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YOUTH GUIDANCE HOW TO
These variations have driven Youth Guidance staff members to ask questions that are key to understanding how to achieve greater impact. But the results vary across different BAM sites, programs of different length, and different studies. BAM has undergone several well-designed RCTs, and the overall positive results show increases in high school graduation rates and decreases in arrests. The BAM program complemented impact studies with qualitative methods to more deeply understand the program’s core components and mechanisms. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Youth Guidance is a nonprofit organization offering school-based programs for at-risk children to help them refocus on. This case study shows that understanding and improving a program is an ongoing process-one that does not end with one or even multiple RCTs. From 2009 to 2015, BAM was evaluated through several randomized controlled trials (RCT), with each RCT extending the program’s reach to serve more and more youth across more schools, and a qualitative study to assess its impacts. Youth Guidance is a mentoring and activities program for at-risk children grades K-12 from single parent, low income homes in Indian River County. To date, BAM has been implemented in schools in both Chicago and Boston. Program participants attend weekly group sessions for at least a year, receiving individual counseling, and they are exposed to a 30-lesson curriculum with diverse activities. The program supports the young men’s abilities to navigate a healthy transition to manhood by providing cognitive behavioral therapy, a peer group led by a facilitator they can relate with, and development of social emotional skills and important values. developed and implemented by the Chicago-based nonprofit Youth Guidance. This case study draws on the experiences of one organization, Youth Guidance, and one of its programs, Becoming A Man (BAM™), to illustrate how the organization’s leadership and staff use diverse evaluation findings to generate important questions in a continuous process of strengthening its evidence base.īAM is a program for young men in high school, particularly young men of color living in disadvantaged communities. Preventing youth violence and improving educational. To address the challenges and opportunities in the youth development field (and in many other fields), a growing number of nonprofit leaders, funders, and researchers have embraced the use of research to demonstrate, understand, and improve the impacts of social programs. is a New York-based non-profit organization pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. The purpose of the Guidance is to: Help ensure a positive, supportive, and meaningful experience for youth Support SAMHSA and other federal agencies in gaining valuable input and perspectives from. Moreover, experimental evaluations of such programs often show limited impact and replicability. The Guidance includes resources regarding a youth services approach, youth development, youth leadership, civic engagement, and youth organizing. Effective and engaging social programs for disadvantaged young people are challenging to develop, operate, and sustain. "Youth Guidance continues to recognize that investing in the at-risk youth of our communities is well worth the effort and will continue to yield real, tangible results in our communities' youth.Young people need developmental opportunities to help them thrive, both now and into adulthood. These school-based offices assist students and their families overcome the challenges associated with inner-city life by providing immediate access to academic support, life skills training, case management, counseling, creative arts programs, health services, college preparation, and career development support. Currently, Youth Guidance serves approximately 14,000 children annually with locations at more than 70 Chicago public elementary and high schools. Youth Guidance creates and implements school-based programs that enable at-risk children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education and, ultimately, to succeed in school and in life.įor more than 84 years, Youth Guidance has been empowering some of Chicago's most under-served children to succeed in school, and ultimately in life through a variety of programs and services designed to nurture academic, social and emotional growth. This organization has no active opportunities.įind volunteer opportunities from thousands of organizations that need your help.
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