Across the country, youth workforce development programs are stepping up to prepare young people not only for jobs, but for thriving futures. Yet, many providers face a common challenge: how to translate proven youth development practices into real-world workplace settings.

That’s where the Youth Workforce Development (YWD) Program Quality Improvement Initiative comes in. Over the past year, eight organizations including Detroit Food Academy, Healthy Kidz, City of Grand Rapids, Keystone, Refill Jackson Initiative, Philadelphia Youth Network, Single Family Living, and Trombone Shorty Foundation joined a pilot effort to explore how the Youth Program Quality Improvement (YPQI) approach could be adapted to workforce contexts. The results are inspiring and full of promise for the broader field.

What We Learned: Quality Matters in Workforce Settings

The pilot demonstrated that the YPQI approach, long used in afterschool and expanded learning, is both relevant and practical for workforce development programs. Staff found it offered a clear structure for identifying quality practices, whether in team-based job projects, structured internships, or social enterprise models.

• Safe and supportive environments remain the foundation of quality, even in workplace contexts.
• Engagement practices need to be adapted for older youth and job-based settings.
• Staff valued concrete tools and strategies that could be applied immediately.

One participant summed it up:

“Though I have been involved in the YPQI work for years, I now feel like I have the expertise to lean into what we need to do and am actually developing a program quality strategy.”

Why It Matters for Organizations

Programs that participated in the pilot reported powerful benefits:

• Deeper staff confidence in delivering high-quality experiences.
• Secured additional funding and created a youth advisory board.
• Positive participant outcomes, with Net Promoter Scores for workshops rated “excellent” (65) and the YWD Methods Summit rated “world class” (88).

Case Studies in Action

Two early adopters of the YPQI approach illustrate what this looks like in practice:

• Urban Roots (St. Paul, MN): A large youth employer integrating YPQI for six years to support habitat restoration, farming, and culinary training. Staff credit YPQI with scaffolding youth leadership and learning.
• Café Reconcile (New Orleans, LA): A social enterprise restaurant providing paid training in culinary and customer service skills. The organization has used the YPQI for  10 years, embedding quality practices into job descriptions, evaluations, and strategic plans.

What’s Next: Expanding the Impact

Phase Three of the pilot is now underway, with a focus on making resources even more relevant for workforce providers:

• Collecting real-world YWD videos to enhance training.
• Creating adapted versions of key YPQI trainings with workforce-specific examples.
• Publishing case studies and hosting webinars to share lessons from early adopters.
• Exploring employer-focused workshops to extend the reach of proven youth development methods.

The pilot has shown that quality improvement is beneficial in youth workforce programs too. By adapting proven tools to the realities of youth employment, we can ensure young people leave programs not only with skills for today’s jobs, but with the confidence and capacity to thrive long-term.

If your organization is ready to take youth workforce development to the next level, now is the time to connect. Together, we can build stronger programs, stronger partnerships, and brighter futures for young people.

→ Download our YPQI Workforce Development Overview
→ Connect with us at info@forumfyi.org