Chapter 4 - Effective Programs for Homeless Youth:
What do we know about what works?

SUMMARIES OF FOUR REVIEWS OF
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

BEST PRACTICES #1 - Some Things Do Make A Difference For Youth

• to highlight research findings demonstrating what works and why;
  
• to share what is known about the specific ingredients of success underlying such programs; and
  
• to provide a useful tool for policymakers and funders who must decide where and how, among a myriad of possibilities, to invest scarce resources.

1. Extending Learning: Learning occurs beyond traditional classroom-based, time-bound delivery. Students provide service to their communities while enhancing their academic, occupational and leadership skills.
2. Building on the Community: Initiatives with a focus on members of the community and their active roles in changing the learning environment for youth and in improving entire communities
3. Increasing Retention and Post-secondary Access: Initiatives which work to retain students in middle schools, high schools and college and on making post-secondary education an option through life skills instruction, career awareness, intensive case management, counseling, financial aid, and referrals.

- adult support, structure and expectations;
- creative forms of learning;
- a combination of guidance and rich connections to the workplace;
- support and follow up;
- youth as resources; and
- implementation quality.

• effective youth initiatives connect young people with adults who care about them, who serve as role models for them, who advise, mentor, chide, sympathize, encourage and praise
• adults who take time with young people, who advocate and broker on their behalf, who guide them, who connect them to the broader institutions of society, and who have the training and professional skills to help them thrive and grow, are central to effective youth policies and programs
• effectiveness of adults is enhanced by program settings that have coherence and structure, that build on challenging content, that give young people responsibility, and that establish rules and set practical limits for young people
• must set clear and high expectations for young people while also carefully supporting each young person so that he or she can attain them

• instillation of basic and high level skills and knowledge, necessary competency skills and an on-going desire to learn should pervade initiatives serving youth
• youth program settings need to make learning an ongoing challenge for young people (engaging and relevant), with curricula and teaching strategies that are creative, substantive, and attuned to the interests of the learners
• to provide effective pathways for young people to finish high school and move successfully into college and other forms of post-secondary training
• work-based learning strategies represent one example (build upon the incentive quality of work, make learning relevant and self-reinforcing, provide focus and content for teaching, and engage)
• the high standards set by the best of programs must be extended to the full range of youth interventions.

• young people want to work, but to do so they need connections to jobs and employers, and encouragement so they can learn to work, pursue part-time or full-time work options, grow as a result of their work experiences, succeed and sometimes (without excessive penalty) fail, and develop sound perspectives on work and careers
• frequently need support that extends beyond the initial job placement point (including contacts in the employer community, job coaches, mentors and structured opportunities and incentives to learn on the job, to appreciate the connections between academic, informal and work-based learning and to become better and more effective workers over time
• Career Academies and School-to-Work strategies move youth quickly into authentic work and community service positions, using work—not as a time-filler or an income support mechanism—but as a powerful lever for motivation, learning and growth

• young people, whose connections to social institutions may be weak (or adversarial), need time to develop trust and adult and peer relationships (this may well be as important as the actual provision of service), so settings on which young people can depend and become part of are important
• the Quantum Opportunities Project provides an intervention in which youth graduate, but do not terminate so that they know they friends and supports as needed; STRIVE also highlights the importance of follow-up for two years or past a youth’s first job, through the difficulties of the initial employer/supervisor relationship and into a second or third more career-oriented placement
• many youth programs consciously operate as parts of a network providing a distinctive range of strengths, links to additional supports and services a youngster may need, and then hand off the young person to the next source/level of help and encouragement (referrals are coupled with effective case management) - however, referrals to services produce mixed results and in-house services work better (where youth knew the caring adults and had time to develop trust and relationships)

• young people respond positively when they are regarded by adults as resources, as contributors to their own growth and development, not merely passive receptacles requiring services
• young people can participate in the solution of many of their own problems and be solid contributors to the welfare of others in their communities

• less positive results are not always due to design, but may be due to poor implementation - those sites that most faithfully executed the intended program design showed the best results, so clearly the quality of implementation matters
• implementation that is thoughtful and well-managed, incorporating evaluation and continuous improvement into design, fostering communication within the program and among all partners and levels of government (including quality staff training, materials and the timely and effective use of sufficient resources) is more likely to be successful
• initiatives require both flexibility to adapt to local needs and guidance and support to implement proven design characteristics

• well-conducted mentoring programs, widely available and at relatively modest cost, can significantly delay the onset of drug and alcohol usage among youngsters, and boost school retention and performance (for example, Big Brothers Big Sisters);
• program that sticks tenaciously with youngsters from welfare families through the high school years can have strong positive effects on their graduation and college attendance rates (Quantum Opportunities Project);
• a 20-year-old training program in California that lifts employment and earnings for participants—many of them young mothers on welfare—through occupational training that incorporates basic skills instruction and an open-exit policy allowing participants to judge for themselves when they are ready to take a job (Center for Employment and Training).

• A focus on ‘key job-readiness skills” — basic mathematics, problem-solving, reading at higher levels, working effectively in groups, oral and written communication skills, and computer literacy
• The centrality of paid work and internships as a motivator and venue for learning job readiness skills and gaining access to employers
• Intensive, hands-on experiential occupational training in areas of labor market growth, supported by active employer involvement
• Continuity of contact with caring adults — teachers, employers, community members, others
• Financial incentives and recognition of achievement
• Post-placement support and leadership developmentWhy the Best-Laid Plans Go Awry - Factors with less successful programs and outcomes
• Single-component interventions addressing only one dimension of a young person’s developmental needs
• Short-term or low-intensity interventions
• Focus narrowly on remediating deficiencies rather than building on strengths
• Overlook the importance of family, peers, and community in providing the supports and positive reinforcement to sustain forward progress in the program and outside it
• Legislative and regulatory barriers
• Insufficient investment in building infrastructure and staff capacity to support youth programs.

• local leadership should invest in system-building to create a youth opportunities infrastructure, building bridges among the various systems in which youth are involved - education, employment, welfare, community service, recreation and juvenile justice - in order to create a more comprehensive and efficient youth services delivery system
• state and local leadership should combine existing resources more creatively, including funds from public education (i.e., average daily attendance (ADA) payments), welfare/social service block grants and the juvenile justice system
• a training fund should be developed to enhance the capacity of organizations serving youth and to provide professional development opportunities for youth workers
• governmental legislation and regulations should serve as enablers, maximizing the effectiveness of successful program approaches and supporting efforts to combine them for greater impact
• the public and private sectors should continue investing in the expansion of the existing knowledge base about how youth acquire skills, access jobs, remain employed and build careers
• promising approaches need to be tested at scale and implemented more broadly
• efforts should include post-placement education and training opportunities leading to better jobs and higher wages