ACF Family Room Blog: Defining and Counting Youth Homelessness

Record Description
This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discusses the challenges of determining the scope of youth homelessness due to the lack of consistent methodology for defining and counting homeless youth. The post illustrates ways that estimates have been attempted and how this research is shared. It also provides links to resources available from the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) to address this issue, including a national hotline.
Record Type
Combined Date
2018-11-19T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/blog/2018/11/defining-and-counting-youth-homelessness
Publication Date
2018-11-20
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Helping Young People Move Up: Findings from Three New Studies of Youth Employment Programs

Record Description
This MDRC policy brief identifies the positive earnings and employment outcomes of three programs designed to support upward mobility in youth: YouthBuild, Year Up, and New York City’s Young Adult Internship Program. In particular, a key finding from evaluating these programs is that a systems approach is needed to help young people navigate these programs and address their tailored needs.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2018-10-31T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.mdrc.org/publication/helping-young-people-move
Publication Date
2018-11-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

CareerWise Colorado: A Modern Youth Apprenticeship Model

Record Description
In this podcast, the current chief executive officer and the former president of CareerWise Colorado discuss this career and technical education apprenticeship program for high school students. By targeting youth, the program’s innovative model helps students explore careers and build skills from a young age. Under the paid apprenticeship program, students work two days a week to apply what they learn in the classroom during the other three days, which emphasizes the connection between classroom learning and real-world employment. Students leave the program with skills, income, and credentials that can be applied to higher education. Other topics discussed include recruitment, demographics, retention, transferable skills, and future program plans.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2018-09-30T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.mdrc.org/podcast/careerwise-colorado-modern-youth-apprenticeship-mo…
Publication Date
2018-10-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Call for Youth Employment Programs

Record Description
The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is continuing its Youth Employment Success (YES) initiative with a new 2019 cohort. This program aims to improve financial literacy for youth in job readiness programs and is looking for five new programs across the country that are interested in creating and testing tools to help youth better understand their finances. Ultimately, the program goal is to improve socioeconomic self-sufficiency and employment outcomes in youth job programs, as well as develop sustainable tools to serve youth across the country. If selected, the programs will receive access to new tools developed by the Bureau and will also be able to evaluate and make suggestions on the tools. Selection criteria include mission alignment, organizational capacity, target population, willingness to share feedback, and relationships with similar programs. If you think your program and participants would benefit from a tool and training to improve young adult finances, email empowerment@cfpb.gov with a Letter of Interest by November 26, 2018. Other resources for Youth Employment Programs can be found at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/practitioner-resources/resources-youth-employment-programs/.
Record Type
Combined Date
2018-11-10T14:05:18
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/practitioner-resources/resources-youth-employme…
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)
Innovative Programs

UTEC Social Enterprise Employment for Proven-Risk Young Adults

Mission/Goal of Program

UTEC’s mission and promise is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disengaged young people to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success. UTEC measures the social and economic success of its mission through Reduced Recidivism, Increased Employability, and Increased Educational Attainment. Founded in 1999 in response to gang violence in Lowell, MA. They serve older youth (ages 17-25) from Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, MA who have histories of incarceration or serious gang involvement. UTEC is nationally recognized as a model agency serving justice-involved young adults.

UTEC offers paid work experience in social enterprises as part of a holistic model for impact young adults. When impact young adults succeed, our communities see the greatest positive impact on public safety, public health, and economic development. The long-term recidivism rate for UTEC young adults averages less than 20%, compared with a statewide average above 50%.

Programs/Services Offered

The program includes a variety of programs:

  • Street outreach and correctional facility in-reach; gang peacemaking
  • Paid work experience in UTEC social enterprises: Mattress Recycling, Food Services, and Woodworking
  • Earn certifications including OSHA and ServSafe option
  • Intensive wraparound supports throughout the self-paced program, with average enrollment of 18-24 months
  • Integrated education for HiSET/GED attainment and dual-enrollment options
  • 2Gen programming with co-located early education center and family engagement activities
  • Social justice and civic engagement embedded throughout the model
  • Transition to external employment and 2 years of follow-up services

In FY18, UTEC served 148 young adults in their intensive enrollment program, and nearly 600 total including Streetworker outreach and engagement. Of enrolled young adults, 94% had a criminal record; 66% lacked a high school credential; and 52% were expecting/parenting. Despite these barriers, young adults achieved:

  • 97% had no new convictions or technical violations;
  • 88% had no new arrests or technical violations;
  • 63% received an industry-recognized certification.

Outcomes for young adults included (FY17):

  • 99% of UTEC enrolled young people had no new convictions;
  • 90% of UTEC enrolled young people had no new arrests;
  • 32% of young people who attended HiSET classes earned their credential this year.

Of participants who completed programming 2 years ago:

  • 94% had no new arrests since leaving UTEC;
  • 78% are currently employed and/or enrolled in post-secondary education.
Start Date
Friday, January 1, 1999
Type of Agency/Organization
Community-Based Organization
City
Lowell
State
Massachusetts
Geographic Reach
Multisite
Clientele/Population Served
Young adults ages 17-25 with histories of serious criminal and/or gang involvement
Topics/Subtopics
Employment
Education and Training
Supportive Services
Special Populations
Incarcerated and Individuals with a Criminal Record
Youth in Transition
URL
https://utecinc.org/

Bridging the Opportunity Divide for Low-Income Youth: Implementation and Early Impacts of the Year Up Program

Record Description
This report evaluates the early impacts of the Year Up program. Year Up is a national training program for youth between 18-24 years of age. It provides individuals with 6 months of full-time training in IT and financial service sectors, followed by a 6-month internship, with an emphasis on professional and technical skills development. Findings indicate that Year Up participants reported higher-than-average earnings after assignment, as well as high satisfaction rates within the classroom. This consistently large and positive effect on incomes – when compared to the control group – represents the largest positive impact to date for any federal workforce program tested in this manner. Findings also indicated that adherence to program design during implementation was also largely positive, though outcomes vary between Year Up offices.
Record Type
Combined Date
2018-04-30T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/resource/bridging-the-opportunity-divide-for-low-i…
Publication Date
2018-05-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Housing Trajectories of Transition-Age Youth

Record Description
This study from the NYC Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence provides information on the housing trajectories of youth exiting foster care or other residential programs for homeless youth and their met and unmet service needs. The study used administrative data and takes a look at factors predicting future service use and implications for this data for future work with youth in transition.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-02-28T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/cidi/downloads/pdfs/housing-trajectories-of-transit…
Publication Date
2017-03-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Building a Future: Interim Impact Findings from the YouthBuild Evaluation

Record Description
This report from MDRC presents the interim impact findings from an ongoing evaluation of YouthBuild, a program that employs at-risk youth in the construction field, teaching them marketable skills while also supporting them to earn their high school diploma or GED. Many of the reported impacts from this randomized control trial were positive, and each is examined in the report.
Record Type
Combined Date
2016-10-31T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.mdrc.org/publication/building-future
Publication Date
2016-11-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education Programs for Youth: An In-Depth Study of Federally Funded Programs

Record Description
This report from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation summarizes the findings of a research study of youth-serving healthy marriage and relationship education grant programs funded by the Office of Family Assistance. One of the main points addressed in this report is how these programs are specifically tailored to the developmental and cultural needs of the youth population.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-10-17T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/resource/healthy-marriage-and-relationship-educati…
Publication Date
2017-10-18
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

An Introduction to the World of Work: A Study of the Implementation and Impacts of New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program

Record Description
This report from MDRC evaluates the implementation and impacts of New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program, the nation's largest of its kind. It examines both the implementation of the program and its long- and short-term impacts on youth earnings, employment, and education. The findings are presented, and the tensions that exist for a summer-only program with long-term goals for youth are discussed.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-04-02T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
URL
https://www.mdrc.org/publication/introduction-world-work
Publication Date
2017-04-03
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)