Directorates
·	Director General's Office
·	Data Development
·	Strategic Evaluations
·	Partnership and Continuous Evaluations
Publications
·	Evaluation Reports
·	Evaluation Briefs
·	Labour Market Development Agreement Series
·	Lessons Learned Series
·	Evaluation Tool Kit Series
·	Evaluation Forum Newsletter
·	From Theory To Practice

Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and the organisations that came together to form it have long and proud traditions of continuous learning and improvement.

Over the years, the Evaluation Services Directorate (ESD) of the Evaluation and Data Development Branch at HRDC has produced numerous evaluations on a wide range of departmental programs. In 1996-97, ESD initiated a new series of evaluation studies with the object of taking the findings of earlier reports and updating them with new literature reviews and expert opinion. The primary goal of the new exercise is to identify the lessons that can be learned from past experience — to focus on what has worked, what has not, and for which client groups. Another important goal is to develop evaluation measurement tools in areas where such tools are non-existent.

Not surprisingly, this new initiative has come to be known as the “lessons learned” series. The intended audience includes senior managers, program managers and policy analysts both within and outside the federal government, members of the academic research community and all stake-holders who will benefit from having a clearer idea of the lessons learned based on the evaluation studies of past and present programs.

HRDC is pleased to present the first study in the new series. It focuses on the lessons learned from employment-related programs for youth over the period starting in and ending in 1977 to 1995. The information produced for this report was used in the design of the new Youth Employment Strategy launched by the federal government in February 1997. In time, the results of the Youth Employment Strategy will add to the pool of knowledge on youth programming.

As a learning organisation, HRDC will continue to experiment with new approaches and evaluate their effectiveness. HRDC recognises the vital importance of the evaluation process and is committed to continuing its work in this area.