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Just Released: Evaluation of the Youthbuild Program

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Youthbuild is an innovative program sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that
teaches leadership, public speaking, and job skills to
very-low-income youth between the ages of 16 to 24 who
demonstrate an educational need.

A new study recently released by HUD's Office of Policy
Development & Research (PD&R) takes a closer look at this
ten year-old program and evaluates the program's success
thus far.  "Evaluation of the Youthbuild Program"
describes the program's funding, activities, and
accomplishments; assesses its cost effectiveness; and
compares its accomplishments with those of other
workforce development programs.

Based on a privately funded project originating in New
York, HUD began with a demonstration program in the early
1990s and eventually established a national Youthbuild
program that provides participants with academic training
and on-site construction training, as well as the
opportunity to serve their communities.  In addition to
the training and skill development that is provided to
youth, the Youthbuild program also works to expand the
supply of permanent, affordable housing for low- and
very-low-income families.

Over the years, a national network of Youthbuild programs
has evolved, incorporating the same elements as the New
York model. Funding to local organizations that implement
the Youthbuild program is now provided through an annual
competitive grant application process.

The authors analyzed Youthbuild programs that were
awarded grants between 1996 and 1999.  Five hundred
twenty-one grants were awarded between 1996 and 2002,
with the program having an average cost of $40 million
per year. Over 18,000 at-risk youth participated in
Youthbuild between 1996 and 2002.

Through a rigorous evaluation of reports filed at HUD by
Youthbuild grantees, site visits with 20 Youthbuild
programs, and a comparison with 4 other youth employment
training programs, the authors reached these main
conclusions:

o Youthbuild is expensive relative to other federally
funded programs for youth, with an average cost of nearly
$15,000 per participant.

o Youthbuild participants display similar academic
achievements as those in other programs, measured by the
proportion of participants earning their GED.

o Participants showed limited employment achievements,
with only 36% of the participants employed after leaving
the program.

o Twelve percent of participants pursued higher education
upon program exit.

o There was limited contribution to affordable housing
production, where the majority of programs produced a
median of eight units during the 18- to 30- month grant
period.

o The majority of units produced through the program are
made available to low- and very-low-income households.

This report also examines studies of four other Federal
programs intended to provide education and employment
training for low-income youth, and concludes that
exerting a lasting, positive influence on the employment,
earnings, and educational achievement of disadvantaged
youth holds significant challenges.


"Evaluation of the Youthbuild Program" is available for
download from HUD USER at
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/commdevl/Youthbuild.html.
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