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Youth from low-income neighborhoods are at risk of poor outcomes throughout their lives. Many will drop out of school, which can lead to economic hardship and a greater chance of getting involved in the criminal justice system—making their lives even more difficult.

In 2014, law enforcement agencies made about 1 million juvenile arrests, each of which generated a record. Having a juvenile record reduces a youth’s prospects in life by limiting employment, educational, and housing opportunities long after the incident’s resolution. Yet a juvenile record does not have to permanently restrict a youth’s opportunities. Youth with juvenile records can reduce or completely bar public access to their records by expunging or sealing them.

Using data collected throughout the implementation of the Youth CareerConnect (YCC) grant, the final report describes how grantees recruited employer partners and maintained employer and workforce agency partnerships; the services and activities partners provided; and plans for sustaining partnerships after the grant ended. The report draws on a mix of quantitative and qualitative data from three sources that bring together information at different time points. Appendix B provides details on each of these data collection efforts relevant to this report.

The report summarizes the evidence on program models for serving justice-involved adults and young adults through connection to employment, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and case management services. The primary evidence of the effectiveness of these models comes from a review of experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluations. Information about factors that may contribute to the successful implementation of the models comes from a review of outcome evaluations and implementation studies.

The Young Parents Demonstration (YPD) was a federal grant initiative, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA) and Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) to test the effectiveness of enhanced services in improving educational and employment outcomes for at-risk parenting and expectant youth. The focus of this final report is on the four Round III community-based organizations awarded three-year grants in June 2011 totaling $5.5 million.

The report focuses on the results of the evaluation phase of the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) Livelihoods Services Evaluation study and is organized to highlight the key findings across projects. Section 2 provides background on OCFT’s efforts to combat child and forced labor and an overview of the research questions addressed in this study. Section 3 provides details on the mixed-methods research methodology used for this evaluation.

The Young Parents Demonstration (YPD) is a federal grant initiative, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA) and Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) to test the effectiveness of enhanced services in improving educational and employment outcomes for at-risk parenting and expectant youth. The focus of this report is on the 13 YPD Rounds I and II grants awarded in June 2009.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA), the Young Parents Demonstration (YPD) was a federal grant initiative to enhance the Department’s existing programs to better serve at-risk and disadvantaged young parents and expectant parents, ages 16 to 24. Through two grant competitions, DOL/ETA issued three rounds of awards to 17 organizations, including both local public workforce agencies and non-profit community-based organizations.

Using contemporary, nationally representative longitudinal survey data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, with sequence analysis and regression methods, this paper examines how various forms of criminal justice contact, including arrest and incarceration in jail and prison, are associated with labor market participation and a variety of employment outcomes, including weeks worked, wage, job satisfaction, and shift scheduling. Specifically, the paper examines the stability of labor market participation and employment over time using sequence analysis methods.

Researchers investigated how less-educated and less-experienced workers in Ohio benefit from registered apprenticeships. The researchers focused on 18-24 year old males. Regression results show that compared to individuals who have similar pre-program educational backgrounds but have little or no job training, apprentices have significantly higher earnings six years after program entry. The wage premiums for apprentices persist for at least nine years after program entry.

In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Mathematica Policy Research to conduct the National Job Corps Study: 20-Year Follow-Up Study Using Tax Data under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies. This administrative data analysis aims to assess the long-term employment and earnings outcomes for Job Corps participants in the 1990s using tax data through 2015.

Appendices to the National Job Corps Study: 20-Year Follow-Up Study Using Tax Data Final Report. Appendix A presents additional tables of impact results referenced in the main report. Appendix B presents additional details on the tax data, the construction of outcome variables, and analytic methods used to estimate the impacts and interpret them.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) conducted a rigorous impact evaluation of the Job Corps program in the 1990s. The original National Job Corps Study was a large scale random assignment evaluation to examine program impacts on participants’ employment related outcomes. The design involved the random assignment of all eligible applicants nationwide between 1994 and early 1996 to a program or control group. The study participants are now between the ages of 38 and 46.

The report presents interim findings of the Pathways evaluation consisting of an implementation study and a descriptive outcomes study. The purpose of the outcomes study is to document program outputs and participant outcomes. The purpose of the implementation study is to:

Making the successful transition to adulthood has become increasingly difficult for many young people in the United States, particularly for those without a college education. Those without a high school degree face even tougher prospects, with especially high unemployment rates and falling wages. A typical worker without a high school diploma earns less today than the same worker did in the 1970s. YouthBuild is a program that attempts to improve prospects for less-educated young people, serving over 10,000 individuals each year at over 250 organizations nationwide.

As part of its mission to combat child labor, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) provides grants to support the work of organizations around the world that implement projects to keep children out of the child labor (referred to as OCFT grantees). Some OCFT grantees gather data to estimate, both before and after project implementation, the prevalence of child labor in the areas that they serve.

The Employer Perspectives Study describes strong employer-community college partnerships. It draws insights from employers identified by colleges as partners that have contributed to their programs. Abt Associates and the Urban Institute, with their partners Capital Research Corporation and the George Washington University, (the research team) interviewed 41 employers to better understand their perspective of what constitutes a strong partnership with a college.

People with disabilities experience significantly lower levels of labor force participation than people without disabilities in the United States. Despite the focus on work promotion among this population, comparatively less is known about the factors promoting job retention among contemporary cohorts of young workers with disabilities. This study utilizes data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to examine the following: How do job characteristics differ by disability status?

Job Corps, a program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA), is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive residential education and job training program for at-risk youth. Originally established by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, the program currently operates under the provisions of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was enacted in 2014. Studies of Job Corps have found promising results especially for older youth (Schochet et al. 2001).

Job Corps, a program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA), is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive residential education and job training program for at-risk youth. Originally established by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, the program currently operates under the provisions of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which Congress enacted in 2014.

As economic conditions change and the research literature evolves, there is a need to assess current best practices for serving today’s youth and consider how they could inform the Job Corps program.

The report includes findings from a 2-year implementation study of the Urban Employment Demonstration Grants for Youth and Young Adults, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Chief Evaluation Office (CEO). In 2015, DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) awarded seven urban cities with 2-year grants to develop projects to address the workforce needs of disconnected youth and young adults (ages 16–29) in U.S.

The purpose of the report is to explore implementation of Youth CareerConnect (YCC) about two years after funding began. This report draws information from five sources: (1) a grantee survey describing YCC as it was implemented in one of its schools, (2) grantees’ quarterly progress report narratives, (3) visits to 10 grantees, (4) YCC’s Participant Tracking System, and (5) a survey of parents and students in YCC in 8 of the grantees visited.

The issue brief series explores emerging findings from a 2-year implementation study of the Urban Employment Demonstration Grants for Youth and Young Adults, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Chief Evaluation Office (CEO). In 2015, DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) awarded seven urban cities with 2-year grants to develop projects to address the workforce needs of disconnected youth and young adults (ages 16–29) in U.S. cities and communities experiencing high unemployment, crime, and poverty rates, and low high school graduation rates.

The executive summary of the An Introduction to the World of Work A Study of the Implementation and Impacts of New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program Final Report that examines the impacts of the nation’s largest summer youth jobs program — New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) — on young people’s education, employment, and earnings.