Youth Arts Development Project. (1995) Regional Arts & Cultural Council in Portland, Oregon, Fulton County Arts Council in Atlanta and the City of San Antonio Dept. of Arts & Cultural Affairs with Americans for the Arts. Online at: http://www.americansforthearts.org/youtharts/

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE

In 1995, the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities enlisted Americans for the Arts to survey over 600 arts-based programs for at-risk youth. They found that, while there were myriads of "success stories," there was a lack of statistical evidence that these programs truly increased youth achievement.  Consequently, Americans for the Arts, alongside the Regional Arts & Cultural Council in Portland, Oregon, the Fulton County Arts Council in Atlanta and the City of San Antonio Dept. of Arts & Cultural Affairs, created a consortium called the YouthArtsDevelopment Project to conduct research on arts programming for at-risk youth which has led to an online toolkit for implementing such programs.

GOALS

The YouthArts Development Project had seven primary goals:

1. to define the critical elements and 'best practicise' of arts programs designed for at-risk youth;
2. to design and test program evaluation methodologies;
3. to conduct a rigorous evaluation of three pilot sites of the impact of arts programs on adolescent behavior and the risk and protective factors associated with behavioral problems and delinquency;
4. to design and test models of professional development and training that prepare artists to work with at-risk youth and that prepare artists, social service staff, juvenile justice professionals, and educators to work collaboratively in developing and implementing arts programs for at-risk youth;
5. to strengthen collaborative relationships among local and federal partners;
6. to disseminate 'best practice' models to arts, social service, and juvenile justice program providers nationwide;
7. to leverage increased funding for at-risk youth programs.

ACTIVITIES

In order to meet these goals, YouthArts:

1. conducted a field scan of the literature on arts-based youth programming;
2. interviewed members from model programs across the country to identify "best practices;"
3. facilitated focus groups with artists and social workers in each of the three cities in the YouthArts project;
4. reviewed the juvenile justice literature on risk- and protection-focused prevention and intervention which became the foundation of the YouthArts approach: to develop programs that are designed to reduce risk factors, while increasing protective factors.
5. from this knowledge, each art agency in the project either designed and implemented a new program for at-risk youth or modified an existing one - all of this was done as colalboratively as possible, with and through existing organizations and programs;
6. each site collected data to support a national evaluation of its programs' effects on participants' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.

Through their evaluations, YouthArts revealed that the arts really have a positive impact on youth. In addition to enhancing young peoples' attitudes about themselves and their futures, the programs can also increase academic achievement and decrease delinquent behavior. (A follow-up evaluation is being conducted to determine if the programs have a lasting impact on youth participants).

OPERATIONS

The YouthArts Development Project originally printed their findings and created a toolkit in print form which is no longer available. Consequently, they created a website http://www.americansforthearts.org/youtharts/about/ to make the toolkit available to the public. They describe the purpose of the website as follows:

     Several existing publications do an excellent job of describing the achievements of arts programs designed for youth at risk,
     and information on artist training recently has been published as well. However, arts agencies, juvenile justice agencies, social
     service organizations, and other community-based organizations need more detailed information about how to plan, run,
     provide training, and evaluate arts programs for at-risk youth. The materials in this toolkit are designed to help. The toolkit
     contains the many lessons learned in Portland, San Antonio, and Atlanta about establishing, maintaining, and evaluating arts
     programs for youth at risk.

The website is divided into four main components based upon their research from the three sites on implementing arts programs for at-risk youth: 1. Program Planning; 2. Team Training; 3. Evaluation; 4. Costs, Resources, & Advocacy. (They note that these four elements are not in sequential order and occur simultaneously in any organization.)  In addition, the website includes a section on "best practices," a "glossary" of terms used, and an "appendix" of relevant documents from the site research.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION & DISCUSSION

• Do you find this website helpful? What would you do to improve it? (Email them any suggestions for ways to improve their site)
• In your opinion, what is it about the arts that would help turn a troubled life around?
• How might you incorporate an arts element into a youth program you run based on the websites' models? What obstacles might you face?

IMPLICATIONS

• Because of their ability to heal and empower at-risk youth, the arts should be included in programming for at-risk youth.
• Collaboration is essential; we need to work holistically in order to turn troubled lives around.
• Using a planning model (an interactive and proactive planning tool that promotes collaboration) is a great way to implement a project.
• Team training is a vital way to get all the collaborative partners on the same page.
• Outcomes-based planning and evaluation is key to long-term success though often costly.
• Running arts-based programs for at-risk youth is expensive and labor-intensive but well worth it in the end.

Christen B. Yates cCYS