What do you do when there are subjective results? The city formed a nonprofit me

ID: 430868 • Letter: W

Question

What do you do when there are subjective results?

The city formed a nonprofit mentoring program to combat juvenile justice among youth ages 13-18. It was part of a national initiative for youth engagement. The city was one of few cities to implement this type of program. The implications of this program are highly political, as the program has received national attention. A local firm was recently hired to conduct an evaluation of the results. The city wanted to publicize that the program worked. Well, the firm just completed a preliminary evaluation of the youth mentoring program. The preliminary data is well..."iffy". Depending your opinion about the program, the data is either really great or totally horrible. The mentoring program serves young girls who have been released from a youth detention center. Here are the parameters of the program:

Each girl must agree to graduate with a GED or high school diploma equivalent within 12 months of entering the program, complete three community service projects and obtain a living wage job within 18 months of the program. Participants will aligned with a peer mentor and must meet with that mentor at least once per quarter and track results. The goal is that 80 percent of the participants will not return to a juvenile detention facility.

Of the 25 girls that were assigned to the program after being released, only 12 have completed most of the program. None of them have done the community service projects. They have recorded high self esteem, but most live in volatile families and neighborhoods. Of the 12, 8 got living wage jobs and are living on their own. The other 13 young women either dropped out or returned to a correction facility within the first three months. No one passed all of the parts of the GED, but most who started passed at least one to two parts.

The organization that ran the program received $6 million and has spent all of the money.

What information do you want to review in this evaluation?

Things to consider:

-What information would you like to know about the program development?

- What does the information about the initial evaluation tell you about the program?

- What do you propose as next steps for the future of this program?

- Is the budget a factor to consider?

- What information should not be considered in this evaluation?

- Was this program successful?

Explanation / Answer

The target for the juvenile girls mentoring program was to rehabilitate the young girls leaving the youth detention center age groups 13-18 years. The budget allocated was $6 million.

The actual results were very average and as follows:

Numbers

% age

Girls assigned to the program

Girls completed the program

48%

Got jobs (Living wage jobs and living on their own)

32%

Dropped out or returned to the correction facility with 3 months

52%

Average spend per girl

240,000 USD

Girls completing GED or high school diploma

Girls completing at least 1 part of the GED

100%

What information would you like to know about the program development?

· I would like to know the curriculum of the program and how it was developed and delivered. The module which was delivered to the young girls has a success rate of 48% only, which is an average success rate.

- What does the information about the initial evaluation tell you about the program?

· The information shows a success rate of 48% and a high spend per girl of 240,000 USD. Further, almost $3 million is seen as being wasted as 52% of the girls did not achieve the desired results. The data also indicates that at least 50% of girls are interesting in studying and reforming their ways as all girls who joined the GED completed 1 part.

- What do you propose as the next steps for the future of this program?

· I would recommend dividing the girls into groups after first three months depending on their tendencies and interests.

Group A: The girls who show a keen interest to change and are motivated.

Group B: The girls who are still showing deference and are not interested in correcting their ways.

Group B would need extra efforts, maybe a different method of coaching and counseling to encourage them to adopt the new way of life and become self-sufficient.

Group A can be motivated separately to move more constructively to increase the number of girls who started working from 32% to 48% i.e from 8 girls to 12 girls.

- Is the budget a factor to consider?

· Yes, the budget is an important factor to rehabilitate the girls. The extensive coaching and development would require more efforts, resources, and budget.

- What information should not be considered in this evaluation?

· The information required includes the following:

1. The number of girls in the program

2. The number of girls who joined GED and high school diploma

3. The number of dropouts and reason for the dropout

4. The family background and the environment of the girls.

5. The success rate of the development program in terms of % ages.