Roseland Youth Rise

The University of Chicago, working in partnership with Kids Off the Block and the Chicago Gun Violence Research Collaborative, proposes to implement the Roseland Youth Rise Project. Roseland is a community on Chicago’s South Side that is 95% Black and has been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality for decades. This program’s purpose is to build the capacity of the Roseland community to support youth exposed to violence to enable them to thrive and reach their full potential. Project activities include convening a newly created team of multidisciplinary stakeholders; engaging community members; developing and implementing a screening infrastructure to identify at-risk youth; delivering and connecting mental health and social services to youth and families; partnering with community-based organizations to expand capacity for after school programing; developing and implementing programs for vocational training and career exposure; and conducting an evaluation of the programs. Expected outcomes include the development of a coordinated, comprehensive, and community-informed plan to address youth exposed to violence in the Roseland community; provision of services for youth and families; reduction in youth violence and young adult unemployment in the Roseland community; and regular program assessments. Youth at risk for violence in the Roseland community of Chicago are the intended beneficiaries of the project. Subrecipient activities by Kids Off the Block include participating in the multidisciplinary team and comprehensive plan development; hiring a dedicated social worker; delivering mental health and social services and facilitating linkages to care; expanding and conducting after school programs; and providing vocational training and career exposure programs. Together, this coordinated approach will help promote racial equity and remove barriers to access to opportunities for the youth of Roseland to enable them to thrive in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.