This report responds to the following four key questions that pertain to out-of-school youth:

1)  What is the economic and policy context within which current programs for out-of-school youth operate?

2)  Have the Department of Labor’s (DOL) policies and programs for out-of-schools youth significantly raised their earnings prospects?

3)  What role have DOL programs played in promoting the broader development of young people?

4)  What new research and demonstration activity can provide a sound roadmap for improving the effectiveness of youth programs aimed at helping out-of-school youth?

The report is a continuation of several studies that have examined and synthesized findings from youth employment and training programs, but is distinctive in three ways.  The report embeds the analysis in the broader economic and policy context; it supplements past findings with information from recent initiatives; and, it develops and presents concrete recommendations for research and demonstrations to improve the workings of programs for out-of-school youth.