Public/Private Ventures (P/PV)

Legacy Collection

Innovation. Research. Action.

After almost 35 years Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) has ceased operations. The organization leaves behind an incredible legacy of knowledge, including hundreds of research reports, case studies and evaluations about how best to improve programs and outcomes for children, youth and families. We are fortunate that P/PV has decided to archive its publications collection with the Foundation Center's IssueLab so that practitioners can benefit from this knowledge for years to come.

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An Alternative to Temporary Staffing: Considerations for Workforce Practitioners

July 2, 2012

The temporary staffing industry has become a fixture of the US economy in recent decades, and workforce practitioners are increasingly noting the prevalence of temporary jobs in the low-skilled labor market. To ensure that these jobs are a stepping stone for job seekers -- and to tap into additional sources of revenue -- a growing number of social service organizations have launched their own staffing businesses, known as alternative staffing organizations (ASOs).

Notes from a Wind-Down

July 1, 2012

Drawn from Public/Private Ventures' Notes from a Wind-Down blog, this brief shares some of the organization's closing reflections about evaluation and how it can be used to improve the effectiveness of social programs. In its final year, P/PV engaged in outreach and discussions with partners and experts, and mined its past projects and findings, to identify some of the most pressing questions in three of core areas -- mentoring, out-of-school time, and labor market transitions. This brief compiles the results, with a range of suggested directions for future research, including more work on understanding program costs and improving program practice, further examination of the relationship between program participation and outcomes (especially across programs and settings), and research on the potential of innovative workforce development strategies (like sector-focused training and alternative staffing) to improve the employment prospects of youth and young adults.The brief also presents P/PV's observations about trends in the evaluation of social programs, particularly the rise of "internal" evaluation and what it may mean for efforts to develop more social programs that make a real and lasting difference for young people.Finally, Notes from a Wind-Down shares a few of the most enduring lessons from P/PV's work, which have proved to be relevant for program managers, funders and policymakers alike.

Illuminating Solutions: The Youth Violence Reduction Partnership

June 1, 2012

Over the last decade, P/PV has undertaken several studies of the Philadelphia-based Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP), an intensive collaboration that targets young people deemed at highest risk of being involved in a homicide. YVRP provides young probationers with enhanced supervision and support, with the goal of keeping them out of trouble and putting them on a path toward productive adulthood.

Mentoring Former Prisoners: A Guide for Reentry Programs

November 1, 2009

Few social programs have attempted to provide high-risk adults -- and, particularly, former prisoners -- with mentors. And thus there are few resources that offer practical advice and recommendations for mentoring this population, given its distinct needs, assets and challenges. While much remains to be tested and learned, this manual draws on the experience of the 11 sites involved in P/PV'sReady4Work prisoner reentry demonstration, as well as established best practices in the mentoring field, to provide guidelines for practitioners who are interested in developing a mentoring program to support former prisoners and enhance the effectiveness of other reentry services, such as employment and case management services.The guide was originally published by the US Department of Labor in November 2007 under the title Mentoring Ex-Prisoners: A Guide for Prisoner Reentry Programs. However, because of growing interest in establishing mentoring programs as part of larger reentry efforts around the country, P/PV decided to reissue the guide, along with updated information related to P/PV's evaluation of Ready4Work (particularly findings published in Mentoring Formerly Incarcerated Adults, 2009.)

What Matters, What Works: Advancing Achievement After School

February 1, 2008

This brief provides highlights from "Advancing Achievement: Findings from an Independent Evaluation of a Major After-School Initiative." The brief underscores the potential of after-school programs in the ongoing drive to advance children's academic achievement. It shines a light on some of the issues that matter most for programs striving to promote academic success -- namely, program quality and youth engagement. The brief also suggests what works by linking these program attributes to academic benefits. Like the report on which it is based, the brief draws lessons from the Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

Gaining Ground: Supporting English Learners Through After-School Literacy Programming

February 1, 2008

This brief presents findings that demonstrate a relationship between key approaches in CORAL, an eight-year, $58 million after-school initiative of The James Irvine Foundation, and the academic progress of English learners. In addition to presenting findings, the brief suggests important considerations for any policymaker and funder interested in the success of English learners as a growing student population.

Mentoring, Policy and Politics

October 30, 2007

In this policy brief, former P/PV President Gary Walker asks, Is mentoring now a durable part of American social policy? If so is this unalloyed good news? Adapted from an article that first appeared in The Handbook of Youth Mentoring (DuBois and Karcher, ed. 2005), the brief reflects on the impact and appeal of mentoring, addresses various critiques of the movement and suggests future directions for mentorings application.

Leaving the Street In Brief

July 7, 2007

This issue of P/PV In Brief focuses on Lauren J. Kotloff's recent report, Leaving the Street: Young Fathers Move from Hustling to Legitimate Work. Based on an in-depth interview study of participants in P/PVs Fathers at Work initiative, the report provides a rare glimpse inside the lives of young urban men with criminal records, exploring how they got involved with hustling, their experiences in the labor market and their feelings about fatherhood.Leaving the Street In Brief describes the four distinct groups that emerged in P/PVs study (the Reluctant Hustlers, the Ambitious Workers, the Reluctant Workers and the Committed Hustlers) and presents early findings from the Fathers at Work evaluation. It also touches on the full report's recommendations for programs serving young fathers.

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