Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This research examines the impact of New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), which allocates slots through a random lottery, allowing us to estimate the causal effects of SYEP on academic success.  We also examine the way in which the impact of SYEP varies with repeated program participation, and further, why SYEP appears to work “better” for some students. We match data from the SYEP program with student-level records on socio-demographic characteristics, educational programs, school attendance, test taking and performance and graduation.   Our sample includes 134,059 applications from 2005-2008, consisting of 95,948 unique applicants. Our results indicate that SYEP increases the number of exams attempted, number of exams passed, average score and graduation rate. These affects are larger for students participating a second time and third time.  We also examine the heterogeneity in treatment effects across provider and worksite.  SYEP applicants apply directly to one of over 50 providers, and the provider then contracts with agencies to place participants in one of hundreds of work sites. We categorized providers into nine groups according to federal National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities codes, and classified job sites based on the organization description into eight categories. Preliminary results show significant variation: positive and significant impacts on education providers, and insignificant results on others. To some extent these differences are driven by the job sites; we find positive effects on almost all worksite categories. Mirroring previous findings, the results are stronger for those that apply to work a second and third year. Results from our work can help maximize the benefits of youth employment programs to positively affect the educational outcomes of low-income youth.  The results of this study can also help policymakers make decisions on how to tailor jobs programs to both the providers and students who may benefit the most.