Long-Term Outcomes of Youth Development Programs: Insights from University of California Early Adult 4-H Alumni

Abstract

A young person’s engagement in high-quality youth development programs should lead to stronger positive outcomes as a young adult. Theoretical literature advances broad indicators that mark success in young adulthood; however, there is a dearth of empirical publications reporting long-term outcomes to support this assumption. Admittedly, there are many challenges in conducting this type of research. We conducted a cross-sectional survey study to report on three long-term outcomes (economic stability, health and well-being, and community involvement) of young adult (aged 19 to 34) alumni of the University of California 4-H Youth Development Program. We compared 4-H alumni outcomes to matched peers using secondary data sources. The 4-H alumni sample demonstrated more positive results than the comparison samples on almost all indicators (except family income). We sought ways to overcome the significant biases inherent in this type of research and encourage future empirical research to grow the literature reporting long-term young adult outcomes experienced by previous participants in youth development programs.