Youth Pathways Central America Final Performance Evaluation of the Youth Pathways Central America (YPCA) Project Cooperative Agreement No. IL-27584-15-75-K-24 Evaluation Contract No. GS-10F-0048L/ 1605DC-20-F-00065 Submitted to: U.S. Department of Labor, International Labor Affairs Bureau (USDOL|ILAB), Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) Submitted by: DevTech Systems, Inc. 1700 N. Moore Street, Suite 1720 Arlington, VA 22209 Tel: 703-312-6038, Fax: 703-312-6039 Company Website: www.devtechsys.com Final Report Submitted July 24, 2020 i GS-10F-0048L/ 1605DC-20-F-00065 Final Performance Evaluation of YPCA – Final Report ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The DevTech Systems, Inc. evaluation team, Mario Martínez (Team Leader) and Miguel Núñez (Research Associate), wish to thank U.S. Department of Labor’s (USDOL) Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), especially Kristen Pancio and Rana Dotson, for their guidance and direction in the development of this evaluation. The team extends its sincere thanks and appreciation to the Youth Pathways Central America (YPCA) staff from Catholic Relief Services for contributing considerable time to share information and insights, both at the national and binational levels of project implementation. The evaluation team is also grateful to the YPCA staff that helped the evaluation through highly effective coordination of the field work in Honduras and El Salvador; this was notably challenging due to social distancing and mobility constraints imposed by the COVID-19 emergency. CRS and the evaluation team, with the approval of DOL, decided to conduct interviews remotely through virtual sessions with respondents from El Salvador and Honduras using applications such as Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp and regular mobile and land phone lines. The evaluation team would also like to acknowledge the dynamism and frankness of the implementing partners’ staff from Fe y Alegría, Glasswing International and the National Foundation for the Development of Honduras (FUNADEH). Appreciation is also extended to the school administrators, youth, government, and municipal and business officials that participated in the focus group discussions, small group interviews, and key informant interviews that provided substantive evidence for this evaluation. Funding for this evaluation was provided by the United States Department of Labor under Contract number GS- 10F-0048L Order number 1605DC-20-F-00065. Points of view or opinions in this evaluation report do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government. Prepared by DevTech Systems, Inc. ii GS-10F-0048L/ 1605DC-20-F-00065 Final Performance Evaluation of YPCA – Final Report TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................1 Relevance ........................................................................................................................ 1 Effectiveness ................................................................................................................... 2 Efficiency ........................................................................................................................ 3 Sustainability ................................................................................................................... 4 Promising practices ......................................................................................................... 4 Lessons Learned and Recommendations ....................................................................... 5 II. PROJECT CONTEXT AND DESCRIPTION..................................6 Project Context ................................................................................................................ 6 Project Description .......................................................................................................... 6 III. EVALUATION PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGY ....................11 Evaluation Purpose ........................................................................................................ 11 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 11 IV. EVALUATION RESULTS ..................................................................15 Relevance ...................................................................................................................... 15 Effectiveness ................................................................................................................. 24 Efficiency ...................................................................................................................... 50 Sustainability ................................................................................................................. 58 V. LESSONS LEARNED AND PROMISING PRACTICES ..............63 Relevance ...................................................................................................................... 63 Effectiveness ................................................................................................................. 63 Efficiency ...................................................................................................................... 65 Sustainability ................................................................................................................. 65 VI. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................66 Relevance ...................................................................................................................... 66 Effectiveness ................................................................................................................. 67 Efficiency ...................................................................................................................... 68 Sustainability ................................................................................................................. 68 VII. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................69 Recommendations for USDOL..................................................................................... 69 Recommendations for CRS .......................................................................................... 69 Recommendations for USDOL and CRS ..................................................................... 70 VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................72 IX. ANNEXES ..............................................................................................1 Annex A. Terms of Reference (TOR) ............................................................................ 1 iii GS-10F-0048L/ 1605DC-20-F-00065 Final Performance Evaluation of YPCA – Final Report Annex B. List of Interviewees ...................................................................................... 28 Annex C. List of Evaluation Questions ........................................................................ 29 Annex D. Evaluation Team Members .......................................................................... 31 TABLES Table 1. Project goal, objective, outcomes, and intermediate outcomes ................................... 7 Table 2. Strong Families methodology ....................................................................................... 9 Table 3. Project components and the corresponding implementing partner .............................. 9 Table 4. Interviews conducted during data collection .............................................................. 13 Table 5. Achievement of project objectives ............................................................................. 25 Table 6. YPCA achievement of general indicators .................................................................. 25 Table 7. YPCA achievements against indicators ...................................................................... 26 Table 8. YPCA achievements in employment, self-employment, and reinsertion in formal education, by country ............................................................................................................... 28 Table 9. Demographic characteristics of YPCA Clubs participants ........................................ 37 Table 10. Demographic characteristics of YPCA YB participants .......................................... 38 Table 11. Children and youth not at school and not working .................................................. 44 Table 12. CRS project staff distribution ................................................................................... 55 GRAPHS Graph 1. Reasons for abandoning Clubs ................................................................................... 17 Graph 2. Employment-to-population-ratio by age, country, and project performance .......... 35 Graph 3. Gender Gap: YPCA and National Employment Data by Country and Age (15 to 19 and 20 to 24 years old) .............................................................................................................. 46 Graph 4. Budget execution and variance by country, Life of Project (LOP) .......................... 51 Graph 5. Cost per participant by implementing partner ........................................................... 52 Graph 6. YPCA implementing