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Preventing Delinquency in Girls: An Evaluation of the Young Women Leaders Program

Award Information

Award #
2010-MU-FX-0060
Location
Congressional District
Status
Closed
Funding First Awarded
2010
Total funding (to date)
$399,710

Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2010, $316,078)

This solicitation is designed to fund grants to document and measure the effectiveness of delinquency prevention, intervention, and/or treatment programs in preventing and reducing girls' risk behavior and offending. This program is authorized by the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub. L. 111-117).

The primary goal of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a one-on-one and group-based mentoring program, in preventing delinquency and related outcomes in girls who are at-risk for delinquency based on individual and/or ecological characteristics. YWLP serves 50-85 early adolescent girls in grades 7-8 annually in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. We will evaluate YWLP through an experimental design: girls eligible for the program will be randomly assigned to the program or control group condition. Pre-, mid- and post-program surveys from girls, parents, teachers, and mentors will be used to assess changes in girls over the course of the program (one school year) and one-year after the program; the two groups will be compared statistically for evidence of program effects. We will use observational data and interviews to identify "best practices" for effective program implementation. Research reports will document YWLP's effectiveness in reducing problem behaviors related to girls' delinquency, the transferability of YWLP to other communities, and the cost-effectiveness of YWLP as a delinquency-prevention program.

CA/NCF

Date Created: September 16, 2010