A Place to Grow: Evaluation of the New York City Beacons

A Forum — February 21, 2003

Background

The New York City Beacons Initiative is the largest locally supported youth program in the county, with more than $30 million in tax levy funds and 80 sites serving 180,000 children, youth, and adults annually. Beacons are community centers located in public school buildings, offering a range of activities and services to participants of all ages, before and after school, in the evenings, and on weekends. Individual Beacons are managed by community-based organizations and work collaboratively with their host schools, community advisory councils, and a wide range of neighborhood organizations and institutions. A two phase evaluation of the New York City Beacons Initiative, prepared by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), was recently conducted. The first phase of the evaluation found abundant evidence of the value of the Beacons. Phase II of the study, the focus of this forum, provided an in-depth examination of the experience, perceptions, and behaviors of Beacon participants who attended the Beacon sites regularly in the New York City area.

Forum Summary

Peter Kleinbard, Vice President of the Fund for the City of New York and Director of the Youth Development Institute, provided an introduction to the Beacons Initiative. He described how the Initiative has expanded from 10 to 80 centers over the years and achieved some remarkable accomplishment in establishing quality environments for young people. The core challenge is how to maintain quality in a large system with over 80 sites and without increases in funding. Public funding has not increased since 1991 despite the expansion of programs. Insufficient resources make it especially difficult to find and hold highly qualified staff. Many community organizations that operate Beacons have raised private funds but some find this difficult. Despite these challenges facing the Beacon sites, there are many very strong sites, Kleinbard noted, and it is thrilling to visit these sites and see how each has its own specific culture and character while sharing certain common core element with other Beacons. The work that these sites are doing and the public policy experience is critical to examine as we think about continued expansion of youth after school programs in coming years, Kleinbard concluded.

Constancia Warren, Senior Program Officer and Director at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, was the principal investigator of the Beacons study at AED. She reported the Phase II Beacon evaluation findings that were developed from a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data that examined how the Beacons have affected youth. Describing their experiences at the Beacons, 92% of youth said they had close friends at the Beacon; 49% said all or most of their friends hang out at Beacons, and youth with all or most of their friends at the Beacon reported more caring supportive peer relationships than those with fewer friends at the Beacon. Youth described the Beacons as safe places where peers respect each other and support each other like a family.

Youth also reported supportive relationships with Beacon adults. Ninety-three percent said Beacon staff had high expectations for their performance and conduct, 87% said that they could go to the adults for help with schoolwork or school problems, and 87% said that adults at the Beacon pay attention to what’s going on in their lives. Youth reported that adults at the Beacons knew them well and were very accessible, that they supported them, and kept their concerns and advice confidential. Most youth reported experiencing a wide range of opportunities to learn leadership skills and contribute to the Beacon. Eighty-one percent helped someone at the Beacon their own age or younger in an activity. Youth also reported increased civic and community commitment. The homework help and tutoring programs at the Beacons helped to improve grades, youth understanding of schoolwork, attendance, and study habits.

Youth reported feeling safe at the Beacon because they were protected by staff, conflict resolution was practiced, and there were security measures in place. Youth reported a sense of self-esteem and belonging related to the Beacons; 82% said they always or often felt good about themselves at the Beacon because their friends were there, they were able to be themselves and get a sense of self-worth through their accomplishments, they learned to control their emotions, the staff was supportive, and the Beacon was safe. Youth reported that the Beacons helped them developed the skills to resist drug and alcohol abuse and violence.

The study also rated the quality of youth development at the various Beacons sites in light of youth development principles and examined how variations in the extent to which Beacons incorporated youth development principles affected youth attitudes and behaviors. Youth who attended the higher quality youth development sites were more likely to perceive that staff had higher expectations, and more likely to feel better about themselves. They were less likely to cut classes, to report that they had hit someone, deliberately damaged others’ property, stolen money or things, or gotten into fights. In summary, this part of the study found that the quality of services, activities, and the environment offered to youth made a significant difference in youth outcomes.

Tracy Calderon, Director of a 4-year old Beacon, described some of the specific types of activities that take place at her site. She said that one of the major challenges that the staff face is helping the youth overcome the culture of violence to which they have become accustomed. The program at their site continues to evolve as they learn more about what does and does not work in their community. For instance, they realized that they needed to offer more highly structured programs. Much of their work has been centered on developing trusting relationships with members of the community.

Jonathan Guity, a high school student who has been a member of Calderon’s Beacon for the past four years, described his experiences with the center. He said that the Beacon has been “like a blessing from God.” Without it, he would likely be dead or in jail, given the severity of violence in his community. Beacon has provided him with a safe place, helped with homework, and supported him as he moves toward graduation. It has also helped him develop positive and caring relationships. This is very important, said Guity, because he needs to be positive so he can make it out of the projects and set a positive example for his brothers and sisters. The Beacon has helped him move toward achieving these goals.

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