SIMBA: A Program Evaluation

            
             In an effort to improve the quality of services for the Safe in My Brother's Arms community outreach program, there will be an evaluation that measures the effectiveness of the programs in the agency. This evaluation will be used as an instrument to exhibit the necessity of the program to the community. The evaluation will also be utilized as a tool to attract and keep funders for the program. The evaluation will be outcomes-based and will examine the progress of potential, current, and past members of the program over a period of time. .
             Outcomes.
             The SIMBA assumptions about the program's potential effectiveness rely on a combination of the experience and data gathered by the founders of the program. The founders researched the crime rate in the Orange County area and found that a large portion of our youth population has been, are, or will be involved in criminal activities during their teen years. An assumption is that teens that become criminals are more likely to become career criminals as opposed to teens that don't commit crimes. It is also assumed that many criminals commit crimes in order to gain financial stability. The founders also interviewed criminal offenders and found that a primary reason for teen delinquency was the surplus of idle time that teenagers have. Another assumption is that if that surplus of idle time is filled with constructive activities and multi-faceted support, the teens will be less likely to be involved with crime. It is also assumed that one of the links between teens in general is their love for recreation. For this reason, recreation will remain at the core of the program. The final assumption is that if teens are involved with activities and people that foster their well-being, they will be more likely to graduate from high school.
             There will be several implementation objectives. The first would be to obtain mentors from the community.