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The study team recruited three existing PTC sites with a history of strong program implementation and high enrollment. The three PTC sites recruited and enrolled eligible participants from mid-2017 to mid-2019 across four cohorts. At the time of application to the program, the study team explained that receipt of PTC program services would be determined by a random lottery before obtaining informed consent from study participants. Random assignment was conducted within each PTC program site and cohort via web-based lottery. Probabilities of assignment to the intervention group varied across cohorts, sites, and random assignment blocks as a result of recruitment challenges; ultimately, probabilities ranged from 50 to 83 percent. Of the 552 young adults who consented to participate in the lottery, 389 were randomly assigned to the intervention group, and 163 were randomly assigned to the comparison group. The authors reported outcomes for three quarters after random assignment for the first three study cohorts, and they reported outcomes for an additional two quarters after random assignment (for a total of five quarters) for the first two study cohorts.
For the three cohorts included in this study review, enrollment occurred from August 2017 to September 2018. The study authors reported on outcomes for three quarters following random assignment for all three cohorts. The authors also reported outcomes for Quarters 4 and 5 following random assignment for the first two cohorts.
The study is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
All study participants were young adults ages 18 to 24 with low incomes and at least a high school diploma or GED at study entry. Across all four cohorts included in the study, about 54 percent of the sample was male. In addition, 64 percent of the sample identified as Black or African American, 18 percent as Hispanic or Latino, and 18 percent as another race or ethnicity. Most participants (82 percent) displayed multiple risk factors (such as financial issues, housing issues, or a history of substance abuse). In the third quarter before random assignment, the average participant earned $2,635, and 63 percent were employed.
Year Up, in partnership with community college sites and local employers
The PTC program adapted its well-established and longstanding core program Year Up to a community college setting. Year Up has provided skills training and internship placement services to young adults with low incomes since 2000. The PTC program originated in 2010, and by mid-2018, served about 2,000 participants across 15 community college sites.
Year Up's PTC program provided skills training, internships, and other supports to young adults ages 18 to 24 who had low incomes and a high school diploma or equivalent certificate. Services were provided in partnership with community college campuses over one full year and were delivered in two phases. The first phase—the learning and development (L&D) phase—provided program participants with six months of full-time basic skills and technical training and coaching from instructors at partner colleges and local Year Up staff. L&D services included training in basic English language skills, soft skills, and technical skills; intensive coaching; monitoring; and group feedback from learning communities encompassing PTC staff and program peers. Program participants were required to be enrolled full time in courses at partner colleges during the L&D phase. The second phase paired participants with six-month, full-time internships in a high-demand job sector. PTC participants worked in internships 4.5 days per week and returned to program sites for a weekly half-day seminar to discuss their internship experiences. PTC participants received weekly stipends—about $50 during the L&D phase and $150 during the internship phase—conditional on meeting performance standards articulated in a contract signed at program entry. After the program, participants could receive ongoing job search and placement assistance.
Young adults assigned to the comparison condition were not allowed to receive PTC program services but could receive comparable skills training services and work experience elsewhere in the community, including at the community colleges where the Year Up PTC program was provided.
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PTC participants received most program services for 12 months. Follow-up services were available for an additional 12 months.
About 60 percent of Year Up's costs were covered by employers who paid the program in return for hosting program participants as interns. Thirty-eight percent of program costs were supported by private philanthropy, whereas 2 percent were funded through government agencies and grants.
Three unnamed community colleges in the United States provided the PTC program.