The transition from adolescence to adulthood is a developmental challenge for all young people. Attempts to become self-sufficient are especially complicated for youth from low-income families, who often struggle to gain the necessary education, credentials or skills to achieve financial independence. Some youth spend prolonged periods of time out of both school and work. An important question for policy and practice is how to provide these youth with the supports necessary to help them become engaged and responsible adults who can support themselves and their families.

This study assesses the effect of the Latin American Youth Center’s (LAYC’s) Promotores Pathway Model on academic, employment and behavioral outcomes for high risk and disconnected youth (age 14-24) in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. LAYC, whose mission is to support underserved youth, began the Propmotores Program to serve the organization’s most disconnected youth. The program pairs high-risk young people with Promotores—a role that is part mentor, coach, advocate, and case manager. This experimental evaluation compares outcomes of youth assigned to the treatment group with those of youth not selected to participate in the program. Research questions include: did the program lead to improved academics, employment and early parenting outcomes; were there differences in the outcomes achieved among subgroups; what were the key components of the program; and how did these components influence outcomes?

In addition to interviews with staff and youth, the study collected outcome information via telephone surveys with youth at 6, 12, and 18 months after random assignment. The analytical strategy is intent-to-treat comparisons in outcomes for the treatment and control group.

Evidence from the application survey indicates that the Promotores Program indeed serves high-risk youth. Nearly 60 percent were Hispanic, with the remainder principally African American. Nearly one-third of youth were parenting and one in seven reported sleeping in a shelter in the past six months. Drug use, alcohol use, and contact with the criminal justice system were high.

Preliminary impact evidence indicates that youth assigned to the treatment group were significantly less likely to become parents than youth in the control group. Treatment group youth were less likely to have slept in a shelter after applying for the program. Treatment group youth persisted in reporting a greater likelihood of having a caring adult in their lives than control group youth. Several domains of service use were higher for treatment group youth. Employment impacts were not detected in any of the survey waves. Education intermediate-outcomes appeared early in the follow-up period (e.g. at six months more treatment than control group youth are enrolled in a GED program, and the same is true for 2-year colleges), but these short term gains did not translate into higher high school degree/GED attainment or college/training enrollment at 18 months. Delinquency rates do not appear to have been affected by the program.