To promote a more integrated system of federal, state, local, and tribal services for disconnected youth, Congress authorized the Performance Partnership Pilots (P3) for Disconnected Youth initiative under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014. The Act allowed up to ten grantee organizations and their partners, together called "pilots", to waive regulations, such as spending and performance requirements, and gain coordinated access to the discretionary funds of several federal agencies.

A national evaluation examined the extent to which the P3 initiative increased coordination across federal agencies and programs to allow local communities the flexibilities they need to support disconnected youth. This supplemental study examined how providers in three P3 communities continued supporting disconnected youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on (1) adaptations in how providers provided supports, with help from government agencies; (2) challenges serving youth during the pandemic; and (3) lessons learned and promising strategies for adapting services. Using data obtained from semi-structured interviews with five staff from youth-serving providers and three staff from state and local government agencies, this paper found that perceived relationship building, access to technology, flexibility with staff and youth's needs, data monitoring, and creativity were key inputs for implementing and sustaining virtual services.