The Nation : Job Act Changes Proposed to Aid Youths

Labor Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole proposed changes in the nation’s main jobs program for the poor that she said would direct aid and training to those most at risk of failure in the employment market. “Those without basic skills are on a one-way street to a dead-end future,” Dole said in announcing a package of proposed amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act. At the heart of her proposal is a Youth Opportunities Unlimited program, which would offer “challenge grants” to communities with large numbers of economically disadvantaged youths and young adults. “We must break the cycle of cynicism that has hold of many of our youth,” Dole told the House Education and Labor Committee. “There is an urgent need for more than job training. Many desperately need basic skills training, literacy and remedial education.”