Oct 2024
Choose to Change® (C2C®) Program Guide
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This program guide is intended for community-based organizations working to fill gaps in services and reach an underserved population of youth impacted by violence and trauma.
The guide outlines Choose to Change®’s overarching principles, purpose, and philosophy as well as specifications for delivering programming informed by C2C®. In the sections that follow, you will find a comprehensive overview of the C2C® program’s origin, its various components, and reference resources, including procedures and guidelines to enhance fidelity in the implementation of the C2C® program’s wraparound and trauma-informed services.
- Section 1 explores the history and development of Choose to Change®, including background on the program collaborators, Brightpoint (formerly Children’s Home & Aid) and Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP)™, the call to action that brought the two organizations together, a brief description of the C2C® program, and evidence of the program’s success identified in an evaluation conducted by the University of Chicago Crime Lab and Education Lab in their role as research partners.
- Section 2 provides a comprehensive overview of C2C®, including the model, timeline of services, key personnel, and school and partner relationships.
- In Section 3, the key components of the program model are described in their entirety alongside examples isolated from the program evaluation as well as the significance of each element.
- Sections 4 – 6 chronicle the delivery of C2C® services from start to finish. These sections cover the recruitment process, engagement, and discharge at the end of services, including the core components of intensive wraparound support, advocacy, and trauma-informed therapy.
- Section 7 presents a summary of administrative counting expectations for supervision, documentation, and communications.
- Lastly, Section 8 concludes with a recounting of virtual service delivery, incorporating the requirements for delivering both remote wraparound mentorship and group telehealth services.
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Building safer communities: Behavioral science innovations in youth violence prevention
This policy brief highlights results from a large-scale randomized controlled trial that evaluated the impact of Choose to Change® (C2C®) on participants’ criminal justice involvement.

Unpacking the Impacts of a Youth Behavioral Health Intervention: Experimental Evidence from Chicago
This working paper details results from a study of Choose to Change® (C2C®), a trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy and intensive mentoring program developed by nonprofits Brightpoint and Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP).

Improving Programming in Juvenile Detention: The Impact of Project Safe Neighborhoods Youth Outreach Forums
This paper presents the results of a randomized controlled trial of a youth outreach forums program run in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center (JTDC) by the Northern Illinois Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force.

B2OF Policy Brief: Supporting Youth Safety and Education Re-Engagement
This policy brief outlines the first year of implementation of Back to Our Future (B2OF), a state-funded, district-led, evidence-informed effort to re-engage disconnected students at an elevated risk for gun violence involvement.
Latest Updates
Jens Ludwig — Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
Join Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig for a book talk and signing at Politics and Prose Bookstore at Union Market in Washington, DC for his upcoming book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.”

Jens Ludwig and Chief Bill Scott: The Unexpected Origins of Gun Violence
Join Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig for a book talk and signing at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, CA for his upcoming book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.”

Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig authored a book that argues the lack of progress in reducing gun violence ultimately stems from our having misunderstood the nature of the problem, and that behavioral science gives us a new way to understand – and solve – gun violence in America.
