Inadequate Monitoring of Job Corps Student Outcome Data Could Lead to Overpayments (2004) (OIG)

Read the OIG Report here:

“…During an OIG audit of Job Corps’ process for ensuring that student performance outcome data reported by contractors are reliable, we identified a significant management control weakness that required immediate action…”

“…Failure to validate the reported data could result in overpayments to center operators, because DOL relies on these data to reimburse Job Corps center contractors for operating expenses and to pay them bonuses and incentive fees for meeting or exceeding specified performance goals…”

Filed under: Job Corps, OIG Reports, Inadequate monitoring of Job Corps data, Job Corps audit, Job Corps overpayments, OIG

Report on Vicious and Violent Crime in the Job Corps (1995)

From Vanderbuilt Television archive:

Filed under: crime, Job Corps, Vanderbuilt Television Archive, Violent crime in the Job Corps

BlogCatalog

Filed under: Job Corps

The Department of Labor and Open Government

Recently the Department of Labor’s website “Open DOL Share Your Ideas” solicited suggestions from readers on how the DOL might become more transparent and open in its operations.  The DOL has published its preliminary conclusions from that website and the following are the top three areas of reader’s focus:

Creating stronger policies to protect the right of DOL scientists to speak with the public and the media;

Providing live webcasts of all meetings for proposed rule making and regulations where the public comment should take place; and

Increasing awareness of the platform itself.

In total, the DOL received 136 suggestions from readers (perhaps increasing awareness of the platform might be the first place to begin for this project.)

Another interesting result from “Open Government” is the creation of DOL’s “Online Enforcement Data Base” which, among other things, is supposed to be publishing the results of various investigations.  I quickly checked the Wage and Hour division’s search button and entered Shriver Job Corps zipcode (01434) to view the findings of  DOL’s recent investigation that caused Shriver to pay a large amount of restitution to its employees for violations of Wage and Hour laws. But, there wasn’t anything listed.  I’m hoping that its absence indicates that all the information has not been updated yet. It would be a glaring omission for the DOL to publish negative reports about all other businesses that violate Wage and Hour laws EXCEPT for the businesses under contract to the DOL. Keep checking back at this website for more information about this project.

Filed under: Job Corps, Shriver Job Corps Center, transparency, wage and hour investigations, Department of Labor Open Government, DOL, Online Enforcement Data Base, Open DOL Share your Ideas, Shriver Job Corps, Wage and Hour division, wage and hour violations

Insider info from a Reader on 2010 March OIG Performance Audit for Education and Training Resources (ETR)

…”This (OIG) report discusses Education and Training Resources (ETR) control weaknesses related to managing and reporting financial activity, managing safety and health programs, and reporting performance. ETR is under contract with the Office of Job Corps to operate four Job Corps centers for the U.S. Department of Labor…”

Read the OIG Report here:

Charlie’s response to ETR’s  comments to OIG and Brian Fox’s response to OIG findings – both in the Health and Safety area.

“The OIG states that ETR management said that the reason that inspections were not documented was that the staff who was assigned that task was new and not fully trained. Here is the whole picture: this person was never qualified to take a safety manager position in the first place. She was, however, being overseen and trained by the Corporate Liaison who had an office right across the hall and who had been a safety manager herself for yrs and also a center director.  So to state that this person did not know that she had to hold inspections and document them is a falsehood. She was also employed by the center for enough yrs to know this – and what about her job description and the PRH? These expectations were never conveyed to her? Not true.

Filed under: Contractors, Education and Training Resources (ETR), Job Corps, OIG Reports, administrative oversight, Brian Fox, Education and Training Resources, ETR, fired staff, Job Corps contractors, lie, OIG performance audit report

Former Job Corps resident arrested (April 7, 2010)

From KFGO Regional News, Read the story here:

“Another former resident of the Quentin Burdick Job Corps Center has been sentenced on a child pornography charge…”

“…Christian Gonzales sentenced…”

Filed under: Arrests, Job Corps, Newspaper Reports, Quentin Burdick Job Corps Center, child pornography, KFGO Regional News, Quentin Burdick Job Corps Center, sentenced

Reader’s comment about Karl Rove, the CATO Institute and Job Corps

From Watergate-

“I never thought that I would say this but I’m glad that Karl Rove and the Cato institute is following the Job Corps Fraud Blog.  The stuff that goes on at the Job Corps Centers needs to be exposed.  The conclusion that I get when I look at this blog is that the same problems have plagued the Job Corps program throughout the history of the program.  This has been going on for more than forty years and nothing has been fixed.

The line that the tax payers have been fed about how the program helps youth out of poverty is a bunch of bs and most of the students that I worked with at Job Corps saw right through it. These students often let me know that they were only cash cows for the contractors and the federal government. 

Filed under: Drugs, Job Corps, Reader's Comments, CATO Institute, drug use, failed program, Job Corps, Job Corps Fraud, Karl Rove, taxpayer ripoff

A Reader’s comment about Oneonta Job Corps Center

From Harris-

“Riots, drugs and alcohol have been commonplace at Oneonta Job Corps for years.  I worked there many years ago, and when RCA was the contractor, student fights were hidden from the Job Corps Regional Directors. As long as companies receive incentives to run these contracts, and OIG audits lead to nothing but a fine when there are infractions, nothing is going to change. Contractors will continue to lie about “significant incidents” and manipulate statistics to meet contract goals and nothing will be done about it. The program is corrupt from the top to the bottom.

Congress doesn’t deal seriously with the negative aspects of the program even though reams of documentation exist about the fraudulent goings-on. Instead,they look at the opportunity to give the students a second chance and of course the salaries paid  and goods and services bought. That’s all well and good, but what about the cost to the taxpayer for a program that is not all that effective?

Job Corps has a new national director. Her predecessor was fired (and then reassigned somewhere in DOL?) because she would not submit a report with statistics reflecting the total number of students who had enrolled in Job Corps – the OMS Reports did not reflect job Corps drop outs.  Her excuse was that the report would be too long and members of Congress could find all the information in other reports published by Job Corps.

You can find these statistics in the Job Corps OMS10 Report, easily found on-line. Also see Job Corps Policy and Requirements Handbook (PRH). The website is:

www.jobcorps.gov/AboutJobCorps/performance_planning.aspx

Filed under: crime, Job Corps, Job Corps Centers, Oneonta Job Corps Center, Reader's Comments, riot, alcohol, Comments, corrupt, Drugs, OIG, Oneonta, riots

Angell Job Corps employee arrested for brutal attack (2002)

From the Seattle Post- Intelligencer Reporter, read the story here:

“Last week, the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office arrested Sarah Pearce, 19.

She and three men are accused of running Linda LeBrane off the road, beating her with an aluminum baseball bat and stabbing her 17 times in the back before grabbing a credit card and $40. They are also accused of slashing her throat and setting her car on fire…”

Filed under: Angell Job Corps, Arrests, Employees, Job Corps, Newspaper Reports, Angell Job Corps, beating, Canyon County Sheriff's Office, Linda LeBrane, Sarah Pierce, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter, stabbing