Evaluating a Cognitive Behavioral Approach for Improving Life Outcomes of Underserved Young Women: A Randomized Experiment in Chicago

The University of Chicago seeks support for our team to carry out a randomized controlled trial (RCT), testing a structured mentoring program. In collaboration with Youth Guidance, a local Chicago nonprofit with which the university has partnered for many years, will conduct a rigorous multi-year evaluation to test the efficacy of a promising cognitive behavioral mentoring (CBM )approach—WOW, or Working on Womanhood—delivered to young women in
neighborhoods on Chicago’s high-crime and low-income south and west sides. Funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention would support efforts to develop a deep understanding of the program model and collaborate on any curriculum enhancements that could both make the program stronger and/or lead to a more fruitful evaluation, design and conduct a process evaluation, complete exploratory analyses to better understand program participants and outcomes of greatest interest, and engage deeply with our nonprofit practitioner partner to ensure readiness for an experiment.

The Practitioner-Researcher Partnership in Cognitive Behavioral Mentoring Program will support the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative mentoring approaches for youth at high risk for delinquency/juvenile and criminal justice involvement or victimization and trauma. These mentoring approaches must incorporate practices that are informed by research on cognitive behavioral interventions and techniques. The program will fund a partnership between a practitioner/service provider and an evaluator/researcher.

CA/NCF

The University of Chicago seeks support for our team to carry out a randomized controlled trial (RCT), testing a structured mentoring program. In collaboration with Youth Guidance, a local Chicago nonprofit with which the university has partnered for many years, will conduct a rigorous multi-year evaluation to test the efficacy of a promising cognitive behavioral mentoring (CBM )approach—WOW, or Working on Womanhood—delivered to young women in
neighborhoods on Chicago’s high-crime and low-income south and west sides. Funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention would support efforts to develop a deep understanding of the program model and collaborate on any curriculum enhancements that could both make the program stronger and/or lead to a more fruitful evaluation, design and conduct a process evaluation, complete exploratory analyses to better understand program participants and outcomes of greatest interest, and engage deeply with our nonprofit practitioner partner to ensure readiness for an experiment.

The Practitioner-Researcher Partnership in Cognitive Behavioral Mentoring Program will support the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative mentoring approaches for youth at high risk for delinquency/juvenile and criminal justice involvement or victimization and trauma. These mentoring approaches must incorporate practices that are informed by research on cognitive behavioral interventions and techniques. The program will fund a partnership between a practitioner/service provider and an evaluator/researcher.

CA/NCF