Opportunity Youth: Disenfranchised Young People

Overview
This paper was commissioned by the Youth Transition Funders Group in 2015. The purpose
was to conduct a scan of the current state of the evidence regarding what works in helping disconnected
young people, defined as the population of young people ages 16 to 24 who are not
connected to work or school. To prepare the paper, MDRC conducted a literature review of relevant
policies and programs. The literature reviewed included writing on impact, quasiexperimental,
and implementation studies. MDRC also conducted reviews of numerous websites
to learn about current policy trends and evaluations in process. To supplement what was
learned from written materials, MDRC interviewed a number of practitioners in the field, including
representatives from foundations, coalitions, and research organizations.
The main findings of this scan are:
• Policies affecting disconnected young people span a range of systems, including public
schools; adult basic and secondary education; and the juvenile justice, foster care, and mental
health systems. As a result services, funding, and research are often uncoordinated and
fragmented, though collective impact or system-level approaches are attempting to combat
these challenges.
• Though program impacts may be modest or short-lived, successful programs share some
common features. These include: opportunities for paid work and the use of financial incentives;
strong links among education, training, and the job market; the use of youth development
approaches; comprehensive support services; and support after programs end.
• Programs share some common implementation challenges, including: outreach and enrollment
practices that may limit the populations they serve; difficulties keeping young people
engaged in a program long enough to benefit from it; staff turnover; and difficulties addressing
young people’s barriers to participation, particularly their lack of transportation
and child care.
• The field’s understanding of what works in serving disconnected young people could advance
significantly in the coming years, as more than a dozen evaluations of programs are
currently under way, including evaluations of collective impact approaches.
• There are gaps in the existing services available: There are not enough programs for young
people who are not motivated to reconnect to education or the job market on their own, nor
for young people who have weak basic skills, especially those who have aged out of the
public school system. The areas where there are gaps in services also tend to be areas where
there is little evidence regarding what works.
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