Youth jobs have the potential to disrupt cycles of youth violence and lead to better outcomes with regard to school engagement, other employment, and positive youth development. Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U), a non-profit workforce development organization serving youth living in economically distressed circumstances, administers a Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) that provides work experiences intended to serve as a building block for future employment opportunities and financial literacy to youth in the Cleveland area.
The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development has partnered with Y.O.U to evaluate the impact of their youth employment programming on educational and criminal justice outcomes.
The results of an initial analysis, comparing youth participating in Y.O.U programming to youth that were not selected for participation, on outcomes such as juvenile delinquency, adult incarceration, school attendance, high school graduation and college matriculation rates are published in the report entitled: “Assessing the Impact of the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) on Selected Youth Outcomes”.