National Job Corps Study: the short-term impacts of Job Corps on participants' employment and related outcomes: final report

Job Corps is a major part of US federal government initiatives to provide education and job training for disadvantaged youths aged 16-24 years. It provides services including basic education, vocational skills training, health care and education, counselling, and residential support. The National Job Corps Study is being conducted under contract with the US Department of Labor (DOL) to measure the effects of Job Corps participation on students' post-program earnings and related outcomes. This report is one of a series of reports presenting findings from the study. The study randomly assigned all youth eligible for Job Corps to either a program group or a control group. Program group members were allowed to enrol in Job Corps and control group members were not (although they could enrol in other training or education programs). This report presents estimates of the short-term impacts of Job Corps on participants' employment and related outcomes during the 30 months after random assignment. It reports on: (1) the overall effectiveness of Job Corps in improving the employability of disadvantaged participants in the short term; (2) any differences in short-term impacts of Job Corps for youths with different characteristics; and (3) the short-term effectiveness of the residential and non-residential components of Job Corps. The study found that Job Corps substantially increased education and training services received by eligible applicants and improved their educational attainment. It generated positive employment and earnings impacts by the beginning of the third year after random assignment. Residential and non-residential programs were effective and the overall program significantly reduced youths' involvement with the criminal justice system.

The series of reports from the National Job Corps Study is indexed from TD/TNC 76.93 to TD/TNC 76.100 and at TD/TNC 76.251 and TD/TNC 76.252. Show less