2010 Annual Report of Measurable Outcomes
Chicago Youth Programs
The priority of Chicago Youth Programs (CYP) is to improve the long-term outcomes of high-risk youth. With this goal in mind, CYP aggressively monitors the progress and outcome of each program participant. This practice prevents the application of an ineffective strategy and hastens development of more effective interventions.
I. Ability To Keep Youth Engaged
A necessary precursor towards improving long-term outcomes of at-risk youth is their involvement in effective programs throughout childhood. This section examines whether CYP has been effective at keeping youth involved in the program long-term.
The first step in improving the long-term outcomes of at-risk youth is to keep them engaged in program activities. This step is crucial during the difficult adolescent years, when youth are at highest risk for a variety of poor outcomes and are least likely to engage in positive activities. Without achieving this important first step, programs for youth cannot facilitate long-term change.
Yearly Retention: Yearly retention was above 90% in all three service communities. This represents a marked improvement in Uptown from 74% in 2008 to 92% in 2009, and 92.5% in 2010. Each year, approximately 96% of CYP youth continue in program activities. The figures above reflect the percent that achieve certain set attendance standards.
Average Years of Participation: Average years of participation are calculated for all program youth over 6 years old. This is to keep yearly fluctuations in enrollment of preschoolers from biasing this measure of long-term involvement. The average years of program participation increased dramatically from 6.6 years in 2004 to 8.3 years in 2007, and now has climbed to 8.9 years through 2010. This reflects that youth are increasingly remaining engaged in CYP programs long term.
II. Avoiding Obstacles
This section examines whether involvement in CYP’s effective programs positively influences the outcomes of at-risk youth.
Teen Birth Data: Avoidance of teen pregnancy gives our girls the best chance of succeeding in education and career goals. The graph compares CYP's cumulative teen birth rates since 1984, with Chicago Department of Health data. CYP's cumulative rates from 1984 through 2010 continue to be well below city figures. These results are even more remarkable considering that city figures are for girls from all socioeconomic groups, whereas all CYP girls are living in poverty, and therefore are at much higher risk.
Outcome at Age 18 (absence of delinquency): Outcomes for participants who reached their 18th birthday are shown in the chart below. A positive outcome is defined as "at least a high school education without involvement in gangs, criminal conviction, teen parenthood or victimization while a participant in violence.”
The comparison measures outcome for CYP participants who remained in the program during high school versus those who left before high school. To be included in this data, youth had to have been involved in CYP from before 10th grade until they turned 18. If a participant dropped out during or after 10th grade, they would be counted as an “In Program” negative outcome if they were delinquent (feeling that it was a failure of the program to keep them in and fail to prevent delinquency), but they would not be counted as an “In-Program” positive outcome if they avoided delinquency. This seeming disadvantage towards our programs’ data is to ensure that any difference between “In” and “Out” of Program Outcomes is likely to be due to the program’s influence. As shown in the chart, teens who remained active through high school had a far greater rate of positive outcome (84 of 92 were positive or 91%) than those who had dropped out (12 of 30 or 40% only had a positive outcome).
III. Educational Outcomes
This section also examines whether involvement in CYP has a positive influence on the outcomes of at-risk youth.
High School Graduation: Chicago Youth Programs' 4 year high school graduation rate in 2007, 2008 and 2009 was 91,6%. In 2010 it was 100%. This is far greater than the 5 year high school graduation rates in any of our communities - Near North/Cabrini Green 31.5%, Washington Park 33.6%, and Uptown 55%.
College and Trade School Placements: Without pursuing higher education and training programs, it is unlikely that disadvantaged youth can break out of the cycle of poverty in their families and communities. In recent years, CYP’s career services have flourished. In communities where less than 20% of residents have any college by the age of 25, CYP has been very successful in placing the majority of its youth into higher education soon after high school graduation; The percent of high school graduates placed into college or a trade program was 91.6% from 2007-2009, and 100% in 2010. This outstanding rate is far higher than any comparison figures. Most of these youth were true long-term program participants - literally in the program throughout their childhood.
Examples of Program Educational Improvement - Tutoring Pre - and Post - Test Scores:
Being positioned to pursue higher education and careers requires educational achievement throughout childhood. The CYP developed "Concept Packages" empower tutors to know and teach specific educational concepts that youth should know at their grade level but are struggling with. There are 10 packages per grade. Pre/Post tests, administered with each Concept Package, were used to measure the effectiveness of tutoring programs.
Pre & post-tests for 1st to 9th grade Concept Packages show the effectiveness of volunteer tutoring in grade appropriate concepts. There was a 23.4% to 37% average improvement between pre and post-test in Concept Package scores in each grade.
IV. Program Efficiency
All 43 regular programs were primarily staffed and directed by volunteers and held in donated space, therefore reducing overhead immensely. Using conservative figures for volunteer time, donated space and donated materials, CYP estimates that at least 70% of all program expenses are in-kind.