Recognizing that adolescents may not use their new cognative and moral abilities in a consistent way, or in a way that makes sense to the adults around them, the Youth Enhancement Skills Program (YES)

The YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg's Youth Enhancement Skills Program (YES) is a comprehensive program that utilizes several research-based program models including LifeSkills Trainig (LST), Six Pillars of Character, CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies (CRISS), A Framework for Understanding Poverty, and strategies identified through Department of Education's Early Warning Timely Response: A guide to Safe Schools. The goals of the YES Program are to create a culture of achievement, improve student academic achievement, and develop safe Pinellas County middle schools by developing the knowledge, skills and abilities that enable students to make informed and responsible decisions. Program evaluation will incorporate a quasi-experimental design where students selected for participation in the curriculum program in each semester will be individually matched to one or more students not participating in the program using propensity scores. Both groups of students will be tracked longitudinally with regard to objective performance measures including 1) disciplinary issues measured by absenteeism, referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, and 2) student academic achievement measured by grades and comprehensive assessment scores. YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg will report these measures to OJJDP in their Categorical Assistance Progress Reports. NCA/NCF