Mobilizing Communities to Prevent Violence: Evaluation of Oakland Unite
Prepared for:
City of Oakland
Oakland Unite 2017-2018 Strategy Evaluation: Life Coaching and Employment and Education Support for Youth at Risk of Violence
Associated Project
Key Findings
- Youth who received life coaching were significantly more likely to be enrolled in school and saw short-term reductions in arrests for violence, relative to a comparison group of similar youth. However, 12 months after starting services, their rates of arrest, conviction, and victimization were similar to the comparison group.
- Youth who received employment and education support services were significantly more likely to be enrolled in school in the year after starting services, relative to a comparison group of similar youth. However, their rates of arrest, conviction, and victimization were similar to the comparison group both six and 12 months after starting services.
- These results reflect average effects across participants, including many youth who participate in services for a limited time. In addition, some youth in the comparison group may have received services from other providers or had less contact with law enforcement than Oakland Unite participants just before services began, as participants (particularly in life coaching) enter services at an especially high-risk period in their lives that is challenging to replicate in a comparison group.
Funded by the Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act of 2014 (Measure Z), Oakland Unite invests in community-based violence prevention programs throughout Oakland, CA with the goal of interrupting and preventing violence. This annual strategy-level report provides in-depth analyses of two Oakland Unite sub-strategies: (1) youth life coaching, and (2) youth employment and education support services. The report includes analyses of administrative data, participant surveys, document reviews, and interviews with agency staff. Outcomes measured include rates of school enrollment, arrest, conviction, and victimization six and 12 months after the start of Oakland Unite services.
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