| Much of the extant literature on program evaluation focuses on the linkage between program outcomes and individual-level characteristics. Many scholars, however, have argued for the inclusion of organization-level characteristics to account for the interaction between individuals and programs and to add to the explained variance in outcomes. In this paper, we build a model predicting 'success' for female clients of prevention and delinquency programs in Philadelphia, using both individual- and organization-level factors. In doing so, we attempt to address the following questions: (1) what program characteristics are predictive of program success for girls? and (2) what do organization-level factors add (if anything) to our explanation of program outcomes? Data are drawn from a recent sub-sample of PrOMIS and ProDES, evaluation systems which track delinquency prevention (at-risk) and delinquent (adjudicated) youths referred to programs funded by the City of Philadelphia. The study's findings will serve to identify organizational characteristics that are critical to girls' program success, with the ultimate goal of facilitating better matching by referring agencies of girls to programs. In addition, they will allow us to assess the relative impact of adding organization-level characteristics to predictive models in future evaluation research. |
Updated 05/20/2006