Back to Our Future (B2OF)

Once participants complete the 12-week intensive programming, B2OF aims to provide individualized follow-up services and mentorship to help stabilize newly re-enrolled participants within their education completion pathway. After 12 months of B2OF programming, youth receive light-touch, ongoing support services and case management to guide them to high school graduation or completion and successful transition into their chosen post-secondary pathway.

Findings

Identifying Youth

The use of multiple referral pathways helped identify more youth for B2OF eligibility by providing greater coverage for CPS to identify potential participants compared to a single referral source. The majority of referrals (79%) were CPS data driven referrals, followed by CBO reverse referrals (12%), partner referrals (6%), and institutional referrals (3%).

Based on demographic characteristics prior to referral, youth referred to B2OF partners meet the stated eligibility criteria. The vast majority (87%) of referrals were inactive in school at the time of referral, and almost half (41%) had been inactive for longer than 18 months. Among referred youth, 46% had been previously arrested, and 23% had specialized education needs. The average young person referred to B2OF was 19 years old, and roughly two-thirds were Black. These characteristics are mostly aligned with the referral criteria outlined in the program design, indicating that the referral pathways can effectively identify youth in the target population for B2OF.

Engaging Youth

The overall consent rate for the program across the four referral pathways is 19%, which suggests about 1 in 5 referred youth are consenting to participate. The consent rate varied greatly depending on the referral pathway. Data driven referrals had the lowest consent rate at around 5%, meaning only 1 in 20 referred youth consented to programming. On the other hand, roughly 9 out of every 10 CBO reverse referrals led to youth consenting to participate in B2OF. Partner and institutional referrals saw similar rates to each other, with around half of referred youth consenting to programming. Despite data driven referrals being the pathway most likely to refer eligible students, their low consent rate means that CBO referrals bring almost three times as many youth to the program.

These patterns suggest that relationships and touchpoints between referred youth and service providers are likely important factors for youth when deciding whether to participate in the program.

Youth Experience

We found that B2OF participants attended, on average, nearly seven hours of programming per week, which is less than 50% of the 20 hours set as the program target. However, the average participation in services increased over time to about nine hours as of May 2023. Across the five service areas (mentoring, community building, academic and credit recovery, mental health, and soft skills), we saw considerable variation in actual versus target hours. Specifically, we observe that the average B2OF participant received low dosage in academic credit and recovery (0.8 received of 3-hour target) and mental health (0.5 received of 3-hour target) programming.

B2OF offers an unprecedented opportunity to address the decades of underinvestment in Black and Brown communities, which has led to the program’s target population facing significant barriers to high school graduation, post-secondary success, and safety. While we have made significant strides in the first year of implementation, much work remains to better engage and serve the young people currently underserved by existing systems. Overcoming these barriers to successful implementation requires creativity, a deep understanding of youth experiences, and a commitment among all partners to continuous improvement.

Read the full policy brief.