Youth Guidance Kansas City

YOUTH GUIDANCE IN KANSAS CITY

History/Background

In September of 2020, after a comprehensive selection process in collaboration with local community leaders, GreenLight Fund Kansas City announced its first investment, in Youth Guidance’s Becoming a Man (BAM®) and Working on Womanhood (WOW). BAM & WOW currently serve 350 students across the Center School District and DeLaSalle Education Center, with plans to add additional school partners in the future.

Mayor Quinton Lucas championed BAM and WOW’s expansion to Kansas City, which he says,

…reflects Kansas City’s commitment to young Black and Brown students, and to empowering our children to resolve conflicts and develop into their full potential. BAM and WOW are proven, evidence-based models that provide youth safe spaces to share their challenges, find mentorship, and access support.”

Youth Guidance Kansas City

Becoming A Man® program (BAM®) is a school-based group counseling program that guides young men in 6th-12th grades to learn, internalize and practice social cognitive skills, make responsible decisions for their future and become positive members of their school and community.

BAM integrates clinical theory and practice, men’s rites of passage work, and a dynamic approach to youth engagement.

Working On Womanhood (WOW) is a multifaceted, school year-long group counseling and clinical mentoring program.

WOW works to improve social-emotional competencies for girls in 6th-12th grade exposed to traumatic stressors in high risk and under-resourced communities.

Using a trauma-Informed approach, WOW targets young women with significant risk factors for dropout or delinquency such as: teenage pregnancy, trauma, drug or alcohol abuse, self-harm, gang involvement, fighting, academic failure and discipline referrals.

BAM PROGRAM IMPACT

Students enrolled in the BAM Program are:

50%

less likely to be
arrested for violent crime

25%

more engaged
in school

19%

more likely to graduate
high school on time

$ 30

in societal gains for
every $1 invested in BAM

WOW PROGRAM IMPACT

62%

of WOW students
experienced fewer
PTSD symptoms*

71%

of WOW students
experienced fewer
depression symptoms*

*of those starting in the clinical range

96%

of WOW students reported
that the program has helped them
make better decisions for themselves

KANSAS CITY

Seed funding to launch Youth Guidance’s work in Kansas City was generously provided by GreenLight Fund Kansas City and by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

Partner school districts include Center School District and the De La Salle Education Center.

OUR STAKEHOLDERS

KANSAS CITY ADVISORY COUNCIL

Youth Guidance’s advisory councils are composed of individuals who are committed to helping students and program participants in their communities. Each council member has a strong desire be actively involved in solving the issues these youth face. Each devotes time, talent and expertise to the current and future work of our local programs.