Founded more than 40 years ago, the CYC combines scholarly research and practical experience with an emphasis on children, youth, and families whose supports and opportunities have been few.
CYC works collaboratively with program partners in a practical knowledge- and skill-development effort to generate learning and to document results to both prove and improve impact and quality.
We work with local mission-driven educational and workforce organizations and intermediaries, foundations, policy makers and government agencies, nearby and across the world to:
- Develop and utilize a mix of rigorous evaluation methods matched to the stage of program development and implementation that includes all stakeholder perspectives and keeps the voices and experiences of the participants at the center.
- Work collaboratively with organizations on their learning goals, key performance indicators, and on developing a theory of change that help shape an evaluation design to generate actionable information for organizational growth and improvement.
- Answer questions about how program elements interact to create what works, for whom, under what program conditions, and at what cost.
- Use research and data with comparison groups, where possible, to document and amplify the efficacy of programs to address questions related to scale and systems change.