The LARCA program provided case management, training, employment services, and supportive services to youth with low income who were at risk of dropping out or who had already dropped out of high school to facilitate their educational advancement and employment.
LARCA provided participating youth with case managers who developed and monitored individualized plans identifying services that could improve youth’s life skills and work-readiness. These plans included educational services that helped individuals achieve secondary diplomas or equivalents, financial literacy training, supportive services, vocational training (specifically, construction, green technology, and health care training), and employment services (including work-readiness training, paid work experiences, and employment search and placement services). The LARCA program provided all of these services to participants directly, or in-house. Providers also connected youth to local postsecondary institutions and private vocational programs in various sectors. LARCA participants could receive program services for 12 to 34 months, depending on the date of program enrollment. Follow-up services were available for at least 6 additional months. Program participants were youth with low income between the ages of 16 and 24 who had dropped out of high school or were assessed to be at a high risk of dropping out because of chronic absenteeism and below-grade-level performance. LARCA also required participants to be eligible to work in the United States and to be living in Los Angeles County, the location in which the program was administered.