As part of JTPA and other programs, the federal government was involved in employment training in many other areas. By the mid-1990s, 154 programs were administered through 14 different federal departments and agencies. These pro-grams included numerous separate services for disadvantaged youth, disadvantaged adults, older individuals, summer employment, and dislocated workers (U.S. Gen-eral Accounting Office, 1994a). Unfortunately, the effectiveness of these programs was questionable. Information on the outcomes or effectiveness of the programs was not adequately collected by agencies, and there was no evidence that partici-pants who did find jobs were helped by the programs or would not have achieved the same results on their own (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1994b).
Unemployment rates have fluctuated with the economy. Unfortunately, efforts to increase employment through social welfare services have not been extremely ef-fective. The average rate of unemployment for adult workers increased in each de-cade from the 1960s through the 1980s. Although the economic growth of the 1990s resulted in higher overall employment, in recent years the rate has begun to increase again. If employment and training efforts are not highly effective, then there is greater need for supportive services for those who are unemployed.