Final Evaluation Report of Year Up’s Professional Training Corps in Philadelphia

Year Up’s Professional Training Corps program in Philadelphia (PCT-P) provides intensive full-time training and work experience for low-income young adults aged 18-24. Unlike Year Up’s core Professional Training Corps program (PTC), its PTC-P programs are located on the campuses of college partners, rather than in stand-alone offices.

Both the core and the PTC-P versions of Year Up:

• Provide training in professional skills.
• Arrange and monitor internships.
• Support participants through a learning community environment and ancillary supports.
• Monitor behavior in relation to Year Up’s code of conduct.

Study Goals:

This report includes implementation and impact studies. The implementation study focused on how program staff implemented the program, their experiences operating it, and outcomes. The impact study focused on strategies for improving intermediate outcomes judged to be critical for full implementation of the program model.

Research Questions:

The research questions were:

• Implementation Questions:
  • How is the PTC-P program organized and staffed?
  • How does the program recruit participants, and what were the results?
  • How do the services received by program participants align with plans?
  • How did the program change over time in terms of inputs and/or outputs, and why?
• Impact Questions:
  • What is the difference in the proportion of participants completing the PTC-P program’s six-month learning and development (L&D) phase for those randomly assigned to the Alternative Strategies Group as compared with those assigned to the Usual Strategies Group?
  • What is the difference in the likelihood participants will continue enrollment in college in the first month following completion of L&D?

Findings:

The report found the following:

• Implementation Findings:
  • The program has experienced ongoing struggles with staffing.
  • Communication and relations between PTC-P and Peirce College are good.
  • PTC-P is broadening its recruitment strategies in efforts to increase enrollments and improve the “fit” of participants.
  • Securing enough paid internship seats remains a challenge for PTC-P.
  • The PTC-P program has improved support for interns and the Internship Managers.
  • The program has substantially strengthened its approach to participant services.
  • The program is developing a more robust alumni support system.
  • PTC-P program costs are well above the financial break-even threshold.
  • Recent program changes may improve prospects for reaching break-even.
• Impact Findings:
  • Participants in the Alternative Strategies Group were more likely than their counterparts in the Usual Strategies Group to complete L&D.
  • Participants in the Alternative Strategies Group were more likely than those in the Usual Strategies Group to be enrolled in college when internships began.
  • Coaches working with participants in the Alternative Strategies Group reported quite different use of their time than did their counterparts working with participants in the Usual Strategies Group.
  • There were few measured differences in the ways participants in the Alternative and Usual Strategies Groups experienced the program.
  • Year Up National and the participating PTC programs are using evidence from the evaluation to improve practice.

For more information, download the full report, appendices, and report brief.