Workforce groups release training fact sheets.

Since the start of the recent economic downturn, federal job training and employment programs have played a critical role in helping U.S. workers and employers access the skills needed to begin rebuilding the economy and maintain our nation's competitiveness. But these programs have been under attack: the House of Representatives recently passed a Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 continuing resolution (HR 1) that would cut $3.8 billion in funding for key programs under the Department of Labor - including all Program Year (PY) 2011 funding for formula grants under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) - while other lawmakers have been advancing misleading and inaccurate arguments that workforce programs are inefficient and duplicative.
 
To counter some of these myths and misperceptions about federal job training investments, a coalition of national workforce organizations has developed and released a series of short fact sheets:

• “Are Federal Workforce Programs Effective?” cites findings from a number of reports and studies that demonstrate that federal investments in the workforce system yield significant returns on investment, as well as positive employment and earnings outcomes for program participants.
• “Are Federal Workforce Programs Duplicative?” notes that while workforce programs could be better aligned and streamlined to ease access and service delivery for both workers and employers, it is inaccurate to suggest that there is duplication in the actual provision of services for the populations served by these individual programs. The paper points to statements in a recent Government Accountability Office report on job training programs that “[e]ven when programs overlap, the services they provide and the populations they serve may differ in meaningful ways.”
• “Can Carry-Over Fund the Workforce System in Program Year 2011?” counters an argument made by the House Appropriations Committee in supporting materials for H.R. 1, that the workforce system can be sustained through FY 2011 with a combination of current year funding and “carry-over” funds. The paper notes that the actual amounts available to the system are likely significantly lower than the committee’s estimates, and looks back at lessons learned from the last Congressional effort to rescind “unexpended funds” from WIA.

Workforce advocates should use these materials to help educate policymakers on the true value of job training and employment programs in supporting economic recovery and competitiveness strategies, and to illustrate the real impact that proposed cuts in workforce development would have for the workers, businesses, and communities being served by these programs in their states and local communities.