In 2015, the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) and the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Social Innovation Fund launched Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP)™ — an ambitious multistate effort to boost employment and educational opportunities for young people who are navigating some of life’s most challenging circumstances, including homelessness and involvement in the child welfare or justice systems. LEAP employs two models — Jobs for America’s Graduates and Job for the Future’s Back on Track — to help these young people succeed in school and at work.

MDRC has been evaluating the 10 local LEAP sites’ implementation of these models, including recruitment and retention strategies, cross-system partnerships, and integration of wraparound services and support.

A recent hour-long webinar hosted by AECF, “Lessons from LEAP: Exploring MDRC's Evaluation Findings,” explored these findings and the ways they will inform the next phase of LEAP. The panelists were:

Patrice Cromwell (moderator)
Director
The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Louisa Treskon
Research Associate
MDRC

Robin Graham
Program Director
South Bay Community Services