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Beyond the Bell Milwaukee

Supporting healthy development by enhancing quality and staff training at youth-serving agencies in Milwaukee

Full Project Name:Beyond the Bell MilwaukeePrimary Community Organization:Center for Youth EngagementPrimary Academic Partner:Sheri Johnson, PhD, PediatricsAward Amount:$296,893
Award Date
July2015
Project Duration:27 months

Project Description Narrative:


To address Milwaukee's community-prioritized need to build a system of coordinated, high-quality youth programs, Beyond the Bell and partners sought to build a system that would support existing programs in enhancing the quality of their programming and staff training by expanding 10-14 youth-serving agencies' use of the Youth Program Quality Intervention Planning tool, a research-validated continuous improvement process that supports capacity to achieve healthy development outcomes for teens.

Community partners: ArtWorks for Milwaukee, Bader Philanthropies, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Burke Foundation, City on a Hill, COA Youth & Family Centers, Express Yourself Milwaukee*, Hope House of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Christian Center*, Milwaukee Public Schools, Neighborhood House of Milwaukee*, Neu-Life Community Development*, PEARLS for Teen Girls, Running Rebels Community Organization, TRUE Skool, United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, Unity in Motion, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Urban Initiatives Research, We Grow Greens*, Youth Works Learning Center, City Year*, Lake Valley Camp, New BEGINNINGS Are Possible*

*2015-16 Youth Program Quality Intervention Cohort

Outcomes & Lessons Learned:


  • Developed the Youth Program Quality Intervention Planning (YPQI) for Sustainable Quality Improvement Systems Guide to support continuous quality improvement at youth programs
  • Established a process for assessing the quality of existing programs
  • Documented an increase in the assessment scores in at least one domain (safe environment, supportive environment, interaction, engagement) in 10 of 12 organizations
  • Project partners leveraged nearly $600,000 in additional funds
  • Presented project outcomes at several national forums

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