Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEP) are believed to have the potential to improve the behavioral, economic, and academic outcomes of the population they serve, particularly for inner-city, low-income, and non-white youth. As part of an embedded RCT, during the summer of 2015 I collected survey data for both the treatment and control groups from the Boston SYEP and linked this to administrative data on criminal justice outcomes. In terms of short-term program effects, participants in the program reported improved social skills and attitudes towards their communities, enhanced job readiness skills, higher academic aspirations, and greater financial capability. In terms of longer-term outcomes, those in the treatment group exhibited significant reductions in the number of violent crimes (-35 percent) and property crimes (-57 percent) committed during the 17 months after program participation. In all cases, these gains were significant relative to the control group and many of the largest gains were among non-white and court-involved youth. Moreover, the reductions in subsequent criminal activity were greater for youth in the control group who reported positive improvements in short-term program effects related to community engagement during the summer of participation. These results give researchers some insights into a broader set of short-term program effects while also providing a look inside the “black box” as to how SYEPs affect youth over the course of a summer.