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

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Release Date: May 01, 2017

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

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About the Report

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The report 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. The evaluation, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and a private foundation, includes a sample of nearly 265,000 young people who applied to SYEP for the first time between 2006 and 2010. The analysis uses an experimental design that relies on SYEP’s randomized lottery application system. Drawing on interviews, focus groups, and a survey of service providers conducted in 2015, this report also describes SYEP’s implementation and the experiences of participants.

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Research Questions

  • How does SYEP work on the ground, including the strategies and challenges involved in implementing the program and the factors that influence the experiences of participants?
  • What are the impacts of the SYEP?

Key Takeaways

  • SYEP’s large scale resulted in wide variability in implementation across and within program sites.
  • The quality of educational workshops also varied based on the provider.
  • SYEP had large positive impacts on young people’s employment and earnings during the summer for which they applied, but it had little impact beyond that summer.

Research Gaps

  • Some new and future changes may strengthen the program, however. In recent years, the city has made efforts to customize services for some types of participants and to make program funding more consistent, and there are plans to pilot test some adaptations to the program in the future. It will be important to assess whether such changes improve the program without jeopardizing what it currently does well. (page iii)

Citation

Valentine, E. J., Anderson, C., Hossain, F., Unterman, R. (2017). MDRC. An Introduction to the World of Work: A Study of the Implementation and Impacts of New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.