Youth Employment and Training Programs The YEDPA Years (1985) / Chapter Skim
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8 Effectiveness of Job Placement Programs
8 Effectiveness of Job Placement Programs
Pages 161-174
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From page 161... ...
Enrollment was 60 percent female and 87 percent minority; the average participant was 18 years old; only 1 percent held high school degrees. The program consisted of an average of 32 hours of treatment involving job preparation workshops, job search training, and the like.
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From page 164... ...
and 400 comparisons drawn from a variety of sources, including Employment Service registers, school dropout lists, and other sources. The report notes that an earlier evaluation with a shorter follow-up period found significant initial gains followed by equally large decay effects for a similar job search program (Jobs For Youth)
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From page 165... ...
Overall, we believe that the results of the evaluation of the 70001 sites studied are reliable, but the results may not be generalizable to all sites because the sample sites were known to be better than average prior to selection. Job Factory Brandeis University evaluated job search assistance programs that operated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, from 1979 to 1980.
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From page 166... ...
Given the small sample size, it is unlikely that the reported differences are statistically significant at conventional levels, and we therefore cannot be very confident about program effects, especially after 6 weeks. Job Factory Voucher Program The Job Factory Voucher Program was a variation of the Job Factory model in which youths received a wage subsidy if they found employment quickly.
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From page 167... ...
Consequently, we are not confident in the results of the Job Factory Voucher Program evaluation. Job Track Job Track was a job search assistance program that offered 2 days of job search training followed by 3 days of support services to out-of-school youths who applied to local Employment Service offices.
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From page 168... ...
, a support club, assistance in job finding, and follow-up after job finding by program counselors. The Temple evaluation for 1980 Delaware graduates used comparison groups drawn from other Delaware high schools that were considered comparable but did not have the program.
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From page 171... ...
measures of job knowledge, work There was a significant difference in a ~ _ _ ills at 8 months postprogram that favored participants. The job-holding gains of the participants were offset by the nominally higher but statistically insignificant postgraduation school attendance rates of the comparison group.
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From page 172... ...
First, the attrition rate at the 6-month follow-up was 6 percent for participants but 40 percent for the comparison group; no adjustments were made for possible attrition bias, and no data are presented that allow examination of the effect of attrition on the match between participants and nonparticipants. Even if the results reported were robust, studies of similar programs indicate that a 6-month follow-up period is too short to allow valid inferences to be drawn about long-term program effects, which are susceptible to decay.
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From page 173... ...
SUMMARY While most of the evaluations of programs offering job placement services to youths found the programs to be effective in securing employment for participants, most of the evaluations had serious methodological flaws and therefore do not provide reliable evidence on the question of effectiveness. Consequently, we do not believe one can draw strong inferences about program effects on the basis of these studies.
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From page 174... ...
On the basis of the 70001 study and other evaluations, there is evidence that the effects of job placement programs decay over time, so that after 24 months there is no discernible difference between participants and nonparticipants on most outcomes. Two highly regarded programs for in-school youths, Jobs for Delaware Graduates and Jobs for America's Graduates, served a segment of the youth population that was least in need of assistance in locating suitable employment -- high school graduates, 75 percent of whom came from families that were not economically disadvantaged.
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