Workforce Development & the 4Rs

Workforce Development & the 4Rs

July 26, 2024

Project Summary

This project evaluates nationally-coordinated service corps programs as they expand their work to care for the environment. Funded by the Department of the Interior/National Parks Service, the USDA/US Forest Service, AmeriCorps, and the Hewlett Foundation, our research maps the constellation of service corps programs, their organizational partners, and their relationships with local communities and national parks and forests.

This project works to develop measures to evaluate the impacts that service corps programs are having on three primary areas: the communities in which they serve, the natural environment, and the participants in the programs themselves. Programs included in our study are:

Traditional Trades Advancement Program (National Park Service)
Scientists in Parks (National Park Service)
Resource Assistants Program (US Forest Service)
Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers Program (US Forest Service)
NCCC AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Summer of Service (AmeriCorps)
Various state-led Climate Corps programs (AmeriCorps)
Various programs coordinated by AmeriCorps Seniors

Data collection across the various service programs involves 5 sources of data: 1) Surveys with program applicants, 2) Member surveys with program participants, 3) Interviews and surveys with representatives from organizational partner organizations, 4) In-depth interviews and focus groups with a subset of program participants, and 5) Assessment of the Environmental Impacts of the programs.

In 2025, we will also begin the DataCorps Fellowship program at American University, which will train and support two cohorts of students to evaluate the effects of federally coordinated programs that are focused on disaster response and recovery, as well as related broader civic engagement trends across the US.