Research and Policy Papers

A great many intervention and prevention programs exist with respect to dealing with juvenile delinquency, but most of these do not get evaluated, and of those that do get evaluated, few are successful in reducing criminal activity. This paper reports on an outcome and cost/benefit evaluation of a targeted intervention program aimed at youthful offenders, the YouthBuild Offender Program.

Prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, this report summarizes findings from an implementation and outcomes evaluation of the YouthBuild Youth Offender grants.  The grants were awarded to 34 YouthBuild sites, chosen by YouthBuild USA, to provide services for adjudicated youth with the goal of enhancing their educational and employment opportunities and reducing their recidivism rates.  The evaluation consisted of two rounds of site visits in 2007 to each of the 34 grantees to examine their program design and implementation, the characteristics of the participants they served, and the outcomes they obtained.  These visits included interviews with program administrators, staff, academic and vocational instructors, partners, and employers.  Further, approximately 75 percent of all active participants were interviewed to provide the youth perspective on the operation and value of the programs.  Additionally, data collected by grantees in a standardized management information system was used to summarize the characteristics of youth offender participants and analyze the factors associated with their outcomes.

In 1978, as a New York City schoolteacher hoping to mobilize low-income youth into a force for change, I asked informal focus groups of East Harlem teens how they would improve their community if adults provided the resources.  They all said the same thing: They would rebuild run-down houses to create homes and take empty buildings back from the drug dealers.  At that time more than 300 abandoned buildings blighted East Harlem, and thousands of idle teenagers and hundreds of homeless people roamed the streets, so their answers were compelling.

In September 2003, researchers at Brandeis University and Temple University completed Life After YouthBuild, a study on almost 900 YouthBuild graduates conducted in collaboration with YouthBuild USA. A combination of detailed surveys of 882 YouthBuild graduates from more than 60 sites and in-depth interviews with a cross-section of 57 graduates from eight sites, the study was designed to contact a significant number of graduates to find out what they are doing, how they are doing, and how they evaluate their YouthBuild experience.

There is growing interest in crime prevention through early youth interventions, yet the standard United States response to the crime problem, particularly among juveniles, has been to increase the use and resource allocation allotted toward punishment and incapacitation and away from prevention and treatment. At the same time, longitudinal studies of delinquency and crime have repeatedly documented a strong link between past and future behavior and have identified a small subset of offenders who commit a large share of criminal offenses. These findings suggest that if these offenders can be identified early and correctly and provided with prevention and treatment resources early in the life course, their criminal activity may be curtailed.

There has been some discussion among advocates for youth services about whether lack of resources, lack of knowledge, or lack of will is the key factor explaining the lack of a comprehensive and effective system of youth services in the United States.  It is, therefore, time that those of us who have devoted ourselves to building good youth programs outside
the public schools stop ignoring the central problem of the schools’ failure.

Dorothy Stoneman addresses Clinton Administration Round Table on Race Relations, 1996.

The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) decided to celebrate its Tenth Anniversary in January 2003 by inviting 14 of America’s leading experts on youth affairs – analysts, activists, advocates, institution-builders – to write the essays and commentaries in this volume. These leaders accepted our challenge to step back from the press of their fully committed working days and reconsider the development of their particular field of youth affairs over the past decade, take a leap into the future, and sketch their personal hopes and visions for a positive and creative future for American youth in the decade ahead.

This paper contains brief summaries of demographics and outcomes from YouthBuild programs, plus key external studies conducted on YouthBuild programs since 1990, with a link to each study.

A report to the Corporation for National and Community Service.  Participants in YouthBuild AmeriCorps programs can qualify for Education Awards to be used in the 7-year period after YouthBuild for post-secondary education expenses. These Education Awards, which are earned through participation in service and other activities during the YouthBuild program, can range from $1,250 to $4,725. This report assesses the extent to which Education Awards earned in YouthBuild programs are expanding interest and participation in post-secondary education related activities. It is based primarily on surveys from 695 YouthBuild AmeriCorps and other YouthBuild program completers – mostly those who completed YouthBuild in 2004 and 2005.

This report outlines the history, findings, and implications of a three-year grant Welfare-to-Work (WtW) program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and run from July 1998 through March 2001 by YouthBuild USA, the nonprofit intermediary and support center for local YouthBuild programs, which engage low-income, out-of-school youth ages 16–24.

This article was published in Corrections Today magazine from the American Correctional Association. YouthBuild’s comprehensive, alternative approach to working with youths has resulted in a low recidivism rate. The organization fosters a strong program culture, providing concrete services, developing positive relationships with youths, creating opportunities for community service and leadership, and establishing a direct connection to the future.

This report is a formative evaluation of the YouthBuild Demonstration Project that began in 1991 and ended in 1994.  The YouthBuild Model, developed in earlier programs, was directed at young people who were largely disconnected from schools and jobs.  Major components of the project were counseling, academic remediation with preparation for the General Equivalency Diploma (GED), leadership development, and training in construction skills.  Five sites participated in the demonstration: (1) Boston MA (2) Cleveland OH, (3) Gary IN, (4) San Francisco CA, (5) Tallahassee FL.  Each was studied for two full cycles of the program.  These sites served 16-to-24-year-olds, most of whom were male high school dropouts, minority, unemployed, and living in high risk neighborhoods. 

A year after YouthBuild was transferred to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), concerns about the overall quality of YouthBuild led to a Senate report directing the Government Accounting Office to complete Youthbuild Program: analysis of Outcome Data Needed to Determine Long-Term Benefits.  In this study GAO’s objectives were to (1) assess how HUD managed and evaluated the program, (2) determine what results the program achieved, and (3) ascertain how successful grantees were in acquiring outside funding. GAO examined closeout data, visited YouthBuild sites, and interviewed program staff. Based on this study, GAO recommended that (1) HUD analyze closeout reports by grant and share information with its technical assistance contractor and DOL, (2) DOL develop post-program performance outcomes, and (3) DOL consider multiyear funding of grants for the program. 

Through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and 34 local YouthBuild programs, YouthBuild USA is demonstrating how the YouthBuild program model can provide an effective alternative to incarceration, and a viable re-entry program and pathway to success for formerly incarcerated youth seeking to transform their lives and become productive, contributing members in their communities. This report details the components, outcomes, and key learnings of this important three-year initiative serving more than 1,000 youth in 34 communities.

In January 2004, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation commissioned the Bridgespan Group to study growth in U.S. youth-serving organizations: the prevalence of growth, the factors that were critical in shaping how these organizations grew, and the major consequences of growth. One of the chief components of the study was an in-depth look at 20 youth-serving organizations - including YouthBuild USA - that had experienced significant growth in recent years. This research produced a wealth of information about the experience and effects of growth in youth-serving organizations.