How do summer jobs programs empower their youth through short programs? What leads to the lasting impact that we see in decreases in violent crime well after the programs conclude? In episode four of J-PAL Voices: The Impact and Promise of Summer Jobs in the United States, we hear from service providers like Danielle Ellman at Commonpoint Queens about the “whole person” and “whole family” approach that these organizations take towards their participants. Researchers Sara Heller and Alicia Sasser-Modestino describe their findings around the conflict-resolution skills that these programs inculcate in their participants. And as Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend tells us, the resilience that program participants develop stands them in good stead, even leading to many of them eventually working at the same organizations that provided them their summer experiences.

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