In response to calls from state and local providers of youth services for a more efficient and integrated system to serve disconnected youth, the U.S. Congress (2014) authorized the Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth (P3) in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014. Under the Act, up to 10 P3 pilots could be awarded to states, local, or tribal governments to pool funds from at least two Federal discretionary programs and, as needed, to apply for waivers from the programs' requirements. To assess P3, Federal agencies sponsored a five-year national evaluation. Using data from interviews with pilot administrators, staff, and partners collected during the evaluation's implementation study, this paper reflects on the early experiences of the nine cohort 1 pilots.

The evaluation found that most pilots focused on the traditional program activities of developing and providing outcome-focused services to disconnected youth in the first year. Beyond this work, however, the vision for P3 was to better coordinate the way state and local systems provided those services. As pilots sought to implement the flexibilities afforded them, the following findings emerged:

1. Pilots that were starting to make system changes were led by state or local agencies that frequently convened and coordinated with local youth-serving organizations. These lead pilot agencies were able to bring together partners from across different program areas, such as education and labor.
2. All pilots brought together a diverse set of partners. Pilots indicated that government and community partners were willing to work across their different program areas, such as education and labor, to coordinate their youth-related services.
3. Not all leaders of pilots' grantees and their partners had a full understanding of the available flexibilities. They reported that a clearer understanding was important for pilots to pull together existing funding streams to support the youth intended for services and to remove other programmatic barriers that limit how these funds support youth-related services.
4. Five pilots had proposed in their applications to create shared data systems, but, in the first year, none accomplished this goal, largely due to logistical and privacy concerns. Indeed, two decided not to pursue shared systems, and three reported that they were continuing local discussions to develop such systems. In the meantime, for purposes of P3, all pilots developed work-arounds to share data about their participants and for reporting.