Placement in jobs retained more than six months through a $500 million Labor Department green-jobs training program is falling 84 percent short of its goal, according to a report released Friday.
The Labor inspector general audit offered a bleak picture of one of President Obama’s chief stimulus and policy goals — creating green jobs.
“Although grantees have reported achieving 90 percent of serving a collective goal of 126,493 participants, entered employment and retention results are far lower than planned,” the audit, which was an update to a September 2011 report, reports.
The Obama administration defended the Labor program in a letter attached to the report, calling the grants “smart investments that are preparing Americans for the clean energy jobs driving our 21st Century economy.”
That more than half of the grants for the program are still active indicates performance figures will improve, Jane Oates, assistant secretary for Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, said in the letter.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, requested the audit. He likened the program to a handful of Energy Department-backed stimulus loans to now-bankrupt green-energy firms.
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