Process Evaluation of the Demand-Side Youth Offender Demonstration Project (Phase II)

"Business Interface, Inc. (BI) was awarded funding by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) in January 2003 to conduct the Demand-Side Youth Offender Demonstration Project (DYSOP). Under this grant, BI served as an intermediary in connecting employers in four sites with young ex-offenders and youth at-risk of court involvement between the ages of 18-25. The basic strategy of the DYSOP initiative was to establish intermediary organizations in the demonstration cities, known as Business Resource Centers (BRCs). The primary purpose of the BRCs was to connect employers with youth. The “demand-side” component of the model came from the demand by employers for persons who are qualified to fill positions they offer; thus, employers are the primary customers of these centers. Three BRCs in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. were implemented in Phase I of the demonstration and a fourth Center in Los Angeles was added in Phase II...The process evaluations sought to determine: 1) the efficacy of the business intermediary model implemented by the grantees in the above sites, and 2) the impact of the services delivered on the employment, earnings and retention of youth ex-offenders and youth at-risk of court or gang involvement" (p.i). (Abstractor: Author)

- "Of the 413 placements made by BI during Phase II of DSYODP, 18 were offenders" (p.vi), and "youth offenders faired 0.158 times worse than youth at-risk for court involvement" for duration of employment (p.viii). - "The industries that hired the most BI clients were information (e.g., telemarketing), hospitality, and “Other Services” (e.g., mailroom sorters or copier operators)" (p.vi-vii). - "At-risk youth tended to earn slightly higher wages on average than youth offenders. Overall, the placed youth earned an average of $9.52 an hour" (p.vii). - "Wages had a significant impact on persistence in employment. Every $100 increase in average weekly wages, led to an increase of 5.9 times for the proportion of enrollment quarters in which the youth had UI wage records...In short, youth with higher wages stayed employed more than youth with lower wages. This suggests that...placing youth needs to be accompanied with higher wages to ensure that youth persist in employment" (p.viii). - "Even with retention-level wages, many workers did not get benefits, and that is a limitation for workers with families" (p.ix). (Abstractor: Author).

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2008
• Author(s): No individual author identified
• Organizational Author(s): McNeil Education, Training and Research
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies