An Evaluation of Utah's Youth and Families With Promise Program

The goals of the evaluation are to determine whether Utah's YFP program is achieving its desired outcomes in four primary areas: improvements in academic performance; improvements in interpersonal competencies; strengthened family bonds; and the prevention or reduction of delinquent or problem behavior. Additionally the evaluation will determine transferability and cost benefits of the program. The evaluators will use a quasi-experimental design to establish a comparison and control group. The control group will include youth entering the YFP program in the 2006-7 school year. The comparison group will be selected from youths ages 10-14 who attend school in the 2006-7 academic years. The comparison group will be matched with the treatment group based on results of the youth eligibility survey and additional socio-demographic information. Youths will be assessed on the domains of the program goals prior to entering the program and at the end of the school year. Youths will be contacted for up to two years after the completion of the program. Data on juvenile justice system contacts, academic performance, program staff data, and data on the parents and mentors will also be collected.