Jan 2020

Rethinking the Benefits of Youth Employment Programs: The Heterogeneous Effects of Summer Jobs

Jonathan Davis Sara Heller

This research paper presents the results of two randomized field experiments, which both involved offering supported summer job opportunities to different groups of young people in Chicago.

Related Resources
Longer-Term Impacts of a Youth Behavioral Science Intervention: Experimental Evidence from Chicago
Academic Paper

Longer-Term Impacts of a Youth Behavioral Science Intervention: Experimental Evidence from Chicago

Jun 2025

This paper details updated 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).

Choose to Change® (C2C®) Program Guide
Other

Choose to Change® (C2C®) Program Guide

Oct 2024

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.

Building safer communities: Behavioral science innovations in youth violence prevention
Brief

Building safer communities: Behavioral science innovations in youth violence prevention

Oct 2024

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
Academic Paper

Unpacking the Impacts of a Youth Behavioral Health Intervention: Experimental Evidence from Chicago

Oct 2024

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).

Latest Updates

Deaths of decision-making are killing American teens. Schools can fix it.
Op-Ed
Brookings
Jul 2025

Deaths of decision-making are killing American teens. Schools can fix it.

Crime Lab executive director Katie Hill pens an op-ed for Brookings about how cognitive behavioral programs can teach teens decision-making skills that can dramatically reduce violence and save lives – often at little or no additional cost.

Kelly Leonard: How improv can help police do their job
Media Mention
WGN Radio 720
Mar 2025

Kelly Leonard: How improv can help police do their job

Kelly Leonard joins WGN’s John Williams to discuss The Second City’s partnership with the Crime Lab’s Policing Leadership Academy that’s using improv to help officers improve their communication skills.

Novel approaches can chip away at gun violence, and make a big difference
Op-Ed
Chicago Sun Times
Apr 2025

Novel approaches can chip away at gun violence, and make a big difference

In an op-ed for the Chicago Sun-Times, Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig argues that when it comes to gun violence, we’ve been focused on the wrong solutions – a key insight from his new book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.”