Child Trends identified evaluated after-school programs in Albuquerque and other cities in New Mexico that: were 501 c3 organizations; served over 50 children; served children and adolescents between the ages of 8 and 16; had an operating budget of $300,000 and higher; and were evaluated. Programs were excluded if they were large institutions such as schools, juvenile detention centers, residential group homes, religious organizations and hospitals.

To compile a list of programs that might meet these criteria, a standardized process was used:

GuideStar Scan: *GuideStar, (the national database of non-profit organizations filing 990s) was used to identify relevant programs based on the criteria specified by Atlantic Philanthropies. A standard set of search terms were used to allow for consistent searching. The search terms used were: children, youth program(s), and child programs. *GuideStar was also searched under the category of “youth development” and “after-school programs.” Once the relevant program information was identified, it was included in the description of the program.

After-School Program Scan: If information in Guide Star indicated that the program had been evaluated, then the program web-site was scanned for relevant evaluation information.

Phone interviews with Community Foundations and Experts: Where individual program web-sites did not yield detailed evaluation information, phone interviews with program sites managers were conducted. In the case of Albuquerque and other New Mexican cities, program directors at the New Mexico Police Athletic League, Youth Development, Inc., ENLACE, the National Indian Youth Leadership Project, Working Classroom Inc, the Court Youth Center, and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps were interviewed, among many others.  Renee Paisano-Trujillo, the New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network coordinator at the New Mexico Forum for Youth, also proved invaluable due to her in-depth knowledge of after-school programs throughout the state.

Web-Based Searches: Internet web-based searches of government and city and state level web-sites were also conducted. In the case of Albuquerque and other cities in New Mexico, important supplemental evaluation information was obtained from the United Way of Central New Mexico, the New Mexico Juvenile Justice Program Inventory, the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico Community Foundation, New Mexico Forum for Youth, and the New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism.

National Umbrella Organizations: To obtain additional evaluation information, a series of searches of national umbrella organizations were conducted. These Internet, web-based searches of national umbrella associations included Boys and Girls Clubs, the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers, the Afterschool Alliance, 4-H Youth Development Clubs, Promising Practices in After School, and the National Institute of Out-of-School time. These searches yielded important evaluation studies, often multi-site studies, which may or may not have had Albuquerque and other cities in New Mexico as sites.

Evaluation Research Databases:  Evaluation information was also obtained from evaluation research databases. These research databases included but were not limited to the Harvard Research Family Project, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), MDRC, Public/Private Ventures, Mathematica, Louis Harris and Associates, and the Promising Practices Network.  SAMSHA yielded important information for a program in Gallup, NM.