Boosting the Life Chances of Young Men of Color: Evidence From Promising Programs

In light of the momentum building to improve the fortunes of young men of color, this review examines what is known about this population -- particularly related to their struggles in the labor market -- and highlights programs that are shown by randomized controlled trials to be making a difference.

• The number of jobs that once provided middle-class wages to workers without any postsecondary education (or without a high school diploma) has sharply declined, and the consequences are particularly severe for young men of color. Tweet
• Effective assistance to young men of color can be divided into two broad categories: 1) proactive approaches, or preventive interventions aimed at youth who are still connected to positive systems; and 2) reconnection approaches, or interventions targeting those who have disconnected from those systems (e.g., who have dropped out of school or the labor market). Tweet
• Proactive approaches to help young men of color connect to and progress through postsecondary education and training address common barriers that low-income and first-generation college students often face, such as financial pressure, poor academic preparation, or inadequate advising and counseling. Tweet
• Jobs-Plus, an employment program based in housing developments, is an intervention aimed at reconnecting young men of color to better jobs which has shown promising results. Tweet
• To make a lasting difference, successful interventions must be taken to scale – that is, replicated and expanded successfully in new settings – a process that can often be difficult and time-intensive. Tweet