How Employment Programs Can Support Young People Transitioning Out of Foster Care

This study examined two programs—iFoster Jobs in Los Angeles County, California, and Mentoring Youth to Inspire Meaningful Employment (MY TIME) in Chicago, Illinois—through formative evaluation, shedding light on these programs’ key features and the young people they serve. The study highlights the critical role of formative evaluation in laying the groundwork for successful future rigorous impact evaluation.

The purpose of the formative evaluation was to examine whether programs are being implemented as intended, expected outputs are being produced, and short-term outcomes are trending in the right direction. The evaluation also provided feedback to programs about program functioning and data collection needs. This series of formative evaluation activities explored how successful the implementation of the employment programs iFoster Jobs and MY TIME were, who each program was serving, and whether participants seemed to be reaching their employment-related goals. The researchers also explored how each program’s goals relate to the young people they serve and to each’s programmatic approaches. Comparing the two programs’ goals, populations served, and programmatic approaches provides additional insights into the variation in employment programs for young people transitioning out of foster care.

The key research questions for the formative evaluations were the following:

• How do these programs operate, and do they operate with fidelity to their logic models?
• Whom do the programs serve, and do they achieve their program goals?
• What are some successes and challenges?
• Do these programs have the potential for rigorous evaluation in the future?

The researchers began their inquiries with initial telephone calls to program leadership and then visited each program. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with program staff, participants, and other stakeholders, including local child welfare agency leadership and employer partners, coincided with observations of the numerous program activities and informal interactions among young people and between program participants and staff. They also used program data to analyze participant characteristics, program participation, and employment outcomes. Finally, they conducted comparative analysis across the programs to explore how and why each program’s approach may work well for each program’s participants and in the context of each program’s goals.

(This report is 63 pages long.)

The researchers identified the following findings related to the two programs examined:

• Both programs are operating in alignment with the logic models developed through the formative evaluation process.
• Additional refinement of data-collection activities, including participant characteristics, program participation, and longer-term employment outcomes, are needed before researchers could conduct a rigorous impact evaluation.
• Even though both programs serve young people transitioning out of foster care, the programs help young people in different circumstances. Participants in iFoster Jobs are generally older, can be currently or formerly in foster care, and have higher levels of education than those participating in MY TIME, who must still be in the child welfare system at the time of program participation.
• Each program uses different implementation approaches despite many training components of these programs being similar.
• The employment goals for each program are also different. iFoster Jobs serves as a gatekeeper that introduces participants they have assessed as ready for competitive work to interviews for existing open positions with corporate employer partners. MY TIME develops mentoring relationships with its participants and uses early-employment experiences to help participants develop the skills and resilience that will serve them well in future employment.

The researchers provided the following recommendations:

Additional refinement of the models, practices, and data-collection activities is needed before researchers can conduct a rigorous impact evaluation. The formative evaluations also highlighted common barriers to finding and maintaining employment for young people with foster care histories. Employment programs need to be aware of these barriers and identify ways of addressing them, such as:

• Provide access to concrete resources such as transportation and cell phones or laptops.
• Provide access to legal resources.
• Ensure young people know when and how to communicate their challenges to an employer.
• Maintain communications with the child welfare system for young people currently in care and community organizations for those who have left care to support participants in maintaining housing.
• Prepare their participants to handle emotionally triggering or unfamiliar situations in the workplace.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2021
• Author(s): Lansing. J.; Daly, H.; Pergamit, M.
• Funding Source: Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Burak Yuksel
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies