Recent research by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado confirms the importance of quality after-school in keeping kids safe and out of trouble. A 1999 study of randomly selected high school freshmen from low-income households compared participants in the Quantum Opportunities after-school enrichment and incentives program to non-participants.

The outcomes showed:

• Boys left out of the program were six times more likely to be convicted of a crime.
• Boys and girls left out were 50% more likely to have children during their high school years.
• Boys and girls in the program were half as likely to drop out of school and two and one half times more likely to go on to further education after high school.

More information on the issue of After School Programs
Return to top

Research Tracks Success of
CAP's Juvenile Justice Diversion Program

The Year-One Recidivism Evaluation is a study that collected and analyzed data to test efficacy of the pilot period of Chicago Area Project’s Juvenile Justice Diversion Project (JJDP) that was launched in 1997.

This empirical approach to our work enables CAP to examine and improve the program, as well as participate in the local and national debate on delinquency. Since July of 1999, CAP has contracted research services to Peter St. Jean, a doctoral candidate in Sociology at the University of Chicago and visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This independent analysis is in its second year and, based on outside support, coupled with the successful results, the continuation of the research will further buttress the position of community development advocates who espouse that delinquency is, in large part, a product of structural erosions in communities. As such, the most effective strategy to combat structural disorganization is through community empowerment and development. It is noteworthy to point out that CAP first advanced this theory of social disorganization in the 1930s. Aside from the contribution to the field of delinquency prevention and intervention, CAP uses the research to improve the methods and approaches for staff training and program development.

While the research on the pilot period cohort is only the first step in this intellectual renewal, several of the most salient results are:

• The recidivism rate during enrollment in the program was less than six percent (6%).
• Within one year after their referral date, the rate of recidivism for those that participated in the program was nearly twenty percent (20%) lower than those who were referred but never participated.
• Up to 15 months since their referral, thirty-one percent (31%) who never participated were charged with felonies. In contrast, none (0%) who participated were charged with felonies under the same period.

Thus far, CAP has presented the study at the University of Chicago, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in Washington D.C., and at the Juvenile Court of Cook County. The University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, Mercyhurst College (PA), Florida State University, California State at San Bernardino, and Boise State University have each expressed interest in the continued research, and are confident that it can be instrumental in policy initiatives on the local and national level throughout the United States. The research team, which has expanded to Peter and five interns, is reviewing the second and third year cohorts, scheduled to be concluded in July, 2001.

Download PDF file

Return to top

Home | About Us | Programs & Services | Map Locations | Calendar of Events | Success Stories | Training
Volunteers | Job Opportunities | Sponsors & Donors | Hot Links | Contact CAP | Forms