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Within each of the 12 program sites, eligible youth first had to attend an orientation on the Center for Employment Training (CET) program. Those interested had to then attend up to five additional sessions on subsequent days. (The number of required sessions varied by program site.) Those who completed the additional session(s) were then randomly assigned to either the intervention group, which was eligible to receive the CET intervention, or a comparison group, which was not eligible for CET for 24 months. Between November 1995 and September 1999, a total of 1,485 out-of-school youth were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (748 members) or the comparison group (737). This study reports on 30-month outcomes and 54-month outcomes.
Random assignment took place between 1995 and 1999. The longest follow-up period was 54 months.
U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
Respondents to the CET 30-month survey were between 19 and 24 years old. Nearly half (45 percent) lived with their parents or another relative. More than half (57 percent) of the youth, regardless of living situation, reported that they had children of their own at follow-up, and nearly half (47 percent) were living with all of their own children.
Center for Employment Training, local community-based organizations, and local Private Industry Councils
Starting in 1992, the Department of Labor began efforts to replicate the strong employment and wage gains observed in impact evaluations of CET-San Jose; the study described in this review developed from those efforts. The formal evaluation of the CET model began in 1995 with 6 of the 10 then-operant replication sites; the evaluation added 6 experienced CET sites in 1997 and was scheduled to conclude in 2002.
Employment and training services were provided in a work-like setting, with intense, full-time participation in those services. Training (including basic skills training) was focused on specific occupations and continued until youth were placed in full-time employment. CET centers also had a job developer working closely with local industry, and industry leaders were hired to teach courses and review curricula.
Youth in the comparison group were not eligible for CET for 24 months, but they could enroll in other local service programs.
None.
CET enrollees remained in the training program until they found employment.
U.S. Department of Labor
The study took place in 12 cities, 6 on the East Coast and in the Midwest (Camden, NJ; Newark, NJ; Orlando, FL; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Reidsville, NC) and 6 in the West (Reno, NV; San Francisco, CA; El Centro, CA; Oxnard, CA; Riverside, CA; Santa Maria, CA).
Substance abuse; criminal justice; housing; family structure