evaluation; experimental and developmental projects

evaluation; experimental and developmental projects Sec. 413. (a) The Secretary shall provide for the careful and systematic evaluation of the Job Corps program, directly or by contracting for independent evaluations, with a view to measuring specific benefits, so far as practicable, and providing information needed to assess the effectiveness of program procedures, policies, and methods of operation. In particular, this evaluation shall Seek to determine the costs and benefits resulting from the use of residential as opposed to non residential facilities, from the use of facilities combining residential and nonresidential components, from the use of centers with large as opposed to small enrollments, and from the use of different types of program sponsors, including public agencies, institutions of higher education, boards of education, and private corporations. The evaluation shall also include comparisons with proper control groups composed of persons who have not participated in the program. In carrying out such evaluations, the Secretary shall arrange for obtaining the opinions of participants about the strengths and weaknesses of the program and shall consult with other agencies and officials in order to compare the relative effectiveness of Job Corps techniques with those used in other programs, and shall endeavor to secure, through employpl’s, schools, or other Government and private agencies specific information concerning the residence of former enrollees, their employment status, compensation, and success in adjusting to community life. The Secretary shall also secure, to the extent feasible, similar information directly from enrollees at appropriate intervals following their completion of the Job Corps program. The results of such evaluation shall be published and shall be summarized in the annual report of the Secretary. (b) The Secretary may undertake or make grants or contracts for experimental, research, or demonstration projects directed to developing or testing ways of securing the better use of facilities, of encouraging a more rapid adjustment of enrollees to community life that will permit a reduction in the period of their enrollment, of reducing transportation and support costs, or of otherwise, promoting greater efficiency and effectiveness in the program authorized under this part. These projects shall include one or more projects providing youths with education, training, and other supportive services on a combined residential and non residential basis. The Secretary may, if he deems it advisable, undertake one or more pilot projects designed to involve youth who have a history of serious and violent behavior against per-sons or property, repetitive delinquent acts, narcotics addiction, or other behavioral aberrations. Projects under this subsection shall be developed after appropriate consultation with other Federal or State agencies conducting similar or related programs or projects and with the prime sponsors, in the communities where the projects will be carried out. They may he undertaken jointly with other Federal or federally assisted programs, and funds otherwise available for activities under those programs shall, with the consent of the head of any agency concerned, be available to projects under this section to the extent they include the same or substantially similar activities. The Secretary may waive any provision of this title which he finds would 87 Stat. 871prevent the carrying out of elements of projects under this subsection essential to a determination of their feasibility and usefulness. He shall, in the annual report of the Secretary, report to the Congress concerning the actions taken under this section, including a full description of progress made in connection with combined residential and nonresidential projects. (c) In order to determine whether upgraded vocational education schools could eliminate or substantially reduce the school dropout problem, and to demonstrate how communities could make maximum utilization of existing educational and training facilities, the Secretary in cooperation with the Commissioner of Education, shall enter into one or more agreements with State educational agencies in pay the cost of establishing and operating model community vocational education schools and skill centers. Such facilities shall Ire centrally located in an urban area having a high dropout rate, a large number of unemployed youths, and a need in the area for a combination vocational school and skill center. No such agreement shall be entered into unless it contains provisions designed to assure that— (1) a job survey be made of the area; (2) the training program of the school and skill center reflect the job market needs as projected by the survey; (3) an advisory committee composed of representatives of business, labor, education, and community leaders lie formed to follow the center’s activities and to make periodic recommendations regarding its operation; (4) arrangements have been worked out with schools in the area and the administrator of the skill center for maximum utilization of the center both during and after school hours; and (5) such accounting and evaluation procedures as the Secretary and the Commissioner of Education deem necessary to carry out the impose of this project will be provided.