Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) created the Youth CareerConnect (YCC) program to improve the college and career readiness of young adults and address the shortage of skilled workers in industries that rely on the H-1B visa program. DOL awarded $107 million in four-year grants to 24 applicants to implement YCC, a high school–based program that provides academic and career-focused learning organized into three program components: preparing students for both college and career, connecting students with career-track employment, and offering academic and nonacademic supports.

This report examines YCC partnerships with employers and local workforce development system agencies (called workforce agencies in this report), including Workforce Development Boards and American Job Centers. Report findings draw from multiple data sources, including a grantee survey administered to all grantees near the beginning and end of the official grant period; information from the Participant Tracking System about the activities and services each YCC student received; and three rounds of visits and telephone calls to selected schools and partner organizations of 10 grantees.

Analysis of these data suggests that schools were largely successful in engaging employers in YCC. Employers provided services critical to YCC implementation, including program planning, curriculum design, mentoring, and work-based learning experiences such as internships and job shadowing. Even with increasing involvement from employer partners over the course of the grant, schools faced challenges in filling internships and mentoring needs. Challenges included difficulty transporting students to and from work sites, addressing employer liability concerns, meeting age restrictions for work sites, overcoming school district regulations and coordinating employer and school schedules.

Workforce agencies appeared to be less involved in YCC than employers. A key challenge YCC staff identified was that workforce agencies do not typically engage with in-school youth, which made it difficult for agencies to adapt their services to meet YCC needs. Despite lower levels of involvement, workforce agency support included providing information on local economic conditions and labor markets, helping with employer recruitment, and providing student services, including work readiness training, career counseling, and internship opportunities.

Discussions with employers, staff and students suggest that employer partnerships with YCC were mutually beneficial: employers gained access to a pipeline of skilled employees, and students gained exposure to career options and access to a network of professionals within their community. At schools where workforce agency partners provided direct student services, staff reported that these agencies were an important part of work readiness training and career counseling. Perhaps because of the benefits gained from these partnerships, most grantees expected employer and workforce agency partnerships to continue at schools after the end of the YCC grant and reported that schools had begun planning to sustain employer engagement and the activities in which employers and workforce agencies were involved.