Public Administration ETDs

Publication Date

8-1972

Abstract

After President Nixon vetoed the Employment and Manpower Act of 1970, he directed the Department of Labor to use all existing legislative authority to begin, on a pilot basis, the decentralization of federal manpower programs to state and local governments.

In 1971, the City of Albuquerque was chosen as a pilot area to bring together many of this area’s federal manpower training and employment programs under its sponsorship. As prime sponsor, the City is responsible for the overall planning, management and evaluation of these programs while existing community agencies are used to carry out the programs and deliver their services. In short, as prime sponsor, the City government assumes many of the tasks formerly carried out by federal regional offices.

This study was undertaken for several important reasons. At the time the study was initiated, Albuquerque was one of the two existing pilot manpower programs in the United States and offered an excellent opportunity for gathering relevant data since the project was formally initiated in December 1971 and was to be well established by July of the next year. To the best of my knowledge, this study is the first and only one to attempt to gather and analyze information relative to the problems associated with a pilot project consolidating manpower programs. It was hoped that the findings would help to close this research gap and at the same time stimulate research in other areas of program consolidation.

The methodology used in this study consisted of extensive use of the research data of such prominent men in the field of manpower as Sar Levitan, Robert Taggert, Stanley Ruttenberg and Roger Davidson as well as research material from several manpower task forces. A comprehensive questionnaire was devised to solicit information on the effect of the pilot project from federal, state and local individuals who were involved with the programs and also from about 90 percent of the manpower directors whose programs were to be affected by this pilot project.

The findings indicated that there is unanimous acceptance of the pilot comprehensive manpower program by all federal, state and local individuals interviewed. This program is also strongly supported by a considerable majority of manpower program directors as well as manpower clientele representatives. The results tended to support the national feeling that federal programs often do not reflect local needs and priorities and that local individuals are anxious to solve their local problems through local governments.

Degree Name

Public Administration

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

School of Public Administration

First Committee Member (Chair)

Nicholas Llewellyn Henry

Second Committee Member

David P Rusk

Third Committee Member

John Mace Hunger

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

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