15-03-2025
KDBA students researching connection between poverty and crime, impacts of public housing on mental health
On a sunny Thursday afternoon in March, a dozen or so students in a classroom at Kenneth D. Bailey Academy (KDBA) in Danville participate in a Zoom call.
They're taking turns asking social worker Krista Taylor questions about her work with victims of sexual assault and how they sometimes struggle with mental health issues.
The interview is part of an ongoing research project the students are working on as part of the University of Illinois Extension Office's Youth Participatory Action Research project (YPAR).
YPAR is a state-wide initiative that gives teens the opportunity to learn and practice research skills by completing projects relevant to their lives and presenting their findings to lawmakers and others in power, according to Amy Leman — a University of Illinois professor and researcher who oversees the KDBA program along with research partner Jacinda Dariotis.
The program at KDBA is funded by the Institute for Government and Public Affairs through the University of Illinois — an institute which aims to 'improve public policy discussion through nonpartisan, evidence-based research and public engagement in Illinois,' according to the institute's website.
The institute does this by establishing communication between scholars and lawmakers in the hopes they will pursue objective, research-driven solutions.
Power is a key concept in the YPAR program, according to Leman. Unlike other programs, YPAR is entirely youth-led, with researchers, grad students, and high school teachers playing a supportive role and offering guidance.
'School is very adult-power heavy. [Teens] don't have the power, so we're trying to put them in these positions to give them power to make change,' Leman said. 'It is their ideas. They are deciding what happens next.'
As part of their project each year, students choose an issue or two to explore, develop a research plan, interview experts, and craft survey questions they later send to local people impacted by the issue they're studying.
After receiving survey responses, students get to work compiling their findings in pie charts, graphs, and thematic lists. By the end of the school year, they use their findings to come up with an action plan to present to people in power.
Poverty and Crime
In 2023, KDBA students Armarni Eaton, Ariel Gosser, Krissa Sims, Mariya McCullough, Cyntavia Suggs, and Tashonna Jones studied the link between poverty and crime, later presenting their findings at UIUC's annual Undergrad Research Symposium in the Spring of 2024.
They began by profiling Danville, finding that despite the museums, library, theaters, state parks, playgrounds, and other opportunities for growth and connection, families still suffer from mental health issues, gun violence, poverty, housing issues, lack of job opportunities, inflation, crime, and drug abuse and addiction.
To propel their research forward, the students asked themselves two basic questions: How can people in poverty who commit crimes turn their lives around, and what prevents them from doing so?
After interviewing several experts — including two law enforcement officers, five community activists, two school district employees, and three justice system officers — students narrowed it down to one key issue: poverty.
'When people are in poverty, they need help with resources for their everyday needs, and crime is often due to one bad decision, not because those who commit crime are bad people,' according to their presentation.
They also learned that kids do not always know the best way to work out their issues, which can lead them to making decisions they later regret.
Their solution: building relationships.
'Forming connections and relationships with people helps meet their needs and keep them from crime,' their presentation reads. 'Building relationships can help young people go down a different path and want to pursue a better future and life.'
Public Housing and Mental Health
This year's YPAR classes at KDBA are in the midst of working through another research project, this time about the ways living in public housing may impact the mental health of those who reside there.
Their first step was interviewing Jaclyn Vinson, executive director of the Vermilion County Housing Authority.
'We got information about public housing and how the environment can affect people,' student Tylyn Davis said.
After speaking with Vinson, students also interviewed their school social worker. Then it was time to write survey questions to ascertain how people living in public housing feel mentally.
'Do you feel safe? Do you feel connected to the community? Has public housing affected your mental health? What does mental health mean to you?' student Thomas Miller said, giving examples of some of the questions they asked.
That process was harder than they envisioned, primarily because it can be so uncomfortable for some people to discuss their mental health, students said.
'We want to keep the questions broad, but not too broad,' student Breelinn Bell said. 'Because some things could be triggering for other people, especially with the mental health topic. So we try to avoid personal questions. We're not trying to get too much information.'
'People for some reason like to ignore the fact that they have feelings and emotions,' Miller said.
'It could be very difficult to get information out of that person if they're hiding their feelings about mental health,' Davis said.
Students sent their surveys to all public housing recipients across Vermilion County, Leman said, thanks to a list of addresses Vinson gave them.
They received back 14 responses, most of which said the respondent does not feel safe in their public housing unit.
Students also discovered from the survey responses was how ill-informed the public can be about mental health in general.
'Someone said mental health is being slow or short-minded or even having lung problems,' Miller said.
'Some said it was just mind over matter,' Davis said.
After receiving and reviewing all the responses, students compiled them in charts and graphs to get a better idea how widespread the issue was in Vermilion County.
Now, they are in the process of coming up with action steps to present at UIUC's Undergrad Research Symposium this year, which will take place Thursday, April 24.
Bell, Davis, and Miller said they hope after completing their project, they can help to somehow educate the public on what mental health and illnesses are. They also hope that lawmakers and local authorities will work to learn more about how to improve the safety and well-being of people living in public housing.
Looking forward
Leman and her team of researchers hope the program will empower students.
'We want to empower our students. It's one of the reasons why we do this so that they can think of themselves as important contributors to their society,' Leman said. 'What they think is just as important.'
Over time, Leman hopes to reconnect with previous YPAR participants and learn more about how what they learned there impacted their lives.
'What I'm interested in is the long-term process. So, in in three years or five years, what do they remember? What do they think differently about?' she said, adding that she is currently doing exactly that with students who completed another YPAR project in Champaign county several years ago.
For the KDBA students, YPAR is a rare opportunity to learn a skill many don't have access to.
'Not everyone has had the opportunity to meet with YPAR or have these benefits of getting to know things like this, so I would take this in my life as an educational purpose, and I would try to more or less educate people,' Bell said. 'We're here to learn and do good things in life, so we would rather the community see us do good things, and be inspired.
'We want to inspire.'
