5 takeaways:

➀ Schools and cities need to rethink how to reach at-risk kids. At the University of Chicago Crime Lab, researchers set out in 2015 to reimagine the best ways to keep kids out of the criminal justice system. “How do we reach kids that are disconnecting or not attending school consistently?” asked Roseanna Ander, the Crime Lab’s executive director. “They’re not going to be able to benefit from a school-based program. How can we meet them where they are?” That led to a competition of ideas, and, eventually, to Choose to Change. The program, developed by Children’s Home & Aid and Youth Advocate Programs Inc. and evaluated by Crime Lab researchers, engages kids affected by violence and trauma and connects them with advocates and social services. It’s not a school-based program but is for school-aged children.

➁ Consistent and intensive intervention can help keep kids away from crime. University of Chicago experts and local service providers said an important part of their Choose to Change program is “relentless engagement,” in the words of David Williams of Youth Advocate Programs Inc. “They never give up,” he said of his program workers. Once young people are identified for inclusion in the program (a diagram of the program’s research structure is here), Williams’ organization lines up advocates to work with them, spending an average of eight hours a week doing so. Over six months, therapists from Children’s Home & Aid engage the teens in therapy to help them regulate their emotions and understand how past traumatic experiences or chronic stress can affect their thinking and behavior. Choose to Change participants had 48% fewer violent-crime arrests than peers in a control group. Other program metrics show similar declines.

➂ Crime, missed school days, homelessness and other social ailments are linked – and should be tackled together. Of the students in the Choose to Change program, 21% are homeless or have unstable housing, 37% have a prior arrest and 22% were not enrolled in school at some point during the prior school year. They have also been exposed to a high level of trauma: 50% have been told about someone’s injury or killing, 45% have been hurt themselves, and 39% have seen someone dead or dying or watched or heard someone being killed. “Our young people have faced so much trauma in their lives and the staff that we have has faced so much trauma,” Williams said. “They need a place to be able to talk about those challenges that they face, and also some tools to be able to navigate some of the challenges that exist in our communities.”

➃ School performance can also be helped by improving a teen’s community life. Jadine Chou, chief of safety and security in Chicago Public Schools, helps direct teens into the Choose to Change program. “The best way to keep kids safe and supported is by keeping them in the classroom, by keeping them in school, not by excluding them by pushing them out,” she said. She has seen a sharp reduction in misconduct among students in the program. “Our experience is that the young people do gravitate to this,” she said. “Our young people want those relationships. … Once we introduce this program, they kind of look around them like, ‘OK, is my friend doing this? Is it cool?’”

➄ Mapping data down to the neighborhood level can help researchers and reporters understand what’s driving citywide violence numbers. The University of Chicago Crime Lab worked with the Chicago Police Department and Mayor’s Office to create the City of Chicago Violence Reduction Dashboard. It presents crime data in granular detail, down to the ward and police beat area, and it does so over time. The resulting map shows how concentrated crime is, with a few areas of the city driving citywide numbers. Kim Smith of the University of Chicago said there are potential holes in the data – immigration status may keep some residents from reporting crimes in their neighborhoods, for example – but the numbers are the ones the police use. “Despite some of the kind of missing-ness of the data, a lot of the nonprofits that we work with have found it really useful,” Smith said.

Speakers: 

Roseanna Ander, Executive Director, University of Chicago Crime Lab

David Williams, Vice President, Midwest Region, Youth Advocate Programs Inc.

Jadine Chou, Chief of Safety and Security, Chicago Public Schools

Kim Smith, Director of Programs, University of Chicago Crime Lab

This program was funded by Arnold Ventures. NPF is solely responsible for the content.