Continuation of the Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Labor's Education and Training of Youthful Offenders Initiative

This project continues the randomized, controlled evaluation of Florida's Avon Park Youth Academy (APYA) and its reentry component, STREET Smart. Both programs are funded under the Department of Labor's Education and Training for Youthful Offenders Initiative (ETI). During this program period, the investigators will continue to collect educational, vocational and recidivism data on youth randomly assigned to APYA and STREET Smart, as well as youth in the control group. In addition, under a subcontract to the grantee, the Juvenile Research Center (JRC) will conduct tracking and follow-up interviews with as many youth in both the experimental and control groups as they are able to locate within the timeframe of the evaluation. NCA/NCF

This project continues the randomized, controlled evaluation of Florida's Avon Park Youth Academy (APYA) and its reentry component, STREET Smart. Both programs are funded under the Department of Labor's Education and Training for Youthful Offenders Initiative (ETI). During this program period, the investigators will continue to collect educational, vocational and recidivism data on youth randomly assigned to APYA and STREET Smart, as well as youth in the control group. In addition, under a subcontract to the grantee, the Juvenile Research Center (JRC) will conduct tracking and follow-up interviews with as many youth in both the experimental and control groups as they are able to locate within the timeframe of the evaluation. NCA/NCF

This grant is for the continuation of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's(NCCD) evaluation of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Youth Offenders Demonstration Project (YODP). The YODP was a direct response by DOL to a body of theory and research suggesting that lack of employability is a significant criminogenic factor. This research supports federal priorities to identify and evaluate effective employment and reentry programs for at-risk youth. In 1999, DOL funded STREET Smart, a Florida-based reentry component designed to support the reintegration of at-risk youth released from the Avon Park Youth Academy (APYA), which is a secure facility for moderate risk youth. APYA is one of Florida's largest secure facilities with intensive vocational training and education programming. In 2002, NCCD initiated an outcome evaluation employing a randomized field experiment. The evaluation employs a random assignment process to select participants for the experimental and control groups. The evaluation also employs procedures for measuring the effects of the program on key outcomes including post-release employment, academic achievement, and recidivism. The evaluation will provide data to compare these outcomes between the experimental and control groups.
NCA/NCF