Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the implementation of Youth CareerConnect, specifically how schools involved employers and workforce agencies as partners.
- The study authors conducted an implementation evaluation using grantee surveys, site visits and interviews, and a participant tracking system.
- The study found that employer and workforce agency partnerships increased in strength over the course of the grant program, providing mentorship and work experience services.
- The study’s grantee survey only collected information about implementation at one high school per grantee and the study’s site visits and interviews only targeted 10 out of 24 grantees.
- The companion impact study was reviewed by CLEAR in June 2024 and can be found here: Building college and career pathways for high school students: Youth Career Connect impact findings report (Maxwell et al., 2019).
Intervention Examined
Youth CareerConnect (YCC)
Features of the Intervention
- Type of Organization: High schools
- Location/setting: Multi-site
- Population served and scale: High school students; 27,188 students served
- Industry Focus: Not included
- Intervention activities: Internships, apprenticeships, mentoring
- Organizational partnerships: Employers and workforce agencies
- Cost: Not included
- Fidelity: Not included
In April 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded $100,000,000 in four-year grants to 24 grantees to implement the Youth CareerConnect (YCC) program. YCC grants were awarded to 16 school districts, 5 non-profit organizations, 2 workforce agencies, and 1 college across 18 states and Puerto Rico. These grantees were responsible for bringing together employers, schools, community organizations, workforce development boards, and supportive services to provide at least two years of career-focused training for high school students. Employer partners played a role in program planning and design, while workforce agencies facilitated connections with additional employer partners and provided work readiness training.
The YCC program was designed to prepare high school students for post-high school careers or for college through academic and career-focused education. The program's design was informed by research highlighting the significance of employer partnerships and the local workforce agency system created under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The evidence-based primary features of YCC were an integrated career-focused curriculum, connections to work-based learning opportunities in career fields of interest, receipt of academic support services, delivery of non-academic support services, membership in a learning community (cohort of students and teachers that worked together across program years), engagement and referrals with a variety of community partners and employers, and other professional development opportunities (e.g., mentoring).
Features of the Study
Data collection began in 2015. Grantee surveys were administered after year 1 and year 3 of the intervention. Surveys focused on the intervention as delivered at the largest YCC-enrolled high school with the earliest grade of participants (in the case that multiple high schools participated in YCC from one grantee). The study team supported grantees in school selection. Surveys covered topics such as staffing, staff development, and service delivery. In years 2, 3, and 4, ten grantees also participated in site visits and interviews with evaluators covering the planning, design, and execution of partnerships within the grant. The 10 site visit grantees were selected based on their inclusion in the impact study. They were selected for their high enrollment in YCC and high level of contrast with non-YCC programs. Finally, a participant tracking system was used to track participant activities and outcomes. The authors provide limited information on the youth served other than that they are high school students. In year 2, there were 13,073 participants with the majority in Grades 9 and 10. In year 4, there were 27,188 participants with the majority being in Grades 11 and 12.
Findings
Intervention Activities/Services
- The study found that 22 out of 24 grantees reported that their partnerships with employers strengthened over time, and 17 out of 24 grantees established a memorandum of understanding with those employers
- Collaboration among workforce agencies improved during the program. These partners offered similar services to employers and focused on advising and preparing students for work.
- Nearly 40% of students received a service from an employer by their final year. It also found that 33.5% of students received mentorship by their final year. Additionally, 17.5% of students participated in internships, most of which were unpaid and related to their field of interest, with employer partners providing most of these internships. Lastly, over half of the students received other work experience opportunities.
Implementation Challenges and Solutions
- The study found that dedicating staff time and resources to building partnerships between employers and workforce agencies was a challenge. It also found that cultural or language differences between educators and business professionals hindered smooth collaboration between YCC partners. Engagement of workforce agencies and employers in YCC advisory boards helped to unite different parts of youth support systems and bridge cultural gaps. Also, establishing a dedicated staff position for engaging with employers and workforce agencies was identified as a key solution to collaboration issues.
- Workforce agencies faced difficulties working with schools due to their legal obligation to support out-of-school youth.
- Transportation issues and legal concerns limited student participation in job experiences. Legal issues related to work experiences were addressed through ‘hold harmless’ contracts and insurance, enabling youth to work with employer partners.
- Grantees misunderstood the mentorship requirement, leading many schools to implement group mentorship instead of one-on-one mentorship. As enrollment increased, it became harder to ensure there were enough mentors available.
- Marketing YCC as a source of new employees for businesses was a successful recruitment method in the program.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The study was well designed and well executed. The main limitation was that the study authors only visited a few sites and conducted targeted interviews with only a subset of schools. Also, surveys were focused on YCC implementation at just one high school for each grantee.