Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Sponsored by the US Department of Labor, MDRC’s evaluation of New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) will assess the impact of the largest summer jobs program in the country on youths’ short- and long-term educational and labor market outcomes. The impact analysis will use retrospective data from the program’s lottery system between 2005 and 2014 to construct an experimental sample of more than 400,000 youth. The study will explore employment and earnings outcomes, as well as secondary and post-secondary educational outcomes, including school year attendance rate, course credit accumulation during the school year, attainment of a NYS high school diploma, and enrollment and persistence in post-secondary education. In addition to the lottery-based impact analysis, the evaluation will include an implementation study that will provide important context for SYEP’s impacts by describing the services that are delivered to youth, their experience with summer jobs, and the factors that influence program operations on the ground (previous studies of SYEP did not include this component). SYEP is operated by community-based nonprofit organizations who recruit and connect youth and employers, provide job-related educational services to youth, and monitor youth worksites. Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) in New York City selects the providers, administers the funding, and oversees the providers.  MDRC collected data from DYCD staff, program providers, employers, and more than 100 youth during the summer of 2015 through surveys, interviews, and focus groups to understand program services from all stakeholders. The results can provide lessons to practitioners and policymakers on a local, state, and national level about running effective summer jobs programs and the types of summer work experiences that are most meaningful for youth. While the results of the impact analysis will not be available at the time of the fall conference, presenter will discuss findings from the implementation analysis, which will provide important context for the other paper.