Evaluability Assessment Final Report: Breaking the Cycle Youth Gang Exit and Ambassador Leadership Program

This report was published by Public Safety Canada.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

The issue of street gangs in Canada has generated considerable concern among criminal justice professionals and the general public. Because of the high level of criminal behaviour associated with street gangs, and the inherent dangers posed to youth who choose to participate in their activities, the value of prevention and intervention programs has taken on new importance. Specific programs that seek to help young people exit a gang are not yet commonplace in Canada, and those that do exist typically have not undergone formal evaluation to determine actual program effect.

This study sought to assess the evaluability of one of Canada’s longest running street gang exit programs ‘ Breaking the Cycle, developed and managed by Toronto’based Canadian Training Institute – that is, to answer the question ‘Is the Breaking the Cycle program at a suitable state of readiness for comprehensive process, impact and cost effectiveness evaluation?’ Four key methods were used to show that subject to some modifications to identification of the appropriate target group, documentation and data collection practices, the Breaking the Cycle program can be accurately evaluated in the near future. Thus, the National Crime Prevention Centre or other organizations are encouraged to formally evaluate the program, and indeed, support it financially, because of the initial positive indicators demonstrated during the Evaluability Assessment.

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