Poor Results from Green Jobs Program

From a federal report on the effectiveness of green jobs training programs funded by stimulus money:

Nationally, state labor agencies spent $162.8 million of the $500 million allotted. The program runs through January 2013.

In response to the poor results, the federal Labor Department’s inspector general — which prepared the report, “Recovery Act: Slow Pace Placing Workers into Jobs Jeopardizes Employment Goals of the Green Jobs Program” — is requesting a re-evaluation of the program and a recovery of any funds determined to be not needed.

The report is based on a statistical sample of 87 grants, or 46 percent, to review, totaling $231 million, or 47 percent, from a total of 189 grants. The inspector general conducted the study at the request of Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the Finance Committee’s top Republican.

“According to interviews conducted early in 2011 with regional officials, grantees have expressed concerns that jobs have not materialized and that job placements have been fewer than expected for this point in the grant program,” the report states. Also, “the low rate raises concerns that original goals may not be reached before the grant periods expire.”

The state of Maryland has spent $1.16 million on environmental job training and not a single worker has been placed. Obviously, the green jobs program performance raises concerns about its viability.