Working with disadvantaged youth: thirty-month findings from the evaluation of the Center for Employment Training Replication Sites

The Center for Employment Training (CET) in San Jose, California has significantly increased the chances of low-income youths and single mothers of finding employment and increasing their earnings through the services it provides. In the early 1990s, the US Department of Labor (DOL) funded CET to provide technical assistance to other organisations wanting to replicate the CET model. This study examines the experiences of youth in 12 CET sites outside of San Jose. The report provides a summary of the implementation findings and initial impact findings. These findings are based on a random assignment research design and a survey conducted 30 months after application to CET. Key findings indicate that: the fidelity of program services to the original CET model varied greatly across the sites, affecting both implementation and impacts; in the high-fidelity sites, access to the program increased youths’ participation in training activities substantially above the level for the control group and increased the percentage of youths completing a training certificate; in the high-fidelity sites, access to the program produced substantial positive impacts across a range of employment-related outcomes for young women and either negative or negligible results for young men; in the medium- and low-fidelity sites, impacts were either negative or negligible across a range of outcomes. The contents are: Executive summary; Introduction; Participation in CET’s education and training services and the impacts on education and training credentials; The impacts of the CET model on employment, benefit receipt, and income; The impacts of the CET model on household and family structure, alcohol and marijuana use, and arrests. Included as appendices are: Training participation as reported in the follow-up survey and in the management information systems; Survey nonresponse and bias; Selected impacts, by site. Show less