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The announcement of Youth Service Canada (YSC) in the Speech from the Throne in 1994 marked a new way for the government to provide young people with the necessary skills and work experience they need to better develop themselves and be better prepared to make a transition into the labour market.

This evaluation provided an opportunity to look at the program design and content, the delivery processes, and the interest and uptake of the program by the youth and the community. Throughout the evaluation, regular communication between ARC Associates, Evaluation and Data Development and the Youth Initiatives Directorate (YID) enabled a quick response to items requiring clarification.

Findings in the summative evaluation of YSC continue to demonstrate the importance that participants attach to the work experience and personal development goals of the program. The participants acquire work-related skills (as defined by the Conference Board of Canada) while working in teams and providing community service. The Conference Board defines communication, thinking, learning, and attitudinal and interpersonal skills as crucial to youth’s success in finding work.

The major findings of the evaluation and the comments made and action taken by YID are noted below:

1. YID should take a good look at which objective of the program it wants to emphasize.

Comments by YID: The evidence supports the retention of two indicators — return to school and employment — with employment as the ultimate goal.

There appears to be significant evidence that the program works. Fifty percent of the YSC participants found work following the program. Of the remainder, 34 percent returned to school or training. These findings indicate the value and importance of two primary indicators for the program: employment and return to school outcomes. The evidence also supports the need to develop a social indicator to capture the other benefits of the program.

Since 1997, the participant focus of YSC has been redirected to help young people who face multiple barriers to employment. For example, youth who haven’t completed high school, are single parents, are Aboriginal Canadians or are living on the street often face additional barriers. The community sponsors and coordinators have indicated that there are few programs available to assist young Canadians who face multiple barriers to employment. In this light, YSC continues to meet its overall program objectives of personal development and establishing a career path.

Initial work has begun on an “access to learning” indicator that will be piloted in 1999-2000.

After the piloting and testing of the new indicator, further policy redesign and development work will be completed to fully implement the broader social indicators, and to more accurately assess the impacts of YSC on youth and communities. The transition to the labour market for young people who face multiple barriers is expected to occur in three stages: career planning, returning to school, and finding employment. Additional evaluations will also be conducted to determine the longer term impacts.

2. With the increased flexibility of YSC, concerns have been raised about different practices between and even within regions. The Youth Initiatives Directorate should consider written guidelines that would ensure uniformity across the country.

Action taken by YID: Operational guidelines have been developed and delivered to all regions and HRCCs. These operational guidelines were developed in conjunction with the regions, incorporate regional feedback, and yet accommodate the necessary regional diversity and desired program flexibility. The guidelines incorporate the principles of the terms and conditions of Youth Initiatives programs.

Key informants raised the issue of consistency. Aside from the development and delivery of the Youth Employment Initiatives operational guidelines, the accountability framework and the monitoring of results at the local and regional levels are expected to address this concern. The monitoring and tracking mechanisms established at the local and regional levels will be enhanced by a new youth project database system. Initial feedback on the piloting of the system indicates that this tool is very useful to the regions. It ensures consistency of program delivery, monitoring of program and project activity and sharing of best practices. Plans are in place to fully devolve the database system during 1999-2000.

3. The Youth Initiatives Directorate should guarantee that the agencies responsible for delivering the program have the capacity to do so.

Action taken by YID: The capacity to deliver programs has been an issue for YID and other directorates within the Human Resource Investment Branch. With the renewal of the Youth Employment Strategy, regions requested additional resources to address the capacity issues. These resources were approved and disbursed to the regions.

The capacity to deliver youth programs with less experienced staff at the local and regional levels — the result of workforce adjustment and Labour Market Development Agreements — has raised some concerns about monitoring both the financial and contracted activities of the projects. HRDC recognizes that, although the responsibility for accountability rests with the regional and local offices, YID will continue to support the regions in addressing these needs and gaps. YID is also committed to regularly scheduled conference calls, and to the further development and roll out of the youth project database system. HRDC is committed to helping the regions with staff training, regional workshops and the jointly development of additional tools to facilitate the effective delivery of youth programs.

In conclusion, this evaluation indicates that, overall, the Youth Service Canada program continues to meet its objectives, and addresses the needs of participants. As well, there are very few, if any, programs of a similar nature for youth.