The purpose of the project is to expand ASPIRA's Youth Leadership Development Model as a tool for combating juvenile delinquency by addressing risk and protective factors through the ASPIRA Youth-Leadership Curriculum. The project will demonstrate the efficacy of ASPIRA's leadership model by evaluating the principles of the model through a research-based approach.

The program will implement the ASPIRA leadership curriculum in specific school settings in each of ASPIRA Associate Offices, nationwide. It will be offered as a continuous program where students will participate for a total of three years, starting as either in middle school or high school. It will document the effectiveness of the model through a rigorous, evaluative process.

ASPIRA has partnered with Innovative Consultants International (ICI, Inc.) led by Abdin Noboa-Ríos, Ph.D., who has over 30 years experience in the conduct of research and evaluation of similar programs.

Results will help build evidence-based research and program effectiveness as a model for Latino youth across distinct community sectors and states, including Puerto Rico. A major component of the evaluation will be a comparison study of participant and non-participant cohorts. At each site, 30 participants will be selected along with a 30 non-participant cohort with demographically similar characteristics that will serve as a control group. Both groups will be tracked during a three-year period at each site.

For additional details, contact the project Director (Hilda Crespo) or see the attached Project Summary.