YouthBuild USA (YouthBuild) is a national youth leadership program designed to improve education and employment outcomes for opportunity youth (individuals between the ages of 16 to 24, who are neither in school nor employed). 233 local programs across 46 states use the YouthBuild model in their communities. The program’s goal is to help these youth attain high school diplomas or equivalency credentials, obtain occupational skills and experience, develop leadership skills, and deepen their commitment to service in their communities.

Habitat for Humanity (HFH) is a nonprofit homebuilding program that operates nationally and internationally. It provides low-income families living in substandard housing with volunteer-built, rehabilitated, or repaired homes and affordable mortgages. The program also offers homeowner education to the HFH homeowners

Study Goals:

The goal of the return on investment (ROI) study was to measure the benefits of the HFH program against its costs based on the analytical approach and data sources specified in its respective feasibility study.

Communities In Schools (CIS) of Central Texas recruits, trains, and supports AmeriCorps Members who provide both individual and small group support to CIS students. The program’s goal is to positively impact 4th and 5th grade students’ academics, behaviors, and perceptions of school.
Study Goals:
The goal of the study is to analyze the impact of working with AmeriCorps Members on CIS students’ academic outcomes, including achievement, behavior, and attitudes. The study used a quasi-experimental research design that compared treatment and comparison groups to analyze outcomes.

Reading Partners placed AmeriCorps members in California schools to provide one-on-one literacy tutoring for economically disadvantaged students at locations in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Silicon Valley. At the end of the first program year, the AmeriCorps members were responsible for measurably increasing the literacy skills of at least 1,471 high-need target students. In addition, the AmeriCorps members leveraged an additional 3,500 community volunteers who were engaged in individualized reading tutoring through the model.

The Public Allies AmeriCorps Apprenticeship program places AmeriCorps members with a variety of philanthropic organizations to develop new systems, conduct community assets and needs assessments, develop partnerships, and improve programming and capacity. The specific services delivered by AmeriCorps members may include: 

Energy Express is a West Virginia University Extension summer program that provides services to children living in rural West Virginia in either a five- or six-week format. In 2019, this program has served 79 low-income communities, with participants ranging from kindergarteners to incoming sixth graders. The focus of the program is to promote school success by setting both nutritional and scholastic goals for the program each year.

Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA): Enhancing Assets to Benefit Communities is a multi-focus intermediary program where AmeriCorps members conduct public lands improvement and assessment projects, deliver environmental stewardship education, and provide volunteer management and capacity-building for the organizations where AmeriCorps members serve. Members treat 600 acres of public land, educate 2,500 individuals in stewardship, and reach 10,000 members of the public broadly, and manage 700 volunteers. 

Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity (TCHFH) brings people together to create, preserve, and promote affordable homeownership and advance racial equity in housing. The current program builds 35 new homes and rehabilitates 15 homes each year, and then sells those homes to low-income clients at an affordable rate. TCHFH aims to increase access to affordable and safe housing for families with an income between 30% and 80% of the median income. 
 

Reading Corps trains tutors to evaluate student performance in reading and literacy growth. Tutors deliver research-based literacy interventions for students at-risk of reading failure in pre-kindergarten through third grade. Within the Reading Corps program, an emphasis is placed on the early identification and delivery of supplemental preventive support to struggling readers.

Study Goals:
The purpose of this report is to summarize three research studies that were undertaken: