U.S. Department of Justice Grant - Chicago Public Schools

The OJJDP FY 09 Earmarks Programs further the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Explanatory Statement Regarding H.R. 1105 (Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009), 155 Cong. Rec. H1653 (daily ed. Feb. 23, 2009) (statement by Rep. Obey, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House).

The initiative will be implemented in three high schools located in areas with the highest level of gun violence and will serve approximately 300 of the highest risk students between the Spring of 2010 and June of 2012. This body of students includes recently graduated at-risk youth 8th graders ' defined as such based on academic achievement, absences, behavioral issues, and current/prior involvement with the juvenile justice system, who are about to enter high schools and 9th-grade students who fail to make a smooth transition into high school and fall off-track academically. CPS will use a data-driven approach to identify and recruit students into the program. The identification process will use a point-based classification model created to identify potential program participants based on 8th grade performance. Points will be allocated into two categories, academics and behavior. Academics points will be allocated based on math and reading grades and standardized test scores. Behavior points will be allocated for factors such as attendance, discipline infractions, and recommendations from elementary schools and Juvenile Probation. The point system allows students to be grouped into one of four risk quadrants: High Behavior/High Academic, High Behavior/Low Academic, Low Behavior/Low Academic, and Low Behavior/High Academic. The school teams will develop targeted strategies to reach and enroll students into the program. NCA/NCF