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Non Stop Growth

Research Review | 2026

The Akron Street Team Independent Evaluation

What the independent evaluation of the Akron Street Team examined and reported.

M. McDaniel, M. McDaniel

Abstract

The Akron Street Team is a community violence intervention initiative carried out by Non Stop Growth with the Minority Behavioral Health Group and the City of Akron. This review summarizes what an independent evaluation examined, its two central reported findings, and how those findings should be read.

Context

What the resource is

The Akron Street Team is a community violence intervention initiative carried out by Non Stop Growth with the Minority Behavioral Health Group and the City of Akron. Its outreach is delivered by certified Curbside Counselors.

The initiative was reviewed in an independent evaluation of its work in Akron, Ohio. The full report is published on this site as a PDF, and this page summarizes it in text so that the findings can be read, cited and understood without opening the document.

Practice Observation

What was measured

The evaluation examined violence outcomes in the area covered by the Street Team's outreach, alongside the cost of operating the initiative relative to the costs associated with shootings.

Evidence / Literature

Key findings

Two findings are central:

  • A 59 percent reduction in the studied area
  • A return of $7.20 for every dollar invested

Limitations / Areas for Further Study

How to read the findings

Evaluation results describe a specific place, period and program design. They are evidence that this work produced measurable results in Akron, not a guarantee of identical results elsewhere.

Additional findings, the organization's wider reach and Akron's public safety data are presented on the impact page.

Read the full evaluation (PDF)

References

  1. 1.Independent evaluation of the Akron Street Team (PDF, published by Non Stop Growth).