YouthBuild Blueprint: Participant Policies and Procedures

In addition to organizational and employee policies and procedures, many participant policies and procedures must be in place before you enroll your first young person. For example, you will need to develop a participant contract that explains the stipend, attendance, and behavior policies for your YouthBuild program. Many programs work with their enrollees to establish this contract so that the young people feel ownership and buy-in. However, there are likely to be some non-negotiable elements of the contract.

The participant handbook or contract should be ready on day one of the program (except for the parts they will help write in the first few days). It will be a reference for the participants about what they need to accomplish to complete the program successfully. Here is an example of a participant handbook.

Exit Policy

Determining when your participants should graduate from YouthBuild and when they should “exit” the program are decisions that have many ramifications for your participants and your program. Therefore, your program should have graduation and exit policies that are well thought out before the start of your first program year. A distinction should be made between the moment a participant exits the program and the graduation date. Participants should generally graduate from the program when they have completed the educational, occupational skills training, and leadership curricula and have fulfilled their post-program transition preparation or reached personal benchmarks outlined in their IDP, such as receiving their GED.

Most programs plan celebratory graduation ceremonies for cohorts of participants who complete the program at the same time. However, participants do not need to be technically exited from the program simultaneous with the graduation ceremony because there may be additional services and tasks that must be completed for individuals before they are placed. They need to be placed in the  quarter after exit, so thought needs to be given to ensure that the timing of their technical exit allows their placements to be counted as positive outcomes.

Some of DOL’s outcomes are longer-term outcomes, meaning they may be achieved after a participant exits the program. The exit policy should address the expected goals to be completed before exit.

Read more in the DOL YouthBuild Policies and Procedures Guide and the YouthBuild Policies and Procedures Overview Webcast.

Other Topics in Performance Management: Policies and Procedures

• YouthBuild Blueprint: Staff and Workplace Policies and Procedures
• Best Practices for Policies and Procedures

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2023
• Posted by: YouthBuild TA
• Posted in: YouthBuild