Evaluating the Impact of Project Diakonia’s Low-Barrier Workforce Development Program on At-Risk Youth in Colorado

Project Diakonia is a Colorado Springs, Colorado-based non-profit organization that provides youth facing barriers to employment with sectoral job training and social supports. This pilot seeks to evaluate their Low Barriers Workforce Development (LBWD) program. The LBWD program enrolls young adults aged 16-24 who are often otherwise screened out by traditional job training programs: homelessness or justice involvement are often disqualifiers in traditional job training programs, but not for participation in LBWD. Program participants are provided with eight weeks of training for a career in the construction industry, culminating in an industry recognized certification. The pilot RCT will run for one year and enroll 200 study participants (treatment: 100, control: 100). During this time, Diakonia will refine their recruitment procedures and the research team will establish access to administrative data. The pilot evaluation will allow us to generate preliminary results of the program’s effect on earnings, educational attainment, and criminal justice involvement. Importantly, it will also allow us to assess the feasibility of a full RCT after Diakonia has scaled their program; the full evaluation would enroll 1,000 participants (treatment: 500, control: 500). This grant will cover administrative data from the state of Colorado: these will allow us to access our primary outcomes, such as earnings and employment.