This evaluation of programs conducted in fiscal 1978 under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA) consists of an overall picture of the 1978 YEDPA program experience and case studies of programs in 12 states. Findings and recommendations are presented concerning the implementation of YEDPA programs by Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) prime sponsors. Examined in a summary of the YEDPA program experience in fiscal 1978 are the evolving roles of local education agencies in local youth manpower programs, YEDPA clients in 1978, interaction of YEDPA and the Summer Program for Economically Disadvantaged Youth (SPEDY), local accountability, and the difficulties of spending on target in 1978. Planning for 1979 and the dynamics of local change are discussed. Covered next are prime sponsor staff stability and the role of regional offices. The bulk of the report is devoted to case studies of YEDPA programs in the following 12 states: Connecticut, Texas, New Mexico, Michigan, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and California. (Related youth knowledge and development reports are available separately through ERIC--see note.) (MN)