Roughly 144,000 young people in Los Angeles County, which accounts for 12.9% of county youth, are disconnected from both school and work. Youth@Work, the county’s flagship youth employment program, has long offered thousands of young people their first paid work experience each year. 

Commissioned by the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity and supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a new report by Dalberg Advisors independently reviews Youth@Work and offers recommendations for its strategic and operational redesign. Drawing on a combination of data analysis, stakeholder interviews, youth focus groups, peer benchmarking, and document reviews, it finds that Youth@Work was built to deliver career exposure and early earnings rather than long-term mobility, without shared standards across providers or accountability for employer outcomes. 

The report lays out a redesigned model: four pathways tailored to participants’ age, education, and employment goals; a dual focus on youth and employers; and a funding path to serve 10,000 opportunity youth annually. 

Read the full report below.