In response to the worsening state of finances in Illinois, Michael Reese creates budget crisis mini-grants: one-time, rapid-response funding to help agencies respond to revenue shortfalls.In May, the National Bureau of Economic Research publishes the results of two large-scale, randomized controlled trials of Becoming a Man (BAM), a program developed by Youth Guidance and funded by Michael Reese. Conducted in 2009–10 and 2013–15, the trials showed the program reduced total arrests during the intervention period by 28–35 percent, reduced violent crime arrests by 45–50 percent, improved school engagement, and increased graduation rates by 12–19 percent. Given the modest program costs, the benefit-cost ratios for BAM are from 5-to-1 up to 30-to-1 or more, based on reductions in crime alone.
