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Milwaukee’s Community Development Block Grant: Connecting Youth Services and Economic Development. Nina Carlson Julie Fitzgerald Kevin Murphy Bethany Shore Prepared for the City of Milwaukee, Budget and Management Division, Department of Administration. Introduction.
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Milwaukee’s Community Development Block Grant:Connecting Youth Services and Economic Development Nina Carlson Julie Fitzgerald Kevin Murphy Bethany Shore Prepared for the City of Milwaukee, Budget and Management Division, Department of Administration
Introduction • Framing the issue: Problems facing Milwaukee youth • CDGA allocates almost $2 million each year in federal CDBG funding to Youth Services
Purpose • Research Tasks: • Determine the effectiveness of Youth Services grants • Explore the possibility of better linking Youth Services programming to economic development • Methods
Table 1: Carnegie Youth Characteristics and Corresponding CDGA Program Categories
Research Question 1 Overview • Are CDGA Youth Services grants effective? • Literature review on the general effectiveness of youth programming • Analysis of CDGA performance files
Do Youth Programs Benefit Young People and Their Community? According to academic research, they do. • Examples: • Education Boost GPAs and school attendance • Rec & Crime Prevention Lower anti-social behaviors • Civic Engagement Improve concern for others’ welfare; improve work ethic • The Benefits Last
CDGA’s Reporting & Monitoring System • The beginnings of a successful performance measurement system • Outcome identification • Outcome tracking
Best Practices in Performance Measurement: How do grantees perform? • Outcome measurement • Struggle to distinguish between outputs and outcomes • Data sources • Some fail to use an adequate data source to measure outcomes • Signs of success
Reporting and Monitoring Systems Recommendations • Mandatory Grantee Training Session • Strengthen Grantee Reporting Requirements • Implement a More Interactive Monitoring System
Research Question 2 Overview • How can Milwaukee link Youth Services programming to economic development? • HUD definition of economic development • Creating and maintaining jobs
Policy Options • Focus on Job Training • Focus on Post-Secondary Education • Status Quo
Research Question 2 Recommendations • Take a broader perspective on economic development • Expanded definition of economic development • Services that encourage post-secondary opportunities for youth, teach marketable job skills, provide workforce or higher education training for young adults, or encourage productive citizenship • Maintain current mix of programming