adams and Associates (employee alleges fraud) and National Plastering Industry’s Joint Apprenticeship Trust Fund ($996,242 in disallowed costs).

But we still keep granting them contracts despite their number inflation and manipulation of records. Read a few excerpts:

-from The Inspector General’s message page 12 regarding the Mississippi Job Corps Center owned by Adams and Associates

“Our review of 67 student records found that 28 student records (42 percent) were improperly altered, inaccurate, or incomplete. Consequently, the number of students the Center reported as “vocational completers” was inflated and students were improperly paid training completion bonuses. Further, the altered records gave false assurances that the affected students received vocational training.”

-from the Semi-Annual Report to Congress page 57 about the National Plastering Industry’s Joint Apprenticeship Trust Fund

The OIG questioned a total of $996,242 of direct costs claimed by the trust fund and the grant officer disallowed all of these questioned costs.

The Report to Congress also mentions The US Forest Service and Connecticut Job Corps Center and its contractor ITT Federal Services Corps.

Due to missing or insufficient ITT documentation and accounting errors, our audit questioned costs of $297,892 in nonpersonnel and personnel costs ($176,385 in nonpersonnel costs, $98,880 in personnel costs, and $22,627 in general administrative expenses).

Filed under: Adams and Associates, Connecticut Job Corps, Contractors, Fraud, Improper billing, ITT Federal Service Corps, Job Corps, Job Corps Centers, Labor unions, Mississippi Job Corps, number manipulation, OIG Reports, U.S. Forestry Service, Adams and Associates, Connecticut Job Corps Center, ITT Federal Service Corps, Mississippi Job Corps, National Plastering Industry's Joint Apprenticeship Fund, Office of the Inspector General, US Forest Service

Reader’s comments to Treasure Island Worker’s Union files unfair labor charge

-From Harold

At Iroquois Job Corps, management staff were required to give up weekends on a rotating basis to act as “duty officer”. They also had to come in on weekends to oversee the return of students from breaks and participate in searching luggage for various contraband. Because they were salaried employees, there was no OT pay, nor was any comp time granted.

In fact, one could not earn comp time at any time working for ETR. This was not the case yrs ago with other corporations that ran Job Corps centers. There were enough staff on centers to manage the center on week ends and to do searches. Over-working the management staff and denying hourly staff their breaks has developed over the years and is obviously condoned by the government. This is a common finding in OIG reviews but other than paying a fine now and then, nothing is done about it.

Filed under: Contractors, Education and Training Resources (ETR), Fraud, Iriquois Job Corps, Job Corps, Job Corps Centers, number manipulation, OIG Reports, Reader's Comments, Education and Training Resources, ETR, Fraud, Job Corps, Job Corps number manipulation, Labor Laws, Office of the Inspector General, Reader's Comments to Treasure Island Workers Union, salaried employees

Reader’s Comments July 15, 2010

-from Martin Luther

“Job Corps is a great opportunity. Name one free program that will deliver what a youth desires if they work hard to get it. There is none. Karl Rove is just a chess piece that gets told what to do and who to attack. Rich people like him want the good old days when poor person’s only shot at a decent life was to $ their souls.

By the way, failures of Job Corps whine and complain. And, as for the staff, the only thing that needs to be done is remove the staff who are not doing their jobs. Also, remove the $ stealing government “chess pieces” who are not doing their jobs. Replace them with real American citizens who are there to improve-educate-train impoverished youth who need positive directional motivation.”

-from Nancy

“The Job Corps is a NOTHING LESS THAN A CRIME AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND TAXPAYERS in these economic times.

I have also worked for Job Corps twice, the same one in, NY, thirty years ago when it started, I was the purchasing agent, and recently I went there again to help them set up contracts for their stimulus funding.

Two million dollars that someone might as well take a match to, the way they are spending it. Numbers are massaged in the accounting area, in the procurement area, and in the student success rates area. The actual # of students who improve their lives, or are successful is SO minimal it is NOT worth the almost $30,000 each they spend on each student. And the $30,000 each in tax dollars is a low estimate, much more is probably actually spend. The first administrative manager I worked for 30 years ago, immediately started “writing bogus purchase orders that were phony”, they were for contractor work he said was being done at the center, when it was actually ALL being done at his house. He tried to encourage me to get involved in the scam, saying do you want a new washer and dryer? Well, write up a PO for it, buy it, when it comes to the center tear up the paperwork, and take it home. I would not get involved with it. And as a result he, didn’t want me there. ITT was the contractor. I filed with EEOC/and HR, and was called to a hearing in Syracuse I believe, and ITT actually did offer me some type of settlement, to buy me off from the filing. CAN YOU SAY CROOKED, BOYS AND GIRLS.

Then most recently in a temporary job setting up contracts for ARRA stimulus funding, I SAW NO CHANGES FROM THE SITUATION 30 YEARS AGO. Job Corps has NEVER been a successful program, Yet the government spends billions on it. THE AMERICANS CANNOT AFFORD THIS PROGRAM, AMERICA CANNOT AFFORD THIS PROGRAM.

DISBAND IT NOW, DISBAND IT NOW. AND CLOSE ALL JOB CORPS CENTERS.”

*Note from Job Corps Fraud: thirty years ago Oneonta may have been managed by a contractor called ‘ITT’, today it is managed by Education and Training Resources (ETR), Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Filed under: Contractors, Education and Training Resources (ETR), Fraud, Improper billing, Job Corps, Job Corps Centers, number manipulation, Oneonta Job Corps Center, Reader's Comments, ARRA, bogus work orders, EEOC, ITT, Job Corps, Job Corps crimes, Karl Rove, Martin Luther, Oneonta, taxpayers

Strange Bedfellows: Blackwater, Job Corps and the US Government

Read the article from CBS News Investigates:

As reader’s may remember, Blackwater Worldwide was a private security firm under contract to the US to provide security services in Iraq.  This illustrious firm opened fire and killed unarmed non-combatant Iraqi citizens and was subsequently prosecuted by the Justice Department.  The case was dismissed due to a technicality.

This terrible blotch on their performance record does not affect their ability to work for the government. Instead, we the taxpayers have hired them again to provide security services in Afghanistan.  (And, while Federal prosecutors are engaged in an active appeal against the dismissal of the case.)

“Private security firm U.S. Training Center, a business unit of the Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater, now called Xe Services, was awarded the contract Friday, a State Department spokeswoman said Friday night.”  (From CBS News Investigates)

All of us; students and staff from Job Corps centers throughout the US keep wondering why corporations like Education and Training Resources (ETR), Adams and Associates and Management and Training Corporation (MTC) are still awarded contracts even when their past history proves repeated wrongdoing and fraud.  Really simple. It boils down to who provides the most services at the cheapest price.   Using a numbers based method of  performance accounting does not require quality, integrity and fairness. No. These values are not part of a dollar-based equation… it is assumed if you reach the goals, you must have used quality methods to obtain them.  But, we all know how numbers are subject to manipulation and the media is open to propoganda.

What next? Will Blackwater start to bid on Job Corps contracts?  We already have our own Blackwaters in Job Corps, only the names of the corporations are different.

Filed under: Adams and Associates, Education and Training Resources (ETR), Fraud, Job Corps, Newspaper Reports, number manipulation, Performance, Adams and Associates, Afghanistan, Blackwater, Education and Training Resources, ETR, Fraud, Iraq, Job Corps, Justive Department, Management and Training Corporation, manipulation, MTC, performance, propoganda, State Department, strange bedfellows, U.S. Training Center, US Government, wrongdoing, Xe Services