Performance GoalsYouth Foster Care Grants Performance GoalsThese national performance goals are intended to help project directors manage their projects as well as aid the Department of Labor (DOL) in monitoring grants and providing technical assistance. Goals will relate to three key areas: participant educational attainments, participant placement and retention in project outcomes, and participant avoidance of the juvenile justice system. These areas will be operationalized by a placement rate, a retention rate, a recidivism rate, and a diploma/GED attainment rate. DOL will also be tracking the enrollment rate for each site, based upon the site’s expected enrollment level. Recidivism Rate: The recidivism rate is defined as the percentage of youth offenders that have been subject to adjudication, incarceration, or revocation of probation/parole due to a violation after entering the project. A project’s recidivism rate is calculated by dividing the sum of the cumulative column of All Youth for line 18 b (adjudicated or convicted of a crime committed after entering project – previously an offender) by the cumulative column of All Youth for line 8 (currently or previously adjudicated/incarcerated). The recidivism rate goal is to stay 10% (± 5%) below the state or locally accepted youth recidivism rate, as opposed to the other rates where the goal is for projects to exceed the standard. Placement Rate: The placement rate is defined as the percentage of older youth that are placed in a long-term outcome. Long-term outcomes include full-time unsubsidized employment, military, apprenticeship, full-time post-secondary school and a youth who is placed in a combination of part-time work and part-time post-secondary education. A project’s placement rate is calculated by dividing the sum of lines 17a through e for foster youth ages 18 and over (cumulative column) by line 2 (enrolled total) for foster youth ages 18 and over (cumulative column). The placement rate goal is 60% (± 5%). It is not expected that the projects will meet the 60% placement rate each quarter. Rather, it is expected that the projects will have a 60% placement rate at the end of the period of performance. Retention Rate: The retention rate is defined as the percentage of all youth who’ve been placed in one of five outcomes – full-time unsubsidized employment, military, apprenticeship, full-time post-secondary school and a youth who is placed in a combination of part-time work and part-time post-secondary education – and are still in an outcome in the last month of the quarter. A project’s retention rate is calculated by dividing the cumulative column of All Youth for line 17f (youth placed in 17 a thru e & still retained) by the sum of the cumulative columns of All Youth for lines 17 a thru e in the preceding reporting period. The retention rate goal is 80% (± 5%). Unlike the placement rate measure, the retention rate measure does include youth 17 and under who have been placed. Diploma/GED Attainment Rate: This rate captures the percentage of youth who have achieved a high school diploma or GED of those youth who enter the project without a diploma or GED. This rate will not include youth who are still active in high school or in GED preparation since such youth are still pursuing a diploma or GED. A project’s diploma/GED attainment rate is calculated by dividing the sum of lines 17g (obtained a high school degree) and 17h (obtained a GED) of the cumulative column of All Youth by the resulting number of line 2 (total enrolled) minus lines 5c (out of school/grad or GED), 14d (dropouts returning to secondary school), 14f (GED preparation), and 15 (students remaining in school) from the cumulative column of All Youth. The goal for this measure is 50% (± 5%) by the end of the program performance period. Enrollment Rate: The enrollment rate is established by each foster youth grant project individually. This goal represents the sites’ success in meeting their target enrollment rate and therefore, the goal for this measure is 100%. We recognize that many younger youth will not achieve outcomes, such as placements and diploma attainment, within the time frame of the grants. We would not expect younger youth, especially in-school youth, to achieve outcomes prior to completion of secondary school. However, we have added a “Students Remaining in School” data element (line 15) to capture the dropout prevention that projects are providing. Success of younger youth prior to high school diploma or GED attainment is reflected in the participation rate and in the “Students Remaining in School” data element. Lastly, because sites may experience situations that result in youth leaving the area due to foster placements or other opportunities, a “moved from target area” (line 20b) category has been created. Youth who leave the target area prior to long term placement will be subtracted from the denominator when calculating the placement rate. The five project-based goals are not intended to reflect all of the important data captured by each project. Rather they are intended to provide both DOL and projects with targets against which progress can be measured. Other Goals: As this pilot program progresses, it is important for professionals and the DOL to look at other measures of success. The education goal of GED attainment/high school diploma should not be the only educational measure of success for adult youth that have dropped out of school. Significant increases in math and language arts should also be a measure of success, because it will have a profound effect on the life of the participant. If the participant has some training in entrepenurialship and begins a business this should also be a measue of success.
| 