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In light of the national uprising sparked by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (and building on other recent tragic movement moments going back to the 2014 murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri), NCRP is analyzing grantmaking by community foundations across the country to find out exactly how much they are – or are not – investing in Black communities.We started by looking at the latest available grantmaking data (2016-2018) of 25 community foundations (CFs) – from Los Angeles to New Orleans to New York City to St. Paul. These foundations represent a cross section of some of the country's largest community foundations as well as foundations in communities where NCRP has Black-led nonprofit allies.
For youth involved in the criminal justice system, a better future depends on improving their social and emotional learning skills -- skills like conflict resolution, career readiness and preparation for the future. An assessment by the Urban Institute shows how the Arts Infusion Initiative helped achieve just that for young people detained in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC), and for high-risk youth in the Lawndale, Little Village, Back of the Yards and South Shore communities. From 2010 to 2015, this catalytic approach to restoring the peace for Chicago's youth supported 14 nonprofits providing teens with rigorous arts instruction, infused with social and emotional learning goals. Funded by The Chicago Community Trust, the $2.5 million Initiative built collaborations with the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Public Schools, and Northwestern and Loyola Universities. The Urban Institute's mixed-method evaluation (2.9MB), commissioned by the National Guild for Community Arts Education with funding from the Trust, concluded that "the fields of education, juvenile justice and family and youth services can benefit tremendously from the emergent approaches embodied in the Arts Infusion Initiative." Among the successes their research revealed:Participants showed substantial improvements in social and emotional learning skills, as measured by conflict resolution, future orientation, critical response and career readiness. Improvements ranged from 27% in conflict resolution and career readiness, to 29% for critical response and 36% for future orientation.The initiative helped foster collaboration between program directors, public schools, community policing and the detention center. Examples include the Trust and the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program working together to open a high-tech digital music lab at JTDC. Chicago Public Schools' plan for a new Digital Arts Career Academy for at-risk and court-involved high school youth is a direct result of the positive effects Arts Infusion had on youth, and of the relationship forged between CPS and the Trust.The program exposed at-risk youth to new skills and technologies that opened their minds to a positive future. Arts Infusion grants enabled many participating programs to purchase -- often for the first time -- modern, professional-grade equipment to which many youth had never been exposed. Better Boys Foundation used its funding to purchase enough modern film lab equipment to serve a full 17-student class -- previous classes had only one camera to share among all students.
October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. The Social IMPACT Research Center took a look at infant mortality rates and low birth weight rates of Chicago Community Areas and compared these data to the public health goals as outlined in the Chicago Department of Public Health's Healthy Chicago 2020 agenda, to see how Chicago babies were faring on these health indicators.
This is the second Rogers Park Juvenile Justice Snapshot published by Project NIA. This report focuses on juvenile justice data from 2010 and 2011 to offer a portrait of youth in conflict with the law in Rogers Park.
In the summer of 2010, the Chicago Community Trust (CCT) commissioned an initiative to help identify how arts organizations can better and more effectively serve Chicago Public Schools (CPS) through arts education programming and explore the ways in which arts providers are using the CPS Arts Guide. Four cultural organizations from different disciplines were selected to spearhead the initiative, consulting with and gaining input from arts education providers across Chicago. The Ravinia Festival, the Art Institute of Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and the League of Chicago Theaters were selected to represent their respective disciplines (music, visual arts, dance, and theatre/literary arts).Each convening institution was charged with researching the music education offerings of their respective sectors by conducting focus groups with colleagues, and surveying the arts partners within their discipline. Ravinia convened all music sector organizations known to the institution several times during the process to get their input at each phase of this project:In the summer of 2010, four meetings were held to introduce the sector to the project and obtain their feedback on the commission and design of a survey. It was important to Ravinia that the survey creation be as inclusive of all members of the music sector as possible. Subsequently, these meetings, which preceded the survey development,provided the background for most of the questions which ended up in the survey. In the fall of 2010, the same music organizations were invited to a meeting to review a draft of the survey and provide Ravinia with feedback. In this meeting, the music sector proved to be once again very engaged in the design process and confirmed to Ravinia that they desired a survey that would be thorough and comprehensive even if it required some time to answer.In the summer of 2011, Ravinia again met with a large number of representatives from the music sector to discuss the findings of the survey, dive deeper into some of the more surprising findings, and create recommendations.In all, a total of 8 meetings were held, with more than 90 people representing 53 organizations that were a part of the process
In summer 2010, the Chicago Community Trust commissioned four nonprofit arts organizations, including the League of Chicago Theatres, to work with arts educators and develop practical and actionable recommendations that will enable arts partners to serve more Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students -- and serve them better -- through arts education. Over the past year, the theatre and literary arts education communities have contributed countless hours and numerous invaluable insights, many of which are reflected in this report. This study asked a few straightforward questions: What is the capacity of Chicago's theatre and literary arts partners? What will enable arts partners to increase that capacity, and what is getting in their way? How can supports -- new or existing -- be created, adapted, expanded, or simply better distributed to give arts partners new tools and techniques? Through an extensive survey, interviews, and numerous group convenings, this study came at those questions from a variety of angles. And strikingly, the copious amounts of data generated and the extensive conversations all pointed to a few basic ideas.Fundamentally, the ability of theatre and literary arts partners to develop new programs depends on the relationships they have built. And their ability to sustain successful programs, too, depends on the relationships they have built. What is the biggest constraint to their capacity? Those same relationships. This becomes particularly true in an environment in which resources are constrained -- the single most effective step that individual theatre and literary arts partners can take is to concentrate on the relationships they are building with principals and teachers and with their contacts in the district office. When working with high schools, where challenges and distractions are even greater, these steps become ever more critical. Theatre and literary arts partners already know that principals and teachers are critical to their success. We recommend that:Arts partners work closely with principals and teachers to understand schools' priorities and goals prior to pitching potential program offerings. Many groups have found that customizing or semi-customizing their programs after such a conversation leads to a better and longer-lasting fit with the school. Arts partners may want to reach out to other school stakeholders such as resource coordinators, curriculum coordinators, parents, and local school councils, among others, to conduct a needs assessment. Theatre and literary arts partners should also take advantage of the wealth of information that existing "matchmaker" organizations know about schools. Similarly, when they find a "true believer" -- a principal, teacher, parent, student that can enthusiastically engage others about the impact of the organization's arts programs and/or the field -- that person should be enlisted immediately as an advocate to his or her peers. Lastly, the theatre and literary arts education community should work together to share their successes and strategies on an ongoing basis.Funders assist by providing information about local needs and introductions to key leaders in communities. Funders should also support training for arts partners in developing and sustaining effective partnerships.CPS help arts partners make connections with principals and should facilitate opportunities for supportive principals and teachers ("true believers") to share their arts education experience with their peers.These critical relationships and partnerships can help theatre and literary arts partners weather a complicated set of challenges within schools. Some arts partners have described CPS as a place of tremendous uncertainty, where a sense of being in "survival mode" prevails. In this environment, where principals and teachers are under pressure to improve test scores and academic outcomes, translating the value of arts programming can be difficult: effective tools do not yet exist; arts partners do not have access to the data that could help them make their case; assessment and evaluation can be difficult and frustrating for all concerned. To ensure that theatre and literary arts partners can build successful, sustainable programs for CPS students, we recommend that:Arts partners evaluate and measure programs based on the priorities and goals they jointly establish with school leadership, so they can then demonstrate progress according to the schools? needs. Arts partners should share program evaluations with all stakeholders, including teachers and students, and could engage these stakeholders in focus groups to deepen their understanding of program impact. The theatre and literary arts partners also expressed a strong interest in working together, across organizations, to share and learn from each others approaches to assessment.Arts partners, funders, and CPS generate greater awareness of the assessment tools and supports that currently exist for arts partners because a large number of providers do not know about current resources in Chicago. Arts partners, funders, CPS should also collaborate to demonstrate arts program effectiveness in terms that matter to school leaders, such as the linkages between these programs and academic outcomes.Funders provide resources for deeper, quantitative studies of program effectiveness, especially in academic terms. Funders should also enter into a dialogue with arts partners to establish effective approaches to assessment that will meet both the funders' needs and the schools' needs, without being burdensome for arts partners.CPS enhance the Chicago Guide for Teaching and Learning in the Arts to include the supports that theatre and literary arts partners say would most enable them to expand capacity: best practices in developing and continuing relationships with principals and teachers; guidance on translating the impact of theatre and literary arts programs to Common Core standards and academic outcomes; and comprehensive approaches to assessment. CPS should also complete the sections still in development, such as the literary arts chapter, and ensure greater awareness of the Guide among classroom teachers and arts partners. Active users of the Guide could be enlisted to train non-users.Meanwhile, the field as a whole -- arts partners, funders, CPS, and stakeholders -- needs to continue working together to transform policy and support for arts education. Everyoneshould engage new CPS district leadership and push to establish changes in policy that will lay the groundwork for stronger arts education in schools, including graduation requirements, structural support for arts education, and training requirements for principals and teachers. It has never been easy to work with large districts like Chicago Public Schools, which itself faces many challenges in trying to help its students succeed personally and academically. And it is to the credit of arts partners that they choose to bring their dedication, passion, and ingenuity to a task that is simply so challenging. The data that follow paint a vivid picture of these challenges. The recommendations will absolutely require hard work by many parties -- but the heartening news is that they are attainable. Part of the solution is in helping people better relate to each other in creative ways.
In the summer of 2010, the Chicago Community Trust (CCT) commissioned four organizations representing four arts disciplines treated in the Chicago Guide for Teaching and Learning in the Arts (the Guide) -- visual arts, dance, theater, and music -- to undertake a project to better understand arts education programs offered to Chicago Public School (CPS) students and teachers by arts organizations. The Art Institute of Chicago was commissioned to lead the visual arts education portion of the project. The overarching goal for the initiative was to identify how arts organizations can more effectively serve CPS students through arts education programming. Specifically, this included a better understanding of the current capacity of visual arts education organizations as well as factors that could improve the quantity and effectiveness of visual arts education programming for CPS students and teachers. The overarching goal for the initiative was to identify how arts organizations can more effectively serve CPS students through arts education programming. Specifically this included a better understanding of the current capacity of visual arts education programming. Specifically, this included a better understanding of the current capacity of visual arts education organization as well as factors that could improve the quantity and effectiveness of visual arts education programming for CPS students and teachers. The primary components of the project were an in-depth online survey and two sets of focus groups, together whcih sought to create a picture of the current capacity of visual arts organizations to collectively serve Chicago Public Schools and teachers. These tools were also intended to identify the opportunities for further development of visual arts programs and to generate a set of recommendations to funders, to CPS, and to the visual arts sector itself. Of the 124 organizations that were identified as serving CPS with visual arts education programming, 67 responded to the survey and 36 attended one of the focus group sessions. Two organizations participated in at least one focus group, but did not complete the survey, 20 participated in at least one focus group and completed the survey, while ten participated in both focus groups as well as completing the survey, In collecting survey data, organizations were asked about the format used in their projects.
Presents results of a survey of Chicago online news sites about their activities, content, platforms, parent organizations, partnerships, staffing, and sources of funding. Includes video interviews, data on online visitors, and list and map of sites.
Examines the reentry experiences of 652 men in the three cities, including housing stability, family relationships, substance use, employment, and recidivism. Analyzes outcome predictors such as prison programs, job training, and family structure.
Economic pressures on one hand and continuing democratization of news on the other have already changed the news picture in Chicago, as elsewhere in the U.S. The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times are in bankruptcy, and local broadcast news programs also face economic pressures. Meanwhile, it seems every week brings a new local news entrepreneur from Gapers Block to Beachwood Reporter to Chi-Town Daily News to Windy Citizen to The Printed Blog.In response to these changes, the Knight Foundation is actively supporting a national effort to explore innovations in how information, especially at the local community level, is collected and disseminated to ensure that people find the information they need to make informed decisions about their community's future. The Chicago Community Trust is fortunate to have been selected as a partner working with the Knight Foundation in this effort through the Knight Community Information Challenge. For 94 years, the Trust has united donors to create charitable resources that respond to the changing needs of our community -- meeting basic needs, enriching lives and encouraging innovative ways to improve our neighborhoods and communities.Understanding how online information and communications are meeting, or not, the needs of the community is crucial to the Trust's project supported by the Knight Foundation. To this end, the Trust commissioned the Community Media Workshop to produce The New News: Journalism We Want and Need. We believe this report is a first of its kind resource offering an inventory and assessment of local news coverage for the region by utilizing the interactive power of the internet. Essays in this report also provide insightful perspectives on the opportunities and challenges.
This supplement to the 2009 Report on Illinois Poverty and the Report on Chicago Region Poverty contains: the county well-being index, which provides a standard for localities to use as they monitor their county's progress on poverty issues; local data for each county and congressional district in the state relating to income, poverty, employment, housing, health, and education; and definitions and data notes, explaining terms and data sources used throughout the reports, including a more detailed explanation of poverty.
In 2009, a family of four that is poor by the federal government's definition has an annual income below $22,050. A family that is extremely poor has an income less than half the poverty line for their family size -- under $11,025 for a family of four. As discussions continue on the best way to help the nation weather and emerge from the recession, the focus must be on meaningful policy changes that truly lift all boats and make us collectively a much stronger nation. If solutions do not specifically address the needs of those whose lives and hardships are reflected in this report, millions will be left behind, and we will all be left weaker and more vulnerable.
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