About the Report

Download Report

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. A rigorous impact evaluation found promising impacts on educational attainment, arrests, and short-term earnings for the full sample of youth Job Corps served, and positive long-term earnings impacts for older youth (Schochet et al. 2008).

DOL has worked for the past several years to make improvements to the Job Corps program, with the goal of better serving youth. Although progress has been made, important issues and questions remain about how best to structure and deliver services in the program. DOL recognizes the need to assess current best practices for serving youth as it considers options for enhancing the Job Corps program. To fulfill this need, DOL’s Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and its subcontractor, Decision Information Resources, Inc., to conduct an external review of the Job Corps program. The goals are to (1) document what is known about Job Corps and other similar programs, (2) identify promising evidence-based practices that Job Corps might consider for the future, and (3) present options for future research and evaluation. The external review covers a broad range of topics that are relevant to the Job Corps program, including program operations and services. It does not include an implementation or impact analysis of the Job Corps program.

Mathematica addresses the first and second goals in an accompanying report, The External Review of Job Corps: An Evidence Scan Report, (Berk et al. 2018), which we hereafter refer to as the “Evidence scan.” The Evidence scan summarizes the findings from previous research and identifies promising evidence-based practices relevant to Job Corps. The research questions that guide the Evidence scan were informed by discussions with CEO and national Job Corps staff. An expert working group provided information on current practices that other organizations are implementing that the Job Corps program could consider, and the Evidence scan assesses the evidence base for relevant practices. The covered topics are organized into two key domains: (1) provision of youth services and (2) program organizational structures and practices.

An expert working group provided information on current practices that other organizations are implementing that the Job Corps program could consider, and the Evidence scan assesses the evidence base for relevant practices. The covered topics are organized into two key domains: (1) provision of youth services and (2) program organizational structures and practices.

The report addresses the third goal of the external review by providing a high-level summary of evaluation design options for the first four research questions covered by the Evidence scan, which relate to the provision of youth services. The intended audience for this report is people who are knowledgeable about Job Corps, have some familiarity with evaluation methods, and have interest in evaluating whether potential innovations to Job Corps improve participants’ outcomes.

Research Questions

• What strategies can Job Corps pursue to enhance the experiences and growth of participants?
• What strategies can Job Corps adopt to enhance the climate and safety of centers?
• How can Job Corps enhance the employment skills and job readiness of graduates?
• How can Job Corps change group dynamics in centers to enhance program outcomes for youth?

Citation

Lee, J., Schochet, P., Berk, J. (2018). Mathematica. The External Review of Job Corps: Directions for Future Research. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

Download Report

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.