Improving the Implementation of YEDPA Programs. Implementation Issues. Youth Knowledge Development Report 8.6.

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)