YOUTH CORPS
(AMERICAN CONSERVATION AND YOUTH SERVICE CORPS)
OVERVIEW
Youth Corps is a full-time paid service work program for
young adults out of school. It is designed to promote a strong work ethic, a sense
of public service, educational and employment prospects in participants;
additionally, it is designed to benefit the communities in which the programs
are housed. The program also provides collection of enrichment services, such
as academic and life skills training, job search help, GED courses, and contact
with outside services. A large experimental evaluation indicates that
participation in Youth Corps led to higher numbers of hours worked, higher
levels of working for pay, and lower levels of arrests 15 months later. Impacts
varied greatly by subgroups, with particular race/ethnic groups experiencing
more positive improvements than others in social responsibility, voting,
educational achievement, reproductive outcomes, employment and earnings.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
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.
|
Component |
Provided by |
Duration |
Description |
|
Community service |
Participants |
6-12 months; 80 percent of participants' time |
Participants work in groups of 8 to 15 on service projects within their community |
|
Stipend |
Program funding |
Throughout enrollment |
Generally equivalent to minimum wage or less |
|
Educational stipends or small cash awards |
Program funding |
Not automatic; only offered sometimes at completion of program |
|
|
Education and developmental activities |
Program |
6-12 months; 20 percent of participants' time |
Strategies combine contextually-based hands-on experience and traditional classroom education |
|
Case management |
Program |
Throughout enrollment on an as-needed basis |
For participants who require services from external providers, program personnel coordinate services and incorporate them into the Youth Corps experience |
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.
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
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.
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
KEYWORDS: Service Learning, Life Skills Training, Education, Social Responsibility, Academic Achievement, Skills Training, Vocational Learning, Young Adulthood, (18-24), Educational Expectations, Social/Emotional Health and Development, High School Drop Out Rates, African American or Black, Hispanic or Latino, White or Caucasian, Clinic-Based, Provider-Based, Behavioral Problems, Reproductive Health, and Citizenship, Civic Engagement.
Program information last updated 3/16/07
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