WestEd’s Justice & Prevention Research Center evaluated Project WITH—a curriculum that goes beyond traditional sex ed to help justice-involved young people build the relationship skills and self-management abilities that reduce sexual risk.
The Challenge
Young people in the justice system face sexual health disparities—higher rates of teen pregnancy and STIs than their peers. Most programs respond with information: contraception, abstinence, STI prevention. In contrast, some curricula integrate content on healthy relationships and life planning into broader sexual health education.
Developed specifically for justice-involved youth, Project WITH focuses on healthy relationships and self-management, building the protective factors that lead to lasting behavior change.
How We’re Taking Action
We served as the independent evaluator across three federal grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support Project WITH. Beginning in 2020, our team—based in Southern California—worked directly alongside Project WITH staff, conducting data collection at group homes, probation facilities, and Gang Intervention and Youth Development (GYRD) sites where the program runs.
Using surveys and focus groups with participating youth, we provided ongoing formative feedback to strengthen implementation, published evaluation findings, and supported grant reporting. Over six years, our evaluations helped document the program’s impact, drive program improvements, and secure continued funding.
Our findings will be useful to community-based organizations and government agencies that want to improve the relationship skills and self-management abilities of justice-involved youth using evidenced-based programming.
Resources
“For the past six years, the JPRC has been evaluating my organization’s healthy relationships program for justice-involved youth. The JPRC helped us document the positive impact we’ve had on youth, improve our program, and secure additional funding to run our program.”
John Lewis
Regional Director, Able WorksWhat Sets Our Work Apart
We Work On-Site and In Person
JPRC meets regularly with the Project WITH team to collect data directly at the group homes, probation facilities, and sites where the program is implemented.Proven Evaluation Capacity
We have strong expertise in the research methods needed to conduct rigorous impact evaluations of programs like Project WITH.