THE TARGET POPULATION WAS SIXTEEN-TO-EIGHTEEN-YEAR OLD SCHOOL DROPOUTS WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE 'UNEMPLOYABLE' YOUTH. THE FOUR PROGRAMS VARIED IN SERVICES OFFERED AND WERE ADMINISTERED BETWEEN 1962 AND 1965 BY DIFFERENT AGENCIES CHOSEN BY THE NEW YORK STATE DIVISION FOR YOUTH AND THE NEW YORK CITY YOUTH BOARD AS ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES OF A MODEL PROGRAM DEVELOPED BY THE STATE DIVISION FOR YOUTH. THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE PROGRAMS INCLUDED SUPERVISED WORK EXPERIENCE, GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING, REMEDIAL INSTRUCTION IN READING, ARITHMETIC, JOB REFERRAL, JOB SKILLS TRAINING, AND TRADE TRAINING. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE PROJECT GOALS, A NUMBER OF ANALYSES WERE UNDERTAKEN. EXAMINED WERE: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUBJECTS; EMPLOYMENT CRITERIA; THE EFFECTS OF THE SET OF FOUR PROGRAMS ON THE TRAINEES' EMPLOYMENT; DIFFERENTIAL PROGRAM EFFECTS ON EMPLOYMENT; PROGRAM EFFECT ON EMPLOYMENT AS A FUNCTION OF THE SUBJECTS' SOCIAL BACKGROUND AND PERSONAL HISTORY CHARACTERISTICS; PROGRAM EFFECTS ON SCHOOL RETURN, OCCUPATIONAL ASPIRATION, AND POST-PROGRAM ARRESTS; EXTENT OF SERVICES RENDERED SUBJECTS BY ALL COMMUNITY AGENCIES; ATTITUDES OF PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS TOWARD THE PROGRAMS AND PARTICULAR SERVICES RENDERED; AND EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCES OF SUBJECTS. A RANDOMIZED CONTROL GROUP WAS USED FOR COMPARATIVE PURPOSES. PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF DATA WERE FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEWS FOCUSING ON JOB HISTORY AND DISPOSITIONAL INFORMATION FROM COLLATERAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION. A FACTOR ANALYSIS WAS UTILIZED TO ASSIST IN THE DETERMINATION OF REASONABLE EMPLOYMENT CRITERIA, AND A MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS WAS UNDERTAKEN TO ANALYZE THE INTERVENTION EFFECTS OF PROGRAMS ON THESE CRITERIA. EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE JOB EXPERIENCES OF YOUTHS DERIVED FOUR DIMENSIONS THAT APPEARED MOST RELEVANT TO THEIR EMPLOYMENT - SUPPORTIVE CONTEXT OF JOB, RATE OF JOB AND FIELD MOBILITY, JOB ACHIEVEMENT, AND PERSISTENCE. THE PROGRAMS APPEARED TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON ONE OF THESE DIMENSIONS - JOB AND FIELD MOBILITY - BUT SHOWED NO EFFECT ON THE OTHER THREE. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOCUS OF PROGRAM EFFECT WAS ON THE ATIITUDES OF YOUTHS TOWARD JOBS, RATHER THAN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JOBS AVAILABLE TO THE SUBJECTS AFTER TRAINING. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE FINDINGS IN THIS STUDY THROW DOUBT UPON THE IDEA THAT PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE YOUTH AND WORK TRAINING PROGRAMS WILL MARKEDLY AFFECT THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION OF SCHOOL DROPOUTS IN URBAN POVERTY NEIGHBORHOODS, WHILE INDICATING THAT SUCH PROGRAMS DO HAVE AN INFLUENCE ON THE SUBSEQUENT BEHAVIOR OF YOUTHS WITH RESPECT TO MAINTAINING JOBS. EVALUATORS SUGGEST THAT PROGRAMS WOULD BE IMPROVED IF THE YOUTHS WERE: DIFFERENTIATED ACCORDING TO NEED AND SELECTED WHEN THEIR VOCATIONAL NEEDS WERE MET BY THE TRAINING OFFERED; TRAINED FOR THE JOBS THEY WILL HOLD AFTER TRAINING; CHANNELED TO JOBS THEY WERE WILLING TO MAINTAIN; AND ASSISTED TO COPE WITH JOBS BY SUPPORTIVE THERAPEUTIC COUNSELING OR OTHER SERVICES AIMED AT MAXIMAL ADAPTATION TO THE JOB. AN EXTENSIVE APPENDIX CONTAINS ALL PROGRAM DATA AND DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING INTERVIEW FORMS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS. A TOTAL OF 145 TABLES OF DATA ARE INCLUDED IN BOTH THE BODY OF THE REPORT AND AS APPENDED MATERIAL. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)