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The intervention condition consisted of youth who enrolled in the Opportunity Works impact evaluation sites in Harford, Philadelphia, and Seattle at any time between June 2015 and July 2017. Eligibility criteria for program enrollment varied across sites based on age and gender, but all participants were between ages 18 and 24. Youth in the comparison condition were recruited from programs that were in the same region as the intervention group sites and that served disconnected youth but did not use the Back on Track framework. Comparison condition youth were matched to intervention condition youth using a propensity score matching approach based on baseline characteristics. The matching procedure was a nearest neighbor matching approach with replacement, meaning that youth in the comparison condition could be matched with more than one individual in the intervention condition. Analysis and assignment were at the individual level.
The intervention was studied from the start of baseline survey collection in October 2015 until the end of follow-up data collection in January 2019.
The study was funded by Jobs for the Future, through a Social Innovation Fund grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The primary implementing organizations were Capital Workforce Partners in Hartford, the Philadelphia Youth Network, and United Way King County and the Community Center for Education Results in Seattle/King County.
The program did not exist before the start of this evaluation. The Opportunity Works intervention is a demonstration project for the Back on Track framework.
Participants in the intervention group received services from Opportunity Works programs that implemented the Back on Track framework for improving college access and employment outcomes. Each intervention program site focused on the postsecondary and career-bridging phase of the framework, which was geared toward helping youth gain necessary skills to achieve postsecondary and career success. The specific services varied by program site, but services offered included case management, college-readiness instruction and coaching, goal setting, support with high school completion, education and training, career planning and exploration, job development and support, support for financial planning, occupational skills training, and transportation assistance.
Youth in the comparison condition participated in youth-serving programs in the same regions as those in the intervention group. The programs did not offer services following the Back on Track framework. These services were described as business-as-usual programming, which typically consisted of less intensive services than those in the intervention condition.
None.
This information was not provided by the authors.
The Opportunity Works program was funded through a Social Innovation Fund grant and national match funders.
The impact study took place in Hartford, CT; Philadelphia, PA; and South King County/Seattle, WA. The program was conducted at various nonprofit youth reengagement, development, and empowerment centers.
Justice involvement; Social provision/functioning