Alternative to High School programs:

Both a local and national economic crisis exists, in part due to individuals becoming disconnected from a larger segment of society within the United States. Disconnectedness is a result of having little work and high rates of high school dropout. This is particularly acute among young urban adults, ages 18 to 24, who reside in New York City. Thus, this descriptive study, based on a mixed methods research design, determined the impact of services offered by New York City’s Young Adult Borough Centers (YABCs) to a population sample of the centers’ young adult graduates (N = 1,321). Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected via a 15-question electronic Survey of Disconnectedness that compiled students’ perceptions of the centers’ overall effectiveness. Specifically, 10 close-ended questions were used to facilitate quantitative data collection, while 5 open-ended questions facilitated the qualitative responses. The quantitative responses were tabulated and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences.