NYC Summer Youth Employment Program
Program basics
- Aims to increase employment and earnings for youth
- Provides 7 weeks of paid summer employment
Strength of evidence
Evidence level: Promising (Third-highest tier)
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Promising (Third-highest tier)
NYC Summer Youth Employment Program is not yet in any of the major clearinghouses, but has demonstrated positive results in an independent, high-quality evaluation conducted by the Quarterly Journal of Economics
Target population
High school-aged children
Program cost
$2,200 per participant
Implementation locations
Dates active
2003-Present
Outcomes and impact
- Increased employment by 71 percentage points during the year of participation and 1 percentage point the following year
- Increased earnings by $876 in the year of participating
- Earnings decreased by $100 on average 3 years after participation, no significant impact in earnings after 3 years
- Nearly 10 percent reduction in incarceration and 18 percent reduction in mortality relative to control group
Keys to successful implementation
- Partner with city agencies and community-based organizations that regularly engage with potential participants, such as the department of education, public housing authority, and others, both to recruit participants and to administer necessary training.
- Seek employer partners across the non-profit, private, and public sectors to maximize opportunities of interest for students of different backgrounds.
- Offer specialized employment services for youth that may have different needs to engage in workforce readiness training, such as those who have been justice-involved, in foster care, or homeless.
- In tandem with partner providers, administer pre-employment training focusing on program goals and expectations; teamwork and conflict resolution; workplace health, safety, and labor laws; and other work readiness topics (values, life goals, wellness, financial literacy, etc.). This will help promote a scaffolded experience for students.
- After initial implementation, consider developing a year-round program for at-risk youth that ties school-year learning to job experiences.
- Segment participants by age group and readiness for the workforce: younger youth (14-15) and older youth (16-24).
- Create an advanced section of the program for older, experienced youth to closely engage with the business community and participate in professional internships.
- Tie funding targets to local minimum wage and enrollment goals to ensure job placements are fully funded.