Target population: Young adults out of school

Youth Corps (YC), initiated in 1990, is a service work program for young adults out of school. It provides participants with temporary, paid service employment to provide long-term benefits to the public, to promote a strong work ethic and sense of public service in participants, and to enhance participants' personal development and educational/employment prospects. Many of these jobs-such as tutoring, helping with athletic events for physically challenged children, and cleaning city parks-are selected to address specific needs in the community. Though this type of service work is often thought of as "community service" or "volunteer work," Youth Corps pays participants for their work in them. Participants work, on average, 32 hours per week.

For roughly eight hours per week, Youth Corps members participate in a combination of program-provided development services. These services include job training, help in searching for employment, academic skills training, basic and remedial education, GED courses, and life skills training. Additionally, Youth Corps staff provide case management and match participants with outside resources as needed.

There is no official time commitment for participation in the program, and intensity of participation depends on each participant's work schedule. The majority of participants are between 18 and 25 years old.

Program Components: As each program site was designed to address needs specific to the communities in which they were housed, certain program components vary. Those summarized below are broad, generally universal components.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM
 

Jastrzab, J., Masker, J., Bloomquist, J. and Orr, L. (1996). Impacts of service: Final report on the evaluation of American Conservation and Youth Corps. Cambridge, Mass.: Abt Associates, Inc.

Evaluated population: 626 youth (383 in the treatment group, 243 in the control group) in one of four well-established year-round YC sites: California Conservation Corps, Santa Clara District; Greater Miami Service Corps; City Volunteer Corps in New York City; and Washington State Service Corps. Follow-up data were collected roughly 15 months after random assignment.

Approach: The study was based on four year-round YC programs that received Subtitle C/National and Community Service Act of 1990 funding for the 1993/1994 program year. (Subtitle C funding was given for the creation or expansion of full-time or summer YC programs.) These sites were selected from 100 year-round sites and were considered to be established and mature programs. This impact study was also linked to two other studies that will not be described here: a cost-benefit analysis (based on the same four sites) and an assessment of the impacts of each program on its respective communities (based on the four sites and four other, more recently implemented sites).

An experimental design was used to assess the impact of YC on participants. Forty-one outcome measures in nine categories were used (e.g., civic, social, and personal development; current and planned involvement in other social service; educational aspirations and expectations). Program applicants were randomly assigned to either the treatment group and were allowed to enroll in the program, or to the control group and were excluded from participating in the program for one year. The control group represented what would have happened to the treatment group in the absence of the program. Ideally, participation is meant to be full-time and to last between six and twelve months. However, most participants remained in the program for only four or five months. A follow-up period that covered about 15 months after enrollment occurred in conjunction with a follow-up telephone interview. Results from the assessment are reported for the follow-up period.

Results: The most significant impacts were related to employment and earnings. The treatment group was more likely to have worked for pay and worked more hours (40 percent more than the control group) over the follow-up period. Other results were that program participants were less likely to have been arrested and less likely to have earned a technical certificate or diploma (suggesting that participation in YC may have been a substitute for additional education, in the short run).

The study also looked across subgroups (race, gender) for significant differences between the impacts of program participation and non-program participation. The most significant impacts were on African-American males. Compared to African-American males in the control group, African-American males in the treatment group scored higher on measures of personal and social responsibility, were more likely to have voted in the last election, experienced more employment with higher earnings, were more likely to have earned an associates degree, had changed educational outlooks (changed their minds to go to college, instead of not to go to college) and were less likely to report a better relationship with people at work besides their supervisor. At the time of follow-up, 80 percent of the treatment group indicated that they had good relationships with their supervisors, compared to 90 percent of the control group. The authors suggest that this shows that these participants had greater standards for workplace relationships based on the quality relationships that they encountered with their fellow corpsmembers.

There were significant findings for other subgroups, as well. Hispanic males in the treatment group increased their total hours worked since program enrollment and had promotions at work. However, white males had more negative effects. For instance, they were less likely to be employed at the time of follow-up, and had lower monthly earnings and lower scores on the perceived control of work outcome.

African-American females were more likely to have worked for pay during the follow-up period, to have received an award at work and less likely to be married and pregnant at the time of follow-up. Hispanic females were more likely to have worked for pay since enrollment, to have higher educational aspirations and to have received a raise at their current job. White females were more likely to have an associates degree and to expect to graduate from a four-year institution.
 

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References:

Jastrzab, J., Masker, J., Bloomquist, J. and Orr, L. (1996). Impacts of service: Final report on the evaluation of American Conservation and Youth Corps. Cambridge, Mass.: Abt Associates, Inc.
 

Website: http://www.youthcorps.net/ 

Website: www.americorps.org

Website: www.abtassoc.com

Program also discussed in the following Child Trends publication(s):

Child Trends. (2001). School readiness: Helping communities get children ready for school and schools ready for children (Research brief). Washington, DC: Child Trends.

Halle, T., Zaff, J., Calkins, J., & Margie, N. G. (2000). Background for community-level work on school readiness: A review of definitions, assessments, and investment strategies. Part II: Reviewing the literature on contributing factors to school readiness. Washington, DC: Child Trends, Inc.

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: Young adults (the majority are 18-25) / Program age ranges in the Guide: 15-21, 22-25

Program components: clinic/provider-based, service/vocational

Measured outcomes: education/cognitive, social/emotional, life skills, behavioral problems, reproductive health, citizenship
 

Program information last updated 3/16/07

© Child Trends 2003