Positive Findings in New Study of Youth Corps
A Forum — September 20, 1996
Overview
This forum featured JoAnn Jastrzab, Senior Research Associate, Abt Associates, summarizing Findings from National Youth Corps Evaluation, a study conducted for the Corporation for National Service by Abt and the Brandeis University Center for Human Resources. The evaluation focused on the role, contribution and effectiveness of the approximately 120 youth service and conservation corps in operation across the nation. Specifically, the study examined the broad impact on youth and communities of 91 corps. It also included an "Intensive Evaluation" of eight sites to elicit more specific results.
Jastrzab opened the session with an overview and description of the national youth corps movement. Youth corps across the nation combine community service with work experience and education, although individual programs vary greatly in size and scope. For example, program sizes range from as few as 20 to over 1,000 participants; some programs are full-time and others are part-time; and different corps operate as either a state-wide or local community initiative.
Funding sources are also diverse. At the time the evaluation was conducted (1993-94), corps anticipated nearly half of their funding from state and local sources, such as local government and community organizations. The remainder of funding was anticipated from the Corporation for National Service and other federal sources.
The 91 programs included in the study focus their work activities in four central areas: human service (37 percent), environment (21 percent), education (20 percent) and public safety (7 percent). Other areas comprise the remaining 15 percent of community services conducted by the corps. Youth across the 91 corps totaled nearly 6 million hours of participation (the average number of participants was 185 per corps). Eighty percent of this time was spent in direct community service activities.
Corps target disadvantaged young people between the ages of 18 and 21. Prior to joining the corps, most participants had not earned a high school diploma or GED, and few had been employed in a steady job. In fact, nearly 60 percent of all participants stated that they joined the corps to help them obtain a job, gain more education or learn new skills.
Intensive Evaluation
The eight sites included in the Intensive Evaluation were actively involved in their communities, together contributing more than one million hours of service in just over 14 months. The service performed was valued at $13.24 an hour, meaning that the corps contributed approximately $14 million dollars worth of service. More importantly, these benefits outweighed program costs by an average of $1.04 for each hour of service performed. In addition, over 75 percent of sponsoring/host agencies and nearly 70 percent of service beneficiaries rated the work of the corps as good or excellent.
Four of these eight sites were examined to assess the direct impact of the corps on participants. Compared with non-corpsmember control groups, corpmembers increased their employment by 26 percent and worked 40 percent more hours following completion of their corps program. Arrest rates of corpsmembers were also reduced compared to the control group.
Effects were even greater for African-American males (African-Americans make up almost 50 percent of all corpsmembers, the largest of all population groups among the corps). For this population, employment rates increased by 29 percent, and hours worked and wages were 50 percent greater than those of young people in the control groups. Further, two-thirds of these corpsmembers stated a desire to continue into postsecondary education, versus less than 40 percent of the non-corpsmembers.
Discussion Period
Two corpsmembers from the Montgomery County (MD) Conservation Corps participated in the discussion period. They described their reasons for joining the corps--primarily to help them obtain a diploma and find a job--and their experiences as corpsmembers. Prior to joining the corps, they used to "get into trouble," but the corps taught them the importance of going to school and working. Their work experiences on various beautification projects across Montgomery County have helped them develop important skills for school and work, and shown them they can actively contribute to their community and society.
Other forum attendees asked what activities other than community service were available to corpsmembers. According to Jastrzab and the two corpsmembers present, the corps operate regular "classroom" activities, focusing on basic education and GED-preparation. These "non-service training sessions" are generally held on the site of the host agency, and help young people directly connect their service experience to substantive academic learning.