Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed local programs' implementation of the requirement to provide youth with remedial education as part of the 1987 Summer Youth Employment and Training Program.

GAO found that: (1) the number of youths provided remedial education in the 1987 program increased from 55,000 to 112,000; (2) the money localities spent on remediation expanded from $37 million to $64 million; (3) although every program it surveyed provided remediation, the number of youths served and the intensity of remediation varied greatly; (4) the majority of programs planned to further expand remediation in 1988; (5) 60 percent of program administrators believed that remediation improved their summer programs; and (6) although local administrators had anticipated service reductions in several aspects of their summer programs due to the cost of adding remediation, fewer than expected programs actually reported making such reductions.