Youth CareerConnect: Evolution of Implementation over Time, Final Report

YCC grantees included a diverse array of organizations located in 18 states and Puerto Rico. Sixteen of the 24 YCC grantees were local education agencies, and others included nonprofit organizations (5), local workforce entities (2), and an institution of higher education. Through their YCC program, grantees were to bring together community partners—including local education agencies (schools, districts, or both), institutions of higher education (IHEs), employers, workforce development system agencies or American Job Centers and support service organizations—to deliver at least two years of career-focused training and support to participants that was tailored to each local employment market.

To learn about the implementation and effectiveness of the YCC program, DOL had the researchers conduct an evaluation that began alongside the YCC initiative in 2014. The evaluation consists of two distinct but interrelated studies: an implementation study, which examines how YCC programs developed over the grant period, and an impact study.

This report, the second of the project’s implementation study, examines the evolution of YCC program implementation, and focuses on the third and fourth years of the grant, when grant funding was scheduled to end. It also examines grantee approaches to the sustainability of YCC activities and services as they approached the end of grant funding. Analyses drew data from three distinct sources:

• A survey of all 24 YCC grantees that gathered information about YCC activities and services offered in one of each grantee’s high schools and was fielded from May to September 2015, between the first and second years of the grant, and June to July 2017, between the third and fourth years of the grant.
• Discussions with YCC program, school, and partner staff for 10 grantees during three rounds of site visits and telephone interviews from 2015-16 through 2017-18.
• Data from a participant-tracking system that captured characteristics and service receipt for students enrolled in the YCC program across 23 of the 24 YCC grantees in Spring 2016, the end of the second year of the grant, and Spring 2018, the end of the fourth year of the grant.

(This report is 50 pages long.)

Findings from an earlier report include:

• The YCC program could be distinguished by activities and services in each of the three program components: 1) preparing for college or career, 2) connecting to career-track employment and 3) offering academic and non-academic supports. Although some of the activities and services were unique to the YCC program, others were more broadly available to students in participating schools.
• Employer partners were engaged in developing program strategy and curriculum design, but some partnerships were still developing.
• Activities and services that required coordination with external partners or that focused on students in higher grades (for example, internships and dual-credit courses) were slower to develop.
• Limited staff capacity impeded efforts to implement activities and services.
• The rigor and challenge of YCC courses left some students struggling and caused them to question their commitment to stay in the program.

The researchers recommended the following key YCC practices:

• Partnerships. Strong employer and IHE partnerships were critical for implementation, and cultivating them required the help of a dedicated partner liaison. To build robust relationships with these partners, most schools hired (or assigned existing staff to) a liaison position dedicated to developing and maintaining partnerships.
•  Evolution. YCC program services evolved to meet changing needs as youth aged. During early implementation, grantees focused on developing services such as integrated academic and career-related courses, academic supports such as small learning communities, and work readiness activities. As students aged and the proportion of YCC students in older grades increased, schools shifted their focus to providing internships, college visits, postsecondary preparatory coursework, postsecondary financial assistance, courses leading to certification and credential attainment, and counseling support related to employment.
• Sustainability. Most grantees anticipated challenges with sustainability, but many had begun to implement strategies to support ongoing partnerships and services: Working with advisory councils or partners to plan for program sustainability; Integrating YCC program activities into existing school services to make them less reliant on grant funds; Building buy-in from school and local stakeholders; Setting up mechanisms to gather evidence on program effectiveness to promote the program.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2019
• Author(s): C. Geckeler, E. Dillon, R. González, N. Maxwell L. Folsom
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies