YOUTH VIOLENCE: Measuring Results

At the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, we are focused on results. There are many programs that talk about how many people they serve or process. But what are the results? We believe in applying market principles to the social economy. In the market economy, the only thing that counts is the results. In our social economy, in this country we tend to focus on credentials. But who is qualified to serve? The people who get results, or those who have professional training and have passed credential requirements? Furthermore, it’s not how many people were served, but what were the outcomes? Were they changed for the better? Was violence reduced? Were suspensions and absences from school reduced? Today we are going to talk to the people who look at results. To find out what is really working. Our guests are Dr. Byron Johnson and William Wubbenhorst, of Baylor University. Dr. Johnson is Director of Baylor’s ProSocial Programs Department, and William Wubbenhorst is a researcher who carried out much of the field work in Baylor’s study of the Violence-Free Zone in Milwaukee. We’ll also hear from Kwame Johnson, National Director of the Violence-Free Zone program.