Integrated Training Centres for Youth (ITCY) - Alberta - December 1998

Integrated Training Centres for Youth (ITCY) - Alberta

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• Introduction
• Project description
• Evaluation approach
• Key findings
• Conclusion

This brief summarizes the findings from a process evaluation study of the Integrated Training Centres for Youth (ITCY) pilot project, a Strategic Initiative funded by the governments of Canada and Alberta. The evaluation was jointly managed by a Federal-Provincial Committee with representation from Human Resources Development Canada, and the Alberta Departments of Advanced Education & Career Development (AE&CD) and Family & Social Services (F&SS).

The Strategic Initiatives Program, announced in the Federal Budget of February 1994, is a five-year Federal-Provincial cost-shared program to test innovative ideas about social security reform. Pilots considered for funding include those that are designed to test new options for reform in training, income security and social services and learning; explore ways to help people move from welfare to work; and find more cost-effective approaches to active programs.

The ITCY pilot project is funded through an agreement between Human Resources Development Canada and the Alberta Ministry of Advanced Education & Career Development. The budget for the ITCY pilot project is $3.74 million for a period of 18 months over three fiscal years.

It has long been known that youth who leave high school without attaining their diploma face significant barriers in finding quality jobs which offer scope for career advancement. Such individuals often are chronically under-employed, develop a poor work history, and are at risk of long-term dependence on social assistance. The ITCY Strategic Initiative was intended to test and demonstrate the value of customized counseling, training and work experience interventions for such individuals in order to assist them to make a successful transition to the world of work.

The project is expected to assist more than 400 youths in three centres located in Lethbridge, Red Deer and Edmonton. Youth eligible for participation in the project are 16 to 20 years of age and have been out of the formal education system for at least 3 months, with no intention to return to complete their high school education. The project provides funding of $8,500 per client: $4,000 maximum dedicated to training; and $4,500 in training allowances and bonuses intended to remove disincentives (or increase incentives) for participants to complete their training.

The three ITCYs are operated by non-governmental organizations contracted to offer a range of programs and services designed to integrate practical job skill training with life management.

Each ITCY is expected to offer a comprehensive, integrated intervention tailored and sequenced to the needs of individual clients. Services can include any of the following:

• Counseling, coaching and life management skills;
• Career work exposure (Job Shadow);
• Work experience;
• Occupation-specific skill training and directly related educational upgrading;
• Employment preparation;
• Job placement and long-term job maintenance/follow-up.

While each ITCY has developed its own service delivery approach, it was expected that they would emulate, to the degree possible, characteristics of a successful model for Integrated Training developed by the Centre for Employment Training (CET) in the United States. Under this model, training is expected to be long-term (up to 8 months), intensive (35 hours per week), hands-on, self-paced and competency-based, focused on jobs available in the local labour market, and governed by an employer committee which helps to identify training areas and related competencies.

A 2-week assessment process is used to identify whether clients are motivated and able to deal with situational barriers (e.g., child care, transportation, housing, legal, etc.) before they are formally accepted into training. During the assessment phase (and while in training), they receive a high level of support to address these barriers.

A unique adaptation for the pilot project was the inclusion of financial incentives for participants.

The ITCYs began accepting clients in the summer of 1995. Shortly thereafter, a process evaluation was commissioned to document the progress of the three agencies during the early stages of implementation and identify operational issues which should be addressed by the program management committee. Another task of the evaluation was to establish a comparison group and collect baseline data for program and comparison group members.

Information was collected through site visits and interviews with ITCY agency staff and clients, with local employers involved with each program, and with community and government stakeholders in a position to observe the programs. A total of 87 individuals were interviewed. In addition, baseline survey results were analyzed for 203 program participants and 127 comparison group members.

Program Delivery
The ITCYs experienced contracting delays which led to shortened lead times for start-up.

Two of the three ITCYs could have used more time before accepting clients. Some minor problems were noted relating to agency promotion and referral procedures. There was also some concern that the ITCYs might be accepting clients who were inappropriate and rejecting others who better fit the definition of ""at risk"" youth, although in no case was it felt that the agencies were completely missing the target group.

Each ITCY was found to have strengths and weaknesses in regard to their interventions. Stakeholders were generally satisfied, however, that the programs had the services and resources necessary to help youth enter the job market. Most felt optimistic about outcomes, and seemed willing to ""wait and see"" how things would turn out.

Reporting to project sponsors from the field level was not well established. By agreement, contract management was delegated to the province of Alberta. A few federal representatives indicated they would like to have seen a larger federal role in monitoring and contract management.

Partnership Building
Among government stakeholders, the ITCY projects were felt to have enhanced partnerships that had already been established between the Federal and Provincial governments. The only ""new"" partnerships identified were those with employers serving in a new role as trainers of youth. Stakeholders did not feel that the ITCYs had yet resulted in reduced duplication or overlap in services to youth. Rather, it was generally felt that the ITCYs had filled a gap that had existed within the service network.

Other Findings
Funding Formula - Two of the ITCYs have a funding formula where training funds are tied to individual clients and are advanced as clients move through training. These agencies were on track with their expenditures. The other ITCY, however, receives fixed monthly funding. Because of lower than expected intake, the agency may not meet its targets on a cost per client basis.

All ITCY contracts tie a proportion of funding tied to employment success. However, the proportion of training funds at risk varies across agencies from 5% to 20%. Furthermore, the rules that govern when an agency can claim funds related to employment are not clear.

Employer-based Training - Two of the ITCYs use employers to provide occupation-specific skill training rather than training in-house. This has the advantage of providing hands-on training using real equipment in a real working environment. Quality control is a concern, however. Because formal training plans are not always put in place, a client's training can vary depending on which employers are available when the client is ready to go off-site.

Incentives - The provision of a training allowance is a relatively innovative feature of the ITCYs. It was hoped that the funds would be used to remove disincentives to training, and that incentive levels would be set on a case by case basis. The agencies have found it difficult to assess individual client needs, and have largely fallen back to using a grid to allocate incentive funds. Comments from clients suggest that some attend ""just for the money"", while others would attend without the incentive, demonstrating the difficulty agencies face in making incentives work in the way they were intended.

Drop-out Rate - All three ITCYs are experiencing high drop-out rates (22% - 37%), despite using a 2 week assessment period to screen out individuals who are unlikely to complete training. A variety of factors may be contributing to the high drop-out rates. Nonetheless, the assessment process does not appear to be adequate in determining clients' suitability for the program.

The pilot project is a unique initiative in Alberta, combining elements of integrated training with financial supports and incentives. Each delivery agency has implemented a slightly different model of integrated training, targeting different jobs and using different methods of occupational skill training. Each model was seen to have its own strengths and weaknesses, and the process evaluation highlighted a number of issues that project sponsors may need to address in the short term.

Stakeholders were generally satisfied and the program had the necessary services and resources to help youth make a transition to the labour market. While the ITCY project encountered some initial implementation hurdles, the agencies continue to refine their processes based on their experience with clients to date. The agencies may make further changes after discussions with project sponsors pursuant to the results of the process evaluation.

The process evaluation was not intended to document the success of the ITCYs at this early stage in their implementation. At the time the evaluation was conducted, no clients had yet completed their training.

A comparison group has been established, and baseline data is currently being collected which will help to determine the effectiveness of integrated training as a measure to assist at-risk youth in attaining meaningful long-term employment.