Dalston Youth Project Part II (11-14): An Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 198243
• Author(s): Roger Tarling; June Burrows; Alan Clarke
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 82 pages
• Sale Source: Great Britain Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Home Office Research Study 232

Annotation

This report presents an evaluation of the Dalston Youth Project aimed at working with youths 11- to 14- years-old who are at risk of dropping out of school and becoming involved in offending behavior.

Abstract

The authors describe the aims of the DYP program as offering support to at risk adolescents during the formative period of adolescence, by improving basic education and social skills while reducing offending rates through the use of mentors. The four main components of the DYP program are a residential weekend designed to get the project started and to allow participants to get to know one another, a mentoring component in which the young people are matched with a volunteer from the local community who is trained in youth support, an educational component designed to help at-risk youths improve their basic education skills, and a parent/guardian component to enable parents and guardians to develop improved parenting skills. Detailing the selection of young people, the authors describe the 80 young people who joined DYP in its first 3 years arguing that these individuals came from largely disadvantaged background and/or had English as their second language. The authors evaluated the effectiveness of this project by designing separate evaluations for the residential weekend, mentoring, educational, and parent/guardian components. After describing “Graduation Night,” the end of each project year in which the young people and mentors received certificates of commendation for their efforts and participation, the authors discuss the impact of the DYP project contending that many of the DYP youths improved their behaviors, self-esteem, and academic competencies by the end of their participation in this project. The authors also found that while successful DYP progress is not always matched by progress in school attendance, behavior, or work, many of the active program participants managed to avoid committing offenses following the completion of the DYP program. Tables, references