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Despite the importance of breakfast, summer, and after-school child nutrition programs, coverage in these programs in Massachusetts is low. This report describes the barriers facing the states School Breakfast, Summer Food Service, and After-School Snack Programs and suggests many innovative solutions and resources that program sponsors can use to overcome these barriers and boost enrollment. The five barriers examined individually are: (1) program appeal and visibility; (2) costs and funding; (3) transportation; (4) program stigma; and (5) administrative burdens. Within each section are examples of how other programs have encountered similar barriers and implemented one of the highlighted solutions to overcome the barriers. The "best practice" case models show how programs can overcome barriers and improve program coverage of at-risk youth. The report asserts that although the barriers represent a serious threat to the success of federal child nutrition programs and to the health and educational readiness of Massachusetts children, solutions are available to sponsors to overcome these barriers. A list of resources for sponsors of breakfast, summer, and after-school nutrition programs includes state and national organizations, government agencies, and Internet sites. The report's four appendices contain information about the Child Nutrition Programs, a sample Frequently Asked Questions sheet, a Universal Free Breakfast Fact Sheet, and a summary of the provisions of policy memos from the USDA regarding the Summer Food Service Program. (KB)

This report presents representative findings from the Youth Employment and Demonstration Project Act's (YEDPA) experiments and evaluations since 1977, focusing largely on the programs' impacts on participants. The report begins with a review of YEDPA-sponsored research on the nature, causes, and consequences of youth unemployment. Chapter 2 deals directly with CETA's formula-funded titles and asks whether the CETA system overall has worked for disadvantaged youngsters. Chapter 3 examines Federal efforts to help youth through intensive skill-training, and Chapters 4 and 5 cover work experience for out-of-school youth and in-school youth, respectively. Chapter 6 deals with efforts to help youth in the summer; Chapter 7 reviews efforts to assist disadvantaged youth through counseling with intensive placement, self-directed job search assistance, and school-to-work transition programs; and Chapter 8 synthesizes the evidence on work attitudes and knowledge areas. Chapter 9 considers the demand-side of the labor market by reviewing job creation strategies for youth. Finally, Chapter 10 reviews efforts to help poor youth through new institutional arrangements with the private sector, schools, and community groups. (Author/CMG)

A study was conducted to determine whether existing work tests affected the timing and quality of jobs found after a period during which a person both received welfare benefits and had to register with the Employment Service (ES) in connection with their receipt. Six measurable aspects of a work test applicable to individuals were identified: Individuals could be (1) called into the ES office, (2) called in frequently, (3) questioned about job search activities, (4) asked for proof of job search activities, (5) referred to a job, and/or (6) pressured to accept a job. Based on a survey of 1966 Food Stamp (FS) and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Aid to Families with Dependent Children of Unemployed Fathers (AFDC-UF), the study was conducted in five cities using a questionnaire designed to capture employment experience following a stretch of unemployment or part-time employment during which respondents received FS or AFDC/AFDC-UF benefits. Three principal concerns were (1) how the application of the work tests varied by city and within cities by type of individual; (2) how the different work tests influenced job search patterns; and (3) how they influenced employment behavior. The overall conclusion is that results of the study provide a pessimistic picture of the usefulness of existing work tests in encouraging registrants to return to work. This report organizes the findings and conclusions under each of the three principle concerns and presents general conclusions and recommendations in the form of policy alternatives. (JT)

This study reports on one of the knowledge development activities conducted under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of l977 (YEDPA). The report contains findings of an analysis of nine YEDPA projects and the factors that contributed to effective implementation of these programs. The study compares discrete projects with different goals and objectives and identifies the successful implementation measures. The following common features of successfully implemented programs were found: (1) programs were conceptualized and designed as well as administered by local personnel; (2) all participating institutions cooperated because each benefits from the program; (3) potential pitfalls are thought through in advance so that responses are available rapidly; (4) projects are built on ideas that have already been tested locally and delivered by institutions of demonstrated effectiveness; (5) feedback and evaluation are built in from the beginning and results are used; each project has a problem solver; (6) persons with significant contacts in two or more institutional arenas required for program success are involved in key ways; (7) the projects tend to consider all elements necessary to make the activity succeed, especially emphasizing job placement from the outset. It was recommended that these success factors be taken into account when planning for the implementation of other YEDPA projects. (Detailed case studies of the nine programs are included in the report.) (KC)

Two job search assistance programs for disadvantaged youth, funded under the Youth Employment and Demonstrations Project Act, were evaluated for both operation and impact. The two programs were the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Job Factory, which paid youths a stipend for doing the "job" of finding a job, while providing group activities, resume writing, job search skills and placement assistance; and the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Workshop, which assigned participants to one of three treatment groups to receive either individual career counseling and job placement services, career counseling, job placement services, and group job search skills workshops, or career counseling and job search skills workshops. No stipend was paid in the Pennsylvania project. In the Cambridge group, 203 youths were enrolled in the Job Factory while 165 served as controls; 396 youths were enrolled in the three treatment groups in Wilkes-Barre. The process evaluation showed that the Job Factory functioned fairly smoothly because it was a modification of an existing program, while the Workshop experienced difficulties in implementation because of its "top-down" model. The impact evaluation found that the Job Factory had a substantial effect in getting youth to work quickly, although these effects may not continue long-term, while in the Workshop, there were no significant differences in the rate of job finding for the three groups. Job Factory participants found moderately better jobs than the controls, while no major differences in the groups were found in the Workshop participants. In Cambridge, attitudes/knowledge areas did not contribute to job finding, while in Wilkes Barre, job search skills were a significant component of job finding. Overall, it was found that the intensity of the search fostered by the moral support of counselors was the most significant component in the job search assistance programs. (KC)

This interim review of the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA) youth programs focuses on five topics through which were considered the universe of need, program experience, and policy recommendations. Chapter 1 is an introduction which briefly describes the law itself, including summaries of its major parts. It also discusses the method used to review YEDPA and present the findings. The next five chapters (2-6) are devoted to the topics used to structure the review: (1) public sector job creation, (2) access to the private sector, (3) educational strategies and institutions, (4) supportive services, and (5) management and research. These chapters open with a brief discussion of the main goals/purposes of the law with respect to the topic. They then proceed, in a largely narrative manner, to delineate lessons accumulated through two years of implementing the law. Chapter 7 is a brief concluding note on knowledge development. A sixteen-page bibliography includes a number of program reports, memoranda, and other unpublished documents. (YLB)

This booklet shows how postsecondary institutions can serve economically disadvantaged youth by working with local employment and training agencies. Programs administered by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) are described as well as the students they served. Program goals and services are cited: vocational training, pre-college orientation, basic skills, life skills, and career exploration. Innovative instructional techniques to help disadvantaged youth succeed in the classroom are also listed. A discussion of the crucial role of support examines ways of extending contact with students outside of class and institutional adjustments to meet the needs of disadvantaged students. The importance of linking the classroom to the workplace and of developing worksites is also emphasized. Collaboration between colleges and private industry councils, employment and training agencies, employers, and community-based organizations is examined as a means to gain funding and assistance. Guidelines for developing collaborations are offered. Benefits from FIPSE projects are explored for postsecondary institutions, business and industry, and administrators of federal funds. (YLB)