FY2009 SYEP DC Council Emergency Hearing 06-29-09 (FULL)

An emergency oversight hearing was held by the DC Council Committee for Housing and Workforce Development after the Dept of Employment Services abruptly ended the agreement it had with the David Hoffman Agency, a Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Training Provider serving Northern Virginia and the Greater Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area (Washington-MSA). The JOBFORCE® program is run by DHA and identifies, trains and places target groups in the District, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia who need skills to qualify for job openings in the Washington-MSA.

Pursuant to Federal WIA regulation 20 CFR 667.262, Hoffman created outreach activities which led to jobs being created for eligible District residents.

Dept of Employment Services Director Joseph P Walsh Jr, did not agree with Hoffman's outreach plans, job creating initiatives and job placements. Walsh cancelled the contract after firing hundreds of youth who had earned their positions and were found to be eligible for the SYEP program by Hoffman using an Eligibility Verification Reporting System he created to protect DC taxpayers from fraud or abuse of the program.

The relationship between Hoffman, and Walsh came to a boiling point when several of the youth DoES had referred to Hoffman at the Washington Convention Center were rejected by Hoffman's agency because it was found that 20.7% of applicants in the SYEP were actually residents of Maryland and other states and therefore not eligible for the program. Hoffman refused to give any jobs to participants who lived outside of the DIstrict. Walsh retaliated by terminating the agreement and denying their was ever an agreement. Walsh claimed that DoES did not need Hoffman's services and that DoES had procured jobs for all participants on it's own.

The testimony includes witness statements by DoES Director Joseph Walsh, David Hoffman, principal of DHA, SYEP participants, and parents. The Committee Chairman, Marion Barry, questions Walsh about how he was running the program.

The text of the applicable Federal Law Hoffman used as the basis for his outreach programs can be found here:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBQQFjAA&...

The Washington Post also did a story on this event which can be found here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR20090625046...


LOOKING FOR A JOB? UPDATED LISTING HERE:
http://www.indeed.com/jobs?indpubnum=1639712616303676&chnl=JOBFORCE%AE+on...

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• syep
• dc council
• marion barry
• michael brown
• david hoffman
• joseph walsh
• raven johnson
• dashaun wagner
• jennifer johnson
• drew hubbard
• wia
• hearing
• whitstleblower