Introductory Letter

APPENDIX A

Introductory Letter for Grantee Survey

Letter for DOL Grantees

[DATE]

[SITE/PROGRAM NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[CITY][STATE][ZIP]

Dear [NAME OF SITE ADMINISTRATOR/DIRECTOR],

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is sponsoring a new study called the Impact Evaluation of the YouthBuild Program. The study is being jointly conducted by researchers from three independent research organizations: MDRC, Social Policy Research Associates, and Mathematica Policy Research. The evaluation will measure core program outcomes among YouthBuild participants, including educational attainment, employment, earnings, criminal behavior, and youth social and emotional development.

As part of this important study, we are conducting a detailed census of all YouthBuild programs that received grants from DOL in May 2011. We are asking for information on program participants, educational and work offerings, support and follow-up services.

This survey of grantees is very important and will help us understand how the YouthBuild model is implemented in a variety of situations. The survey should take approximately 30 minutes to complete and you may ask others to help you complete the survey. The information you provide will be used for research purposes only. Your name and the name of your program will not appear in any public document.

As a recipient of a grant from the Department of Labor, you agreed to participate in an evaluation of the YouthBuild program. Since this survey is a very important part of the study, participation of all grant recipients is required. The information you provide will help DOL make improvements to the YouthBuild program, and will greatly contribute to the national debate about policies and practices designed to improve the well-being of disadvantaged youth. As such, we value your response.

To participate, log on to https://mathematica-mpr.com/youthbuild/grantee and enter your log-in identification number and password:

Login ID: [WebUsername]

Password: [WebPassword]

If you have any questions about the study, please contact Shawn Marsh at 1-877-894-4589 or YouthBuildSurvey@mathematica-mpr.com. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Sincerely,

Letter for CNCS Grantees

[DATE]

[SITE/PROGRAM NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[CITY], [STATE][ZIP]

Dear [NAME OF SITE ADMINISTRATOR/DIRECTOR],

The U. S. Department of Labor (DOL), in collaboration with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is sponsoring a new study called the Impact Evaluation of the YouthBuild Program. The study is being jointly conducted by researchers from three independent research organizations: MDRC, Social Policy Research Associates, and Mathematica Policy Research. The evaluation will measure core program outcomes among YouthBuild participants, including educational attainment, employment, earnings, criminal behavior, and youth social and emotional development.

As part of this important study, we are conducting a detailed census of all YouthBuild programs that received grants from CNCS in 2011or DOL in May 2011. We are asking for information on program participants, educational and work offerings, support and follow-up services.

This survey of grantees is very important and will help us understand how the YouthBuild model is implemented in a variety of situations. The survey should take approximately 30 minutes to complete and you may ask others to help you complete the survey. The information you provide will be used for research purposes only. Your name and the name of your program will not appear in any public document.

As a recipient of a CNCS grant, you agreed to participate in an evaluation of the YouthBuild program. Since this survey is a very important part of the study, participation of all grant recipients is required. The information you provide will help DOL make improvements to the YouthBuild program, and will greatly contribute to the national debate about policies and practices designed to improve the well-being of disadvantaged youth. As such, we value your response.

To participate, log on to https://mathematica-mpr.com/youthbuild/grantee and enter your log-in identification number and password:

Login ID: [WebUsername]

Password: [WebPassword]

If you have any questions about the study, please contact Shawn Marsh at 1-877-894-4589 or YouthBuildSurvey@mathematica-mpr.com. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Sincerely,

Evaluation of YouthBuild
Questions & Answers for Grantees

Who is conducting the evaluation? ETA selected a team of three organizations to conduct the evaluation: MDRC (the lead), Mathematica Policy Research, and Social Policy Research Associates (SPRA).

What will the evaluation measure? The evaluation will measure core program outcomes including educational attainment, postsecondary planning, employment, earnings, delinquency and involvement with the criminal justice system, and youth social and emotional development.

YouthBuild has been evaluated before; why is this evaluation necessary? Previous evaluations of YouthBuild have provided very useful information, but none of them were designed to determine what difference YouthBuild makes for the young people it serves compared to what would have happened if they did not participate. The new evaluation is the first one to use a random assignment design, which is considered to provide the most reliable evidence about the effectiveness of a social program.

Will the evaluation mean that programs serve fewer youth than before? Most YouthBuild programs are only able to serve a very small fraction of the youth in their communities who might benefit and who apply. Programs participating in the evaluation will assess and screen youth to identify those eligible and appropriate for YouthBuild and then use random assignment (like picking names from a hat) to select which youth will be admitted. Selected youth will form the “program group” for the study. The youth who are not selected will form the “control group” and will not be permitted to enroll in YouthBuild during the study period, though the grantees may refer them to other youth programs in the community. Ideally, the evaluation should not cause YouthBuild programs to serve fewer youth than they otherwise would.

How will grantees be selected for the evaluation and how many will be selected? Approximately 77 grantees will be randomly selected to participate in the evaluation. Some types of grantees (for example, those that have never operated a YouthBuild program before) may be excluded from consideration. Larger programs may have a greater chance of being selected in order to ensure that the evaluation includes a sufficient number of young people.

What data will grantees be required to provide to the evaluators? The grantees will not have to do anything more than usual to stay in touch with youth who participate in their program. The evaluators will obtain most data from the DOL YouthBuild Management Information System (MIS), from government records, and from surveys of youth in the program and control groups. Grantee staff will be asked to complete one questionnaire and one survey and host site visits by the research team. Also, grantees will be required to collect and enter some information into the MIS for all youth entering the study, some of whom will be assigned to the control group.

Do I have to complete this questionnaire? Yes. As a recipient of a DOL YouthBuild grant, you agreed to participate in an evaluation of the program. This questionnaire is a very important part of the evaluation. Therefore, the participation of all grant recipients is required.

Will you protect my privacy? Yes. The information that we collect from you for this study will be used for research purposes only and will be kept private to the extent provided by law.

Who can I contact for more information? For more information about the questionnaire, please call Mathematica Policy Research toll free at 1-877-894-4589 and ask for Shawn Marsh. For information about Mathematica, visit their website at http://www.mathematica-mpr.com. For more information about the study, please visit www.xxxxxx.com.