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other partnership gap exists, it appears to me, in failing to maximize the linkage between the Carl Perkins Vocational Education Act and JTPA.

There needs to be a closer relationship between public education and JTPA in the use of vocational education funds. From my reading of the act, more than 50 percent of the Vocational Education Act funds are targeted to populations and areas that are also served by JTPA.

Without effective partnerships, this provides an opportunity for duplication and overlap of training and service areas and could possibly even result in actual competition for the same clients under vocational education and JTPA.

I do have some specific recommendations which I would like to share you which I think speak to this major issue of coordination and better use of publicly funded resources. In the area of underutilization of public education resources, it seems to me that section 107[c] of the act could be revised and strengthened to allow public educational service providers the first opportunity to provide the needed training and educational services.

And a simple way of doing that would be to include the word "public" in that section, and also to perhaps put in another section which I've detailed in the testimony, the written testimony I provided which would allow the SDA's to go to other entities if the public educational agencies were unable to provide those services as an agency of first resort.

Second, and this is something that's not popular to discuss, but I'll brave it through anyhow, there are some local politics that affect funding decisions. I'm sure that comes as a great surprise to all of you.

Occasionally cities and counties have been able to retain what I would call CETA-like influence on the SDA funding decisions, due in part no doubt to the loyalties of members arising out of the appointment process, and often to the disadvantage of education providers and the clients themselves.

One way of helping to correct that would be to modify the law, perhaps to add a new subsection to section 102(c) which would require each PIC to have at least one standing committee, then to designate that one standing committee-they, obviously, could have more if they wish-but to designate that one standing committee to be chaired by the PIC education member and to be comprised of local public and private education representatives.

Obviously, the purpose of such a committee would be to provide on an ongoing basis insight into-that would help with programmatic decisions. Third, I would suggest that-and consistent, I see, with my colleague Mr. Kilbert on this-that public education agencies are simply not sufficiently represented on the PIC, and once again, the section 102(c) could be modified to require that there be additional educational representatives.

Now, lest you feel that I make these recommendations out of a pure sense of bias and turfdom, I want to point out to you what has already been in part pointed out to you, and that is our reading of the congressional background to this act suggests to us that it was clearly the congressional intent that public education be made an active partner in the process.

My reading of what has happened is that it did not become an active partner, and the understanding of that active partnership goes to the purpose of maximizing what are, obviously, limited resources in this area. Lastly, I would suggest that there needs to be, and this is consistent with this approach, an aggressive use of the 8-percent State education coordination and grant funds to develop the needed coordination and linkages between public education and the SDA's.

These funds were not, in my opinion, set aside for the purpose of providing additional training and services of the kind which are provided with the 78-percent funds, but they were in fact set aside to provide a source of funds to develop the partnership and increase the participation of public education in this area.

I wish to conclude where I began. There are significant accomplishments with the implementation of this act, and many needy persons have been assisted into unsubsidized employment. However, the public education agencies have not been the full partners which Congress had envisioned. We are now entering what I would call a second phase where the resources for education will be more critical because the training will of necessity focus on the hard to

serve.

It is now time to modify the act or modify regulations to help secure these resources for a more effective partnership between the SDA's and public education.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members, for this opportunity to present these views of the public education providers.

Mr. MARTINEZ. Thank you, Mr. Guichard. Patricia Luce.

STATEMENT OF PATRICIA LUCE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL OFFICE OF SAMOAN AFFAIRS, INC., SAN FRANCISCO, CA Ms. LUCE. Mr. Chairman, the Honorable Congressman Martinez, representatives of the Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities and the Honorable Senator Greene, I wish to acknowledge our traditional representatives who joined me today.

We would like to extend to you appreciation for inviting us to share with you our experiences, our findings and our recommendations. My name is Pat Luce. I am the executive director of the National Office of Samoan Affairs. I address you today for the purpose of amendments to the current Job Training Partnership Act.

Specifically, to amend the native American provision of the Job Training Partnership Act in order to expressly authorize that American Samoan peoples in the United States will be deemed eligible for these important programs.

A review of data concerning the unique socioeconomic situation of American Samoans in the United States, their needs and the services currently available, indicate a clear need for JTPA legislative modification. The special difficulties faced by American Samoans residing in the United States sets us apart from other populations.

American Samoan natives exhibit problems in dimensions beyond those generally associated with other impoverished populations, and the magnitude of those problems is greater than that encounted by other disadvantaged groups.

For example, according to the 1980 Census Bureau, the percentage of American Samoans living in poverty in the United States is 27.5 percent, compared to 9.6 percent for the total U.S. population. The incidence of extreme poverty for American Samoans is 140 percent higher than for the country as a whole.

The large family sizes and the low income place many American Samoan families below the established poverty levels. According to the 1980 census, about 21 percent of American Samoan families in California are below the poverty level compared with 8.7 percent of California families.

In Hawaii, 37.4 percent of American Samoan families live below the poverty level, compared to 7.8 of all families. The unemployment of American Samoans in the United States is much higher than the general population. Based on the 1980 census, the unemployment rate among American Samoans indicates that 9.7 of all American Samoans in the labor force are unemployed.

In California, 10.1 percent of all American Samoans in the labor force are unemployed, a rate of 150 percent of the overall State unemployment rate of 6.5 percent. In Hawaii, unemployment rate for American Samoans is 10.2 percent, more than double the rate of the State as a whole.

American Samoans in the United States experience a number of barriers to employment that make it particularly difficult for them to participate effectively in local labor markets. Structural barriers to employment are compounded by cultural and environmental factors.

Relatively low levels of educational attainment and English-language proficiency exacerbate the difficulties for American Samoans seeking employment. Problems associated with lack of experience and training appropriate to the U.S. job market, poor job search skills, and uneffective program designs have the multiple effect of precluding American Samoans from obtaining access to current JTPA employment and job training services.

The findings of the Department of Labor study indicate that Samoans are not making dramatic inroads into local labor markets, and predict that, based on demographic factors, the problems currently exhibited by American Samoans will continue into the future.

Unless American Samoans receive sufficient training and education, they will remain at a disadvantage in labor markets that are becoming increasingly competitive. By any measure of eligibility, American Samoans in the United States should be beneficiaries of existing educational and job training programs.

Various studies have shown that American Samoan adults encounter difficulties in finding and maintaining jobs because they lack training, job information, and knowledge on how to access resources, providing training and employment information.

But American Samoans in general do not utilize educational training and employment services commensurate with their numbers of needs, according to the DOL-commissioned study. As it is implemented, the Job Training Partnership Act exists to provide employment and training services to individuals and groups with socioeconomic characteristics, such as American Samoans.

How is it that American Samoans have failed to benefit from these programs in proportion to their needs? The Job Training Partnership Act provides a range of programs such as the 8 percent, 3 percent, 78 percent, and so forth, for which most American Samoans qualify but few actually benefit.

The inability to benefit in proportion to need derives from several sources. The relatively few Samoan organizations available to propose programs to local PIC councils and the criteria used by PIC in consideration of funding or de-funding programs.

Unfortunately, available evidence indicates that the present and future needs of American Samoans residing in the United States cannot be effectively met by existing JTPA services.

The Department of Labor found that personnel in existing services and programs know little about the unique aspects of Samoan culture and tradition. Research also indicates that there have been few outreach efforts and only isolated attempts to hire American Samoan program staff or to increase American Samoan participation in programs.

Due to these failures, local American Samoan communities lack knowledge about the range of existing services and consequently, participation is low. To date, only one American Samoan community-based agency has been funded under the JTPA.

On the other hand, those programs do not offer ESL training targeted for American Samoan-speaking adults and youths. Since many American Samoans require language training, in addition to technical training, they cannot easily participate in other programs lacking an English-Samoan bilingual component.

In addition, the scarcity of American Samoan organizations makes it difficult to increase the visibility of American Samoan communities and economic needs in California and elsewhere. Those American Samoan communities have never been successful in their efforts to secure any funding for programs under the 22 percent JTPA Title II-A moneys allocated at the discretion of the Governor of California or other States.

Criteria used to evaluate funding and refunding of programs under JTPA can actually work against the hard-to-train, hard-toplace person. Placement rates, positive termination rates, and cost per placement or positive termination are several important criteria used by PIC in their evaluation of existing or proposed training programs.

Existing programs would tend not to recruit hard-to-place persons, because the presence of these persons in their programs jeopardizes ability of that program to meet prescribed placement rates.

And programs which intend to provide services for hard-to-train persons may have or propose an unacceptable high-cost replacement, as additional training resources and personnel are added to the program.

As the data indicate, American Samoan communities in the United States have high proportions of hard-to-train, hard-to-place persons. Because of the JTPA funding evalation criteria, this makes American Samoans high-risk participants in programs sponsored by the general community.

And these same criteria makes American Samoan communitysponsored program high-risk compared to programs which serve

other minorities. It is for these reasons that the proposed amendment to JPTA is so important to American Samoans in the United States.

As proposed by Senator Inouye and Members of the House, we greatly support that amendment to the existing JTPA program in order to include provisions authorizing American Samoans toafford American Samoans an equal opportunity for benefits under JTPA in proportion to their needs.

The proposed amendments are consistent with the historical precedents of the U.S. Government designed to protect the people of American Samoa. American Samoans are legally recognized as nationals of the United States, and authority over American Samoa is vested in the President.

With more American Samoans living in the United States than in American Samoa, the Government of the United States through these amendments will extend statutory recognition to the American Samoans who have migrated to the United States from the island territory.

We believe that there is a strong underlying legalized moral basis to support the contention that a special trust relationship exists between the U.S. Government and the American Samoans. Based upon similar criteria, such a a relationship was found to be present with regard to American Indian tribes, Alaskan Natives, and native Hawaiians.

Therefore, we urge full support in amending the JTPA to include American Samoan natives. Thank you very much.

[Prepared statement of Pat H. Luce follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF PAT H. LUCE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL OFFICE OF SAMOAN AFFAIRS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA

SUMMARY

Amend the Native American provision of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Public Law 94-300-our Federal Employment and Training Program, in order to expressly authorize that American Samoan peoples in the United States will be deemed eligible for these important programs.

I. INTRODUCTION

Review of data concerning the unique socioeconomic situation of American Samoans in the United States, their needs and the services currently available, indicate a clear need for JTPA legislative modification.

Findings obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor's comprehensive study of Unemployment, Poverty and Training Needs of American Samoans reinforce this contention. American Samoans residing in the United States experience severe employment problems and have special unmet employment and job training needs. Furthermore, it appears that current and future employment and job training needs of American Samoans cannot be met through existing JTPA policy.

Therefore, based on the United States historical obligation to American Samoans, federal legislation to authorize their eligibility for JTPA programs is an essential and appropriate remedy to address the unique employment needs of these Native American peoples.

II. SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS OF AMERICAN SAMOANS

The special difficulties faced by American Samoans residing in the United States set them apart from other populations in the United States. They exhibit problems in dimensions beyond those generally associated with other impoverished populations in the United States. According to most indicators, however, the magnitude of problems facing American Samoans is greater than that encountered by other disad

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