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Reinvesting in America’s Youth:
Mathematica Report on the 2009 Summer Youth Employment Initiative
Media Advisory: March 19, 2010
Contact: Amy Berridge, (609) 945-3378; Jeanne Bellotti, (609) 275-2243
Issue: As part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), states received $1.2 billion in funding for the workforce investment system to provide employment and training targeted to disadvantaged youth, a group particularly hard hit by the recent recession.
A new report from Mathematica Policy Research examines the implementation of the 2009 summer youth employment initiative funded by ARRA. It describes the national context for implementation, provides an in-depth description of the experiences of 20 selected local areas, and presents lessons that may inform future summer youth employment efforts.
Quote: “It took tremendous effort to get this large program up and running so quickly. Implementation was not without its challenges, but local areas were able to place nearly 314,000 youth in jobs during the summer of 2009 and drew down more than $717 million of the $1.2 billion in ARRA funds for WIA youth services by November,” says Mathematica senior researcher Jeanne Bellotti, lead author. “This report highlights important implementation lessons and provides concrete suggestions to build on the successes of 2009.”
Report: Reinvesting in America’s Youth: Lessons from the 2009 Recovery Act Summer Youth Employment Initiative, Jeanne Bellotti, Linda Rosenberg, Samina Sattar, Andrea Mraz Esposito, and Jessica Ziegler, February 2010.
About Mathematica: Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation, and program performance/data management, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of education, health care, international, disability, family support, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs.