Evaluation of Chicago CRED (Creating Real Economic Destiny)

Chicago CRED (Creating Real Economic Destiny) has expressed objective of achieving a “transformative reduction in Chicago gun violence.” To this end, CRED has developed an intervention that combines elements from street outreach, life coaching, and job training and readiness programs into a single phased intervention that deals with some of the highest risk individuals involved in gang and gun violence in Chicago. Using a modified “group audit” process, CRED aims to identify those groups in target neighborhoods most involved in gun violence; these groups serve as the programmatic foci in order to “disrupt the group dynamics” driving gun violence in specific. Once groups are identified, street outreach workers enroll “high risk” individuals into the program. Individuals then progress through a series of individual assessments and case management processes, which includes life coaching and a variety of skills assessments/developments. Participants then proceed through various stages of the program, guided through an intensive case management process. Participants proceed through various programmatic dimensions with the ultimate goal of successful job training and, eventually, job placement into well-paying jobs in industries such as industries such as construction, healthcare, security and manufacturing. Graduates of CRED receive an additional 12 months of life-coaching and job-placement assistance. This project will conduct a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of CRED, paying particular attention to the how the program impacts individual, group, and community level outcomes—including: (a) changes in levels of violence and victimizations, (b) educational and employment outcomes, and (c) general process-related outcomes and experiences of participants. The main research tasks will include: (a) the merging of organizational participation data with existing public records, (b) the collection of qualitative interview data from staff and particip