Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Community & After School Programs
Youth Guidance’s Community & Afterschool Program (CAP) offers services and supports to meet students’ needs in academics, health, family and the broader community. CAP integrates the Community School philosophy of student supports and systemic change into school-based opportunities for students. Our holistic approach improves school climate and engages parents and/or guardians, teachers, and the community to develop critical skills and strategies to help students. CAP participants see decreases in discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions along with increases in student attendance, engagement, healthy behaviors, and social-emotional maturity. CAP helps students focus on academics and build social-emotional skills to thrive.
Under the CAP umbrella, is Youth Guidance’s Parent & Family Engagement program (PFE). PFE invests considerable time, energy and resources in supporting parents through site-based parent outreach, specialized trainings and family workshops. Under the program’s culturally inspired model, parents develop a portfolio of skills to support their children in school, in relationships, and in achieving life goals.
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Our Becoming a Man (BAM) school-based program serves boys and young men in grades 7-12. BAM is a two-year, trauma informed, evidence-based group counseling and clinical mentoring program that develops the social-emotional competencies of boys and young men of color in communities where young people must cope with layers of intergenerational violence and trauma. BAM fosters positive male development and pro-social behavior through a “Circle,” a structured approach that includes elements of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), character education, and men’s rites of passage. By developing students’ emotional regulation, decision-making skills, interpersonal competencies, and positive future orientation, BAM yields life-changing outcomes for our students including improved academics, increased health and well-being, and improved postsecondary success.
Working On Womanhood (WOW)
Working on Womanhood (WOW) is a multifaceted therapeutic mentoring program that develops the social, emotional, and behavioral competencies for 7-12th grade girls exposed to traumatic stressors and/or with emotion regulation challenges.
Developed in 2011, WOW is informed by research and theory and its innovative curriculum is designed to address the social-emotional and psychological needs of vulnerable, adolescent girls growing up in under-resourced communities. WOW provides girls the safe space and supportive structure to address anxiety, trauma, self-esteem, and depression. Weekly small-group counseling sessions center around WOW’s five core values – Self-awareness; Emotional intelligence; Healthy relationships; Visionary goal-setting; and Leadership.
Workforce Development Program
Youth Guidance’s Youth Workforce Development (YWD) program focuses on supporting young adults in honing the skills necessary to thrive in the 21st century workforce. Through a range of programs, including BAM @Work, WOW @Work, Project Prepare, and Project Prepare Blue, YWD provides a curriculum that leverages clinical expertise in social-emotional development to guide participants through the practice and internalization of soft-skills and 21st century skills that are necessary for success in the workplace. With our YWD tools and resources, participants receive job-readiness training and experiential opportunities that reinforce their pathway to postsecondary success.
School-Based Counseling
Youth Guidance's professionally– trained counselors help students discover and use their own resiliency to overcome barriers to school success and help schools create interventions that will produce the greatest change in the school culture and environment. Responding to the requests of educators and school administrators, counselors address issues such as: adjusting to a new school environment, improving behavior and interpersonal relations, coping with grief or loss, handling environmental trauma and stress (family, school, neighborhood), and regulating emotions. Youth Guidance's STRIVE (Strategies to Rejuvenate Interest and Value in Education) initiative serves youth in care in grades 8-12 by integrating counseling support systems within the school environment. Serving as case managers, mentors and advocates, STRIVE staff support youth in care by offering encouragement and resources that help safeguard against poor school and life outcomes. Each participant receives support in developing life skills and coping strategies for a restored sense of balance, enthusiasm and hope for the future.
Becoming A Man (BAM) Boston
In Boston, Youth Guidance is implementing its flagship program, Becoming A Man (BAM). BAM is nationally recognized as a cost-effective behavioral intervention that drives socially significant outcomes among young men in high-risk, urban environments. BAM is a school-based counseling and character-building program that guides young men to learn, practice, and internalize social-emotional skills, make responsible decisions for their future, and become positive members of their school and community.
Since 2017, we have partnered with Boston Public Schools (BPS) and the Cambridge Public School District (CPSD), as well as city and community leaders and partners, to deliver the BAM program in 10 schools across Greater Boston. BAM serves over 550 at-risk young men—predominantly young men of color—in public high schools in Brighton, Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Mattapan, Roxbury, and Cambridge
Where we work
Accreditations
Council on Accreditation (COA) 2021
Awards
Neighborhood Builders Award 2011
Bank of America
National Community Schools Award of Excellence 2015
Coalition for Community Schools
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups, Children and youth, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Includes participants in Youth Guidance's BAM, WOW, Counseling, Afterschool, and Career Readiness programs.
Percent of WOW students who had fewer trauma symptoms after participating in WOW.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Working On Womanhood (WOW)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
67% of WOW students score in the clinical range for post-traumatic stress disorder at pre-test
Percent of BAM students who improve on measures of social emotional growth, including positive values, social competencies, commitment to learning, and positive identity.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Boston
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Notes: Based on the Developmental Assets Profile and limited to students who were in the “at risk” range at baseline.
Percent of WOW students who reported that the program has helped them make better decisions for themselves.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Working On Womanhood (WOW)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of BAM students who reported that the program has helped them make better decisions for themselves.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent reduction in violent crime arrests among BAM participants.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Heller,Sara B., Anuj K. Shah, Jonathan Guryan, Jens Ludwig, Sendhil Mullainathan,and Harold A. Pollack. “Thinking, Fast and Slow? Some Field Experiments to ReduceCrime and Dropout in Chicago.” NBER
Percent reduction in overall arrests among BAM participants.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Notes: Heller,Sara B., Anuj K. Shah, Jonathan Guryan, Jens Ludwig, Sendhil Mullainathan,and Harold A. Pollack. “Thinking, Fast and Slow? Some Field Experiments to ReduceCrime and Dropout in Chicago.”
Percent increase in on-time graduation rates among BAM participants.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Heller,Sara B., Anuj K. Shah, Jonathan Guryan, Jens Ludwig, Sendhil Mullainathan,and Harold A. Pollack. “Thinking, Fast and Slow? Some Field Experiments to ReduceCrime and Dropout in Chicago.”
Percent of BAM students who improve their school attendance from the prior year or maintain a high attendance rate (90% for HS or 95% for ES).
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of WOW students who improve their school attendance from the prior year or maintain a high attendance rate (90% for HS or 95% for ES).
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Working On Womanhood (WOW)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of BAM students who are promoted to the next grade level
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of WOW students who fail no more than one core course, keeping them on-track to graduation
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Working On Womanhood (WOW)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of BAM students who say they would recommend BAM to a friend
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of WOW students who say they would recommend WOW to a friend
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Working On Womanhood (WOW)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of WOW students who are promoted to the next grade level
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Working On Womanhood (WOW)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of BAM students who fail no more than one core course, keeping them on-track to graduation
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Becoming A Man (BAM) Chicago
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Youth Guidance sees a bright and successful future for every elementary and high school student regardless of their background or circumstances. Because we believe that success in school is not only possible but should be achieved and celebrated, we are present in schools to facilitate an environment that engages students in the learning process, and through careful guidance, enables them to realize their full potential and graduate with a meaningful post-secondary plan. Youth Guidance empowers students to become successful socially, emotionally, and academically and to prepare for life during and after high school by promoting the following goals:
• Students will experience social-emotional well-being;
• Students will be engaged in school and succeed academically;
• Students will practice safe and healthy behaviors;
• Students will be prepared for post-secondary success;
• Parents will be engaged in their children's lives and school communities;
• A strong, supportive school community will develop.
Our long-term vision, as outlined in our strategic business plan, includes improving life outcomes for thousands more youth through the significant expansion of our nationally recognized Becoming A Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW) programs both in Chicago and the United States. We also continue to strengthen the social-emotional, psychological, academic, and postsecondary success of youth across Chicago through Counseling, Career Readiness & Success, and Community & After School programming.”
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
No matter what challenges a young person faces, they are more likely to succeed when they have caring adults in their lives. Youth Guidance’s highly trained staff work full-time in schools to meet kids where they are- physically and emotionally- to help them recognize and realize their full potential. Establishing positive, authentic, and consistent adult relationships is a core component to every Youth Guidance program. Our staff provide counseling, mentoring, support, and life-skills to the youth who need it most, helping them overcome challenges while building confidence and skills that translate to a lifetime of opportunity and success.
Our programs are developed to respond to the needs of the youth, schools, and communities we serve. Programs like Becoming A Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW) were designed by clinicians who observed the need for highly engaging social-emotional learning and character development programming for middle and high school students. The BAM and WOW curricula were developed through the integration of youth input with staff’s clinical and professional expertise. All Youth Guidance programs undergo rigorous evaluation, both internally and externally, to ensure that programs are delivered with quality and deliver their intended impact. Our research partners at the University of Chicago found in a 2016 report that BAM participants were 50% less likely to be arrested for violent crime when compared to a control group, and 35% less likely to be arrested overall. BAM students were also 19% more likely to graduate high school on time. In a 2019 report, researchers at Lurie Children’s Hospital found that WOW participants experiencing clinical symptoms of trauma, depression, and anxiety experienced statistically significant improvement in each of these areas.
Building upon the evidence base of BAM and WOW, alongside growing demand from school districts and cities across the country, Youth Guidance seeks to reach thousands of new BAM and WOW youth each year. Since 2017, BAM has grown to Boston, MA; King County, WA; and Los Angeles, CA; Kansas City, MO; Washington, D.C.; and Dallas, TX. We partner with school districts and local leaders from each community’s public, private, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors to promote local adaptation and programmatic and financial sustainability of the programs.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Youth Guidance has operated full-time within- and in partnership with- public school districts for over 50 years. This allows us to reach students where they are, eliminate barriers to access, and reduce stigma associated with mental health services. Youth Guidance staff works closely with school administrators and community partners to establish a coordinated system of support for all students and their families.
Given the agency's recent expansion, Youth Guidance has grown its staff of highly qualified practitioners. The Becoming a Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW) programs are delivered by experienced and credentialed social workers/counselors/youth development practitioners. Given research that suggests the importance of counselor relationships in both programs, Youth Guidance prioritizes hiring highly qualified individuals who can provide culturally responsive interventions and build strong relationships with students.
Youth Guidance is also supported by a strong leadership team, an invested Board of Directors, and dedicated Advisory Councils in each city that we operate. Our programs are aligned with broad education, youth development, public safety, and economic development initiates such as mentoring initiatives, summer employment programs, and public safety coalitions to promote sustainability of our work. We’ve worked with national leaders in organizational capacity-building and scaling evidence-based practices, including The Bridgespan Group and the National Implementation Research Network, to build administrative capabilities (marketing/communications, fundraising, finance, human resources) to ensure that the agency's growth and impact are reaching their best potential.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
For 96 years, Youth Guidance has created and implemented school-based programs that enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education and, ultimately, to succeed in life. The agency currently serves children and families across Chicago through three program areas: Counseling and Prevention; Youth Workforce Development; and Community and After School Programs. Youth Guidance is unique in its school-based model, which has been the foundation of its programs in Chicago for over 50 years. Youth Guidance now annually delivers
programs to 13,000 students and families in over 160 partner schools across 50 of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods. In 2017, Youth Guidance launched its first program outside of the Chicago area with the launch of BAM-Boston. Youth Guidance is now in six geographic locations across the United States. While our programming is still predominately in the City of Chicago, BAM and WOW are now operating in six schools in Waukegan, IL. Outside of Illinois, BAM has established programs in Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Kansas City, and Washington, DC and WOW has established programs in Boston, Dallas and Kansas City.
Due to our long-standing partnership with Chicago Public Schools, Youth Guidance is uniquely positioned as an agency to be present in schools to facilitate an environment that engages students in the learning process, and through careful guidance, enable students to develop agency and realize their fullest potential, including graduating with a strong, personalized post-secondary plan. Many of the students that Youth Guidance serves come from neighborhoods that face community violence that has lasting effects on the life outcomes of the youth living in these primarily low-income communities. Our programs – from Community & Afterschool Programs, Counseling & Prevention to Youth Workforce Development – works within these communities providing effective and efficient programs that build safe spaces for students and families and help them create a foundation of skills that will position them to thrive in school and in life.
Youth Guidance sees a bright and successful future for every elementary and high school student.
The agency aims for all participants to achieve the following organizational goals:
- Students will experience social-emotional well-being;
- Students will engage in school and succeed academically;
- Students will practice safe and healthy behaviors;
- Students will be prepared for post-secondary success;
- Parents and/or guardians will be engaged in their children's lives and school communities; and
- Youth Guidance full-time, school-based staff will develop strong and supportive school communities.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Youth Guidance
Board of directorsas of 5/18/2022
Mr. Paul Reilly
Mark Gerstein
Latham & Watkins
Scott Myers
World Sport Chicago
Jennifer Naber
Laner, Muchin, Dombrow, Becker, Levin and Tominberg, Ltd
Richard Patterson
Gregory Simoncini
Simoncini Strategies
Stuart Taylor
The Taylor Group
Douglas Walker
Stewart Adair Shumate, LLC
Edward Lance
Archer Daniels Midland
Ann Lennon
Accenture
Matthew Parr
PJT Partners
Paul Reilly
U.S. Trust
Susan Benton
Benton Firm, LLC
Phil Bierman
Deloitte Consulting LLP
Joan Evans
Prosper Road Foundation
Rodrigo Garcia
Illinois State Treasury
Marcelo Halpern
Perkins Coie LLP
Jim Mills
Sprint
Harry Rosenberg Jr.
JP Morgan Private Bank
Travis Sullivan
Boeing
Jeff Wright
GTCR
Torrence Hinton
People's Gas and North Shore Gas
John Raitt
Harris Associates, LP (Retired)
David Marquardt
Riveron
Kevin Coleman
Edelman Health
Edgar Delgado
General Services Administration
Kate Gebo
United Airlines
Maria Green
Ingersoll Rand plc (Retired)
Marcelo Halpern
Perkins Coie LLP
David Helms
Waller Helms Advisors
Harry Rosenberg, Jr
JPMorgan Private Bank
Lisa Schrader
Luminary Media
Fabian Souza
Exelon Corporation
Victoria Watkins
Ariel Investments
Diane Whatton
BMO Harris Bank
Audrey Williams-Lee
Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Vicki Znavor
Leslie Danford
OYO Hotels
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data