The Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill 6261 in 2008, which calls for the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board to examine programs to help young people between 18 and 24 years of age be more successful in the workforce and make recommendations to improve policies and programs in Washington. Section 28 states:
     Conduct research into workforce development programs designed to reduce the high unemployment rate among young people between approximately eighteen and twenty-four years of age. In consultation with the operating agencies, the board shall advise the governor and legislature on policies and programs to alleviate the high unemployment rate among young people. The research shall include disaggregated demographic information and, to the extent possible, income data for adult youth. The research shall also include a comparison of the effectiveness of programs examined as part of the research conducted in this subsection in relation to the public investment made in these programs in reducing unemployment of young adults. The board shall report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by November 15, 2008, and every two years thereafter. Where possible, the data reported to the legislature should be reported in numbers and in percentages.

YO! Academy in Baltimore, MD released a report on its successes from 2006 through mid-year 2009. The findings include increased attendance rates and in increased participation rate in a variety of holistic services that include job readiness training and skills training as well as community service.

This resource from Harvard Family Research Project includes a comprehensive list of data collection measures for use in the evaluation of and research on family involvement programs.
Authors: Helen Westmoreland, Suzanne Bouffard, Kelley O'Carroll, Heidi Rosenberg

This policy brief details how states can see a net reduction in costs by moving expenditures away from large, congruent care facilities (often called "training schools") for youth and investing in community-based alternatives. Such a resource realignment can reap better results for communities, taxpayers, and children. Evidence is growing that there are cost-effective policies and programs for intervening in the lives of delinquent youth which actually improve community safety and outcomes for children. While there is no silver bullet that will guarantee reductions in crime, policies that include prevention and intervention for youth in the community have been shown to have a positive public safety benefit. Major findings and recommendations for reform are included.

Children and adolescents are establishing patterns of behavior and making lifestyle choices that affect both their current and future health. Families, schools, and communities all need to work together to create an environment that facilitates healthy development of children and adolescents. Research has shown that students who feel more connected to school are more likely to have positive health and education outcomes. The six strategies outlined in this publication provide a framework for increasing students' connectedness to school. In combination with evidence-based health promotion programs, strategies such as these can help schools have the greatest impact on the health and education outcomes of their students.

This Congressional Research Service (CRS) analysis expands the existing research on disconnected youth. The analysis uses Current Population Survey (CPS) data to construct a definition of â??disconnected.â?Ì This definition includes noninstitutionalized youth ages 16 through 24 who did not work or attend school anytime during a previous year and are presently not working or in school (usually sometime in the first quarter of the current year).
Authors: Adrienne L. Fernandes, Thomas Gabe

America's Promise Alliance commissioned Grad Nation, a new tool comprising the best evidence-based practices for keeping young people in school paired with suggestions for effectively preparing them for life after high school. It is a guidebook that provides a road map to help communities tackle the dropout crisis. It is designed to help communities develop tailored plans for keeping students on track to graduate from high school, prepared for college, work and life. Grad Nation includes ready-to-print tools and links to additional online resources, in addition to research-based guidance. It provides information and tools for developing and implementing a customized program that's right for individual communities.

Non-Regulatory Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education.  December 22, 2008