Adapting to Local Context: Findings from the YouthBuild Evaluation Implementation Study
This report presents program implementation findings from the national evaluation of YouthBuild, a program providing a mix of academics, vocational training, leadership development, community service, and other activities to high school dropouts facing an array of challenges to educational and employment success. YouthBuild distinguishes itself from many other programs serving young people through the stipend it pays to participants and a culture that emphasizes youth development and leadership, capitalizing on participants’ strengths and empowering participants to take responsibility for their lives. Primary funders of YouthBuild programs include the U.S. Department of Labor, the Corporation for National and Community Service, private foundations, and states and localities.

The evaluation was launched in 2010, and uses a random assignment design to examine the impacts of YouthBuild as implemented by 75 programs operating the program nationwide. For the evaluation, eligible applicants in the 75 sites were assigned at random either to a program group, which was eligible to participate in YouthBuild, or to a control group, which was not eligible to participate in YouthBuild. Both groups had access to all other services available in the community. A second report, scheduled for release in 2017, will present impacts of the program on the study group 12 and 30 months after random assignment. A third report, scheduled for release in 2018, will present impacts of the program 48 months after random assignment. The evaluation is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, with initial support from the Corporation for National and Community Service. It is being conducted by MDRC and its partners, Social Policy Research Associates and Mathematic Policy Research, Incorporated.

The findings presented in this report provide an overview of how the YouthBuild programs in this study vary in organizational characteristics, services, and approaches to serving young people. They provide the background necessary to understand results from the impact and cost-effectiveness studies, which are to be completed in the future. This report identifies a number of ways in which the programs in this study vary, including their fidelity to the YouthBuild model, which may help to explain any differences in impacts observed across programs