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Completed Projects

  • Police Working with Youth in Non-Enforcement Roles Project, 2002-2004
    The Center participated in a two-year evaluation of the Police Working with Youth in Non-enforcement Roles program. Police worked with youth in a variety of contexts including Police Explorers, Police Academies , Police-led athletics programs, Police sponsored adventure activities, and as School Resource Officers. The evaluation supported the conclusion that the program had an impact on participants' developmental competency.
  • Evaluation of Programs Offering Youth Leadership Training, 2002-2004
    The Center facilitated a two-year evaluation of youth leadership activities within community youth development programs in Connecticut. Youth involved in leadership activities were contrasted with a comparison group of youth who participated in a variety of in-school or out-of-school activities that did not include leadership programming. Results supported the value of youth leadership training, especially for a subgroup of youth who began the program with poor psychosocial adjustment.
  • Evaluation of Neighborhood Youth Centers Project, 2004
    The Center evaluated Neighborhood Youth Center (NYC) programs that were funded by the State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management for the fiscal years 2001/2002 and 2002/2003. Results of the outcome evaluation showed that youth enjoyed attending the centers and they felt that they were helped by the centers. In addition, the youth who had positive attitudes towards the centers and favorable experiences with staff demonstrated relatively high levels of psychosocial adjustment. Lastly, the youth involved with the centers over time showed positive changes in their attitudes towards school.
  • Evaluation of Neighborhood Youth Centers Project, 2001
    The Center conducted an evaluation of twenty-five centers that were involved in Connecticut 's Neighborhood Youth Center Program (NYCs). The purpose of NYCs was to increase the range and extent of positive experiences for at-risk youth who lived in seven of Connecticut 's largest cities. Results of the evaluation showed that the youth's level of involvement and duration of involvement with the centers had few effects on positive youth development. However, youth who reported staff members to be a source of social support were less likely to report drug use or behavior problems.
  • Evaluation of the Waterbury After School Project
    The Center assisted the Waterbury Foundation in developing and implementing a citywide evaluation of Waterbury 's after-school programs. The results indicated that after-school programs in the Waterbury community were helping youth to achieve academic success and positive youth developmental outcomes.
  • Evaluation of the People Empowering People Project
    The Center conducted an evaluation of the People Empowering People Program (PEP)-an innovative training program designed to build upon the strengths of adults and older adolescents with limited financial resources. The goal of the evaluation was to determine participant's satisfaction with the program and to assess positive changes in the domains of personal adjustment, family relationships, and community engagement. Positive changes were found in all three domains.
  • Attendence Software
    An earlier evaluation of the Neighborhood Centers for the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) found that there was a strong need for an efficient, low-cost method of systematically collecting data on attendance patterns at participating programs. The Center commissioned a software developer to develop an attendance program. The program was pilot tested and is now being disseminated for general use in human service agencies by OPM.
  • Mocktrial
    The Connecticut Consortium for Law and Citizenship Education, a private, non-profit association, works with Connecticut 's public and private schools to promote and conduct citizenship and law-related educational programs. The Center recently assisted the CCLCE in evaluating its Mock Trial Program, the Great Connecticut High School Debate Program, and the Young People's Debates Program. The goal of the evaluation was to assess changes in several youth outcomes using a pre-test and post-test survey design.
  • New Communities Project
    The Center completed evaluations of three community youth development programs offered by the Cooperative Extension System and funded through a USDA New Communities Project grant. Collaboration between the Center and project staff produced quantitative and qualitative data that supported the effectiveness of the programs. The results were disseminated through two journal publications and a presentation at a national conference.
  • Volunteers Opening Doors: The Five Keys to Lead Safety (video and online training)
    A lead-poisoning awareness video for volunteer painting and housing-rehabilitation programs, in English and Spanish, produced in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Volunteers Opening Doors is a video program that explains how volunteers can protect housing residents, themselves, and their families from lead poisoning. The video is posted on the website of Habitat for Humanity: http://www.habitat.org/env/safe_healthy_housing.aspx
  • Lead-Safe Work Practices for Painting, Remodeling, and Maintenance (classroom training)
    A train-the-trainer program developed for the Connecticut Department of Public Health and approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in English and Spanish. This lead-safety training program is designed for renovators, remodelers, painters, maintenance personnel, and property owners. The hands-on program teaches workers how to protect themselves and their families, as well as consumers and their families, from the hazards of lead poisoning.
  • What You Should Know about Lead Poisoning: A Resource Manual for Childcare Providers (classroom training)
    A train-the-trainer program, in English and Spanish. This program provides the information that childcare providers need to know about lead poisoning, about Connecticut laws and regulations concerning lead, information sheets for parents or guardians, and resources for further information. It also includes a curriculum to teach very young children the basics of lead-safe behavior. This program was developed in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
  • Keep It Clean Train-the-Trainer Pilot (classroom and online training)
    An innovative, scenario-based training for local health departments to use in raising lead-safety awareness among employees at home improvement, paint, and hardware stores. This training was piloted by the Connecticut Department of Public Health. An online adaptation of the pilot training for employees at home improvement, paint, and hardware stores is available at http://www.nelcc.uconn.edu/kicc.html .