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Show A The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, April 9, 1978 Solons Fear That CETA Form of Cities Bail-O- r .'! l... r ' . r tj. iy T ; JI ; .V rV . 1. i . ' ,4 . M 8 U i; ut By Harrison H. Donnelly Congressional Quarterly Many members of a program origithat worry Congress hard-cornally intended to help the unemployed has become something a new form of federal very different bail-ofor cities. Tlie question will tie an important one as Congress considers extension of the 1973 Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), which expires in September. CETA funds are meant to provide work for the jobless. Federal money is distributed to state and local governments so that they can hire additional employes. These public service" workers may be firefighters or police, park maintenance or community workers, teachers or arts instructors. More than 725,000 public service workers are now being paid through CETA. Iical governments are supposed to use CETA money to create new jobs by hiring more workers than they ordinarily would have. The problem is that many cities and counties are using the jobs money to pay for elready-existin- g previously funded by local taxes. this tactic Known as substitution, improves local fiscal standing, but gives little help to the millions of unemployed. An obvious example of substitution occurs when a government lays off regular employees, and then rehires them to the same jobs using CETA funds. WASHINGTON e ut Hooked on CETA Moreover, many governments apparently are becoming hooked on CETA. In some cities there is one CETA worker for every four regular employees; the ratio is even higher for some county governments. This suggests that in practice CETA has become a disguised form of federal subsidy for local government operations. CETA has become in effect a revenue sharing for the communities even in the school systems CETA is carrying a tremendous load, said Sen. John H. Chafee, No one knows for sure how much substitution is going on. Studies have estimated that anywhere from 20 to 100 percent of CETA jobs were old jobs formerly paid from local revenues. If the higher estimates are correct, the federal government is paying nearly $6 billion to create a relatively small number of jobs. At an 80 percent substitution rate, for example, CETA is paying for four old jobs to create one new job, raising the cost of each new position to about the level of the salary of a member of Congress ($57,500). Supporters of CETA were encouraged by a recent Brookings Institution study that showed the substitution rate was only 20 percent. But those findings were based on an assumption that cities in poor financial condition were justified in using CETA funds to pay for old jobs. Many financially strapped communities have had to rely on CETA funds to avoid laying off essential workers. If CETA were paying for a job that otherwise would not have been available because of lack of money, the argument goes, then the effect was the same as creation of a new job. d Brookings found that almost of CETA jobs were old jobs in fiscally communities h;. exact extent, substituits Whatever tion raises serious problems for CETAs extension by Congress. As Rep. observed, Parren J. Mitchell, Congress is in a rather threatening mood on spending programs this year, and will be on the lookout for anything remotely wrong" with the public service program. d-- one-thir- Program in Trouble Substitution could be the stick that critics use to beat back the level of CETA programs. An aide to a liberal House member said the programs in trouble, and warn'd that committee's might vote to cut back CETA funding because of concern over substitution. In addition, the public service employment program has been hit by repeated charges of misuse of funds and corruption. Since its workers are hired outside of normal government hiring procedures, CETA is a tempting plum for local politicians who want to expand their patronage powers. In Chicago, jobs reportedly were handed out on the basis of political influence or nepotism. In the District of Columbia, City Council members were using CETA funds to hire friends and political associates, according to newspaper investigators. In Buffalo, CETA participants allegedly were required to do work fo- - the local Democratic Party. j "S. d our best selling carpet installed over Firmstep padding at one low price! installation, with an additional charge for stairwork, direct gluedown and special floor preparation. Take advantage of these terrific Anniversary buys to your home. Carpets, 32 Price applies to wall-to-wa- ll et The Labor Department has stepped up its efforts to control corruption in CETA. Nearly $1 milion was recovered from Chicago because of misuse of funds; one city lost its right to sponsor public service jobs because of violations. control of public service But employment by the Labor Department threatens the ability of local governments to tailor porgrams to their own needs, a fundamental premise of too-tig- ht CETA. Another frequent criticism is that CETA programs fail to target on those who need assistance most the economically disadvantaged and longterm unemployed. Were not coping with the hard core, said Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton, Statistics show that workers in public service programs are largely white, male and high school graduates. Only 15 percent come from welfare families. Critics contend that the figures show a persistent tendency by local governments to cream the labor market skim off the most skilled workers and leave the poor and unskilled without a job. (Copyright) She Ignored Probation Terms , Judge Imposes Jail Sentence - A woman PHILADELPHIA (AP) who was convicted of charity fraud in a scheme which authorities said drove a crippled girls mother to suicide has been jailed for allegedly violating a judges order that she work with handicapped children. Carol Grudzinski, 35, will stay in prison until she demonstrates that she can comply with the conditions of my probation," said Common Pleas Judge Charles L. Durham, who originally sentenced her. Durham had ordered Miss Grudzins-k- i to work two days a week for two years at an institution for handicapped children. But a probation report filed with the court said she was working as a bar hostess. Miss Grudzinski was convicted last June of theft, violation of charitable organizations laws and other charges in connection with fundraising she had said was to benefit a cerebral palsy victim, Pamela Price, 18. The girl's mother, Delores Price, 45, slashed her wrists in June 19TK after telling neighbors she was despondent over rumors that she had kept for herself money raised for her daughter, authorities said. A message scrawed in lipstick on a mirror in the bathroom where Mrs. Price took her life read: "I didn't do it. Following the conviction, Durham placed Miss Grudzinski on seven years probation, fined her $5,000, ordered her to repay $2,000 to a fund set up for Pamela Price and ordered the work w ith handicapped children. At a hearing Friday, however, city probation officials said Miss Grudzinski had exaggerated the seriousness of a foot injury she used as an excuse' not to report for work at a school for blind children. Salvatore Malvestuto, a probation supervisor, told Durham that when he went to investigate why Miss Grudzinski had failed to report to the school he found her at work in her job as a bar hostess. Finally . . . shopping centers tailor-mad-e for your business. 01) |