This report examines initial efforts to scale up the Year Up program. From its inception in 2000, Year Up expanded its original “core” model—a stand-alone program—from one office in Boston to sites in nine cities serving 2,000 youth annually by 2015. In 2012, Year Up began piloting an adaptation for community college settings designed to improve scalability: the Professional Training Corps (PTC). Program data show that Year Up maintained a high level of performance in its core program while expanding services from 2010-15. During this period, the program’s completion rate increased from 70 to nearly 80 percent, while the number of participants roughly doubled. Similarly, Year Up increased recruitment by 50 percent to generate the PACE control group sample, while maintaining applicant quality. Drawing mainly on interviews with Year Up leaders, this paper distills lessons from three aspects of experiences with growth: expanding recruitment, scaling signature program services, and addressing cross-cutting challenges in scaling. The paper can also be found here on ACF’s website.
See More PACE Reports
Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) Evaluation
Abt supports HRSA’s rural opioid response by evaluating RCORP grants, strengthening reporting quality, and guiding targeted support for communities.
Spotlight On: Using Evidence to Learn During Pause and Reflect Workshops
At Abt Global, all programs implemented use a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning and Adaptation (MERLA) approach.
Where Data Meets Discovery: A One Health Conversation with Adam Schaefer
Abt's Adam Schaefer joins Dr. Ginger Dixon on One Health Wednesdays to explore the science, systems, and leadership driving meaningful progress in One Health research.
$50 Billion for Rural Health: What CMS and States Must Get Right
Congress committed $50B to rural health. Success now depends on disciplined execution, clear oversight, and practical implementation.