Evaluación de Impacto del Programa Jóvenes con Rumbo 2018

This intervention aims to generate opportunities for social, educational, and labor insertion for young people at risk in vulnerable areas with social violence problems. During the 2016-2017 period, the second phase of the program's operation, a first impact evaluation was conducted to measure the effects of the program on the socio-emotional skills of beneficiaries. The results of this first evaluation suggested that young people who received treatment showed a higher level of development in the analyzed competencies and skills, attributable to their participation in the program, compared to similar peers who did not participate. In 2017, after the development of the first impact evaluation, the program underwent a significant redesign, which motivated the development of a second evaluation. These modifications focused on standardizing and enriching the contents of the courses offered, as well as establishing different types of services linked to the profile of beneficiaries in Tijuana, Monterrey, and Ecatepec. Consistent with the first evaluation, the results of this second exercise suggest that the program has positive effects on the socio-emotional skills of its beneficiaries. The main finding identified is the average effect on the treated in the Competencias Personales y Sociales (CPS) scale, increasing them by 36.3% compared to the control group, that is, 18.7 percentage points more than reported in the first evaluation (17.6%). On the other hand, although a positive and significant effect was detected in the Consistencia del interés y Perseverancia del esfuerzo (GRIT) scale, of 4.9%, this was lower than that reported in the first evaluation (13.3%). This last result may be motivated by the adjustments in the content of the intervention. Given the result in the CPS scale, this is not necessarily something negative. It is recommended to examine internally if there are socio-emotional skills that are considered more important than others to achieve the program's objective, and to review the contents of the intervention to verify that these skills are the ones that are most promoted in the program's operation. The program's effectiveness in generating socio-emotional skills is consistent with the importance of these skills in the labor market and in preventing risk behaviors during adolescence, such as addiction, violence, or early pregnancy. The results reported in this report suggest that the JcR program represents an effective alternative in generating these skills in young people. The evaluation of impact did not make it possible to include the measurement of the occupational trajectory of young people (employability and social reintegration), due to the fact that this type of metrics requires following up on young people over a long period of time (3 to 12 months), which decreases the chances of re-contacting them, particularly those who make up the control group. Therefore, an exercise was carried out on the occupational trajectory of these young people, comparing them with similar peers identified in the Encuesta Nacional de Empleo y Ocupación (ENOE).