Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study's objective was to examine the impact of One Summer Chicago Plus (OSC+) on education, employment, and earnings outcomes. This profile focuses on the 2012 eight-week intervention. The authors investigated similar research questions for another contrast, the profile of which can be found here.
- The study was a randomized controlled trial that assigned individuals to a treatment or control group. The authors used school administrative data and quarterly unemployment insurance records to conduct statistical models and compare the outcomes of the treatment and control groups.
- The study found that program members were significantly more likely to have any provider employment in the two years following the program than the control group.
- This study receives a high causal evidence rating. This means we are confident that the estimated effects are attributable to One Summer Chicago Plus (OSC+), and not to other factors.
Intervention Examined
One Summer Chicago Plus (OSC+)
Features of the Intervention
The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services designed OSC+ for the purpose of reducing violence. The 2012 OSC+ program provided a summer job to disadvantaged youth (aged 14-21), five hours per day and five days a week at minimum wage for eight weeks. Youth were also trained, received daily lunch, received bus passes as needed, and were given an adult mentor. Some youth replaced two hours of work a day with social-emotional learning (SEL) training focused on conflict management, social information processing, and goal setting. The program was implemented by local nonprofit contractors (Sinai Community Institute, St. Sabina Employment Resource Center, and Phalanx Family Services) and served students from thirteen high-violence Chicago public high schools.
Features of the Study
The study was a randomized controlled trial that assigned individuals to a treatment or control group. A total of 1,634 youth applied for 700 OSC+ program slots. The study used a randomization process that considered school and gender to match students with the nearest program provider. The researchers randomly assigned 700 youth to the treatment group (350 youth to a jobs-only condition and 350 youth to a job and SEL condition) and 904 youth to the control group. Treatment participants received the OSC+ program services as described above. Control participants did not participate in the program but were placed on a waitlist. Data sources included administrative records from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and employment and earnings data obtained from quarterly unemployment insurance records for youth with known social security numbers. The majority of the study sample were African American (over 90%) and living in low-income, disadvantaged communities. Thirty-eight percent were male with an average age of 16.3, and 20% had an arrest record. The authors used statistical models to compare the outcomes of the treatment and control groups.
Findings
Employment
- The study found that program members were significantly more likely to have any provider employment (program provider or other provider) in the two years following the program than the control group.
- The study found no statistically significant differences between the groups in formal employment or non-provider employment in the two years following the program.
Earnings and wages
- The study found no statistically significant difference between the groups in average quarterly earnings in the two years following the program.
Education and skills gains
- The study found no statistically significant difference between the groups in school persistence in the two years following the program.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The employment data used in the study was incomplete. Employment data were only available for youth with a social security number on record, and employment data from administrative records excluded agricultural and domestic positions, family employment, and informal employment.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of the causal evidence presented in this report is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. This means we are confident that the estimated effects are attributable to One Summer Chicago Plus (OSC+), and not to other factors.