Boys Town Nevada, in partnership with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Clark County School District (CCSD), today announced findings from a recent study confirming the effectiveness of its Lift School Support Program in improving outcomes for at‑risk students.- The research was conducted by Dr. Ying Guo, a 2026 UNLV Community‑Based Research Award recipient, whose work focuses on strengthening support systems for children and families in Clark County. Guo partnered with Boys Town Nevada to examine how social-skill based, collaborative interventions can prevent chronic absenteeism and behavioral challenges while keeping students engaged in school.
- In the study, the Lift program evaluated 5,000 at‑risk students across 71 CCSD schools. In a district that has faced high levels of chronic absenteeism and student behavior, Lift emphasizes early intervention—working with students, caregivers, and educators before issues escalate into serious mental health, behavioral, or substance‑use concerns. The outcomes of Dr. Guo’s study showed that students working with the Boys Town Lift program were 53% more likely to attend school than their counterparts.
- “It takes every member of the Clark County community working together to address the needs of students,” CCSD Associate Superintendent of the Education Services Division Kevin McPartlin said. “In addition to our internal resources, CCSD strives to connect families with community-based resources and programs, such as Boys Town, that provide positive mentoring and tools that can guide students towards academic goals and lifelong success.”
- Lift is a social‑skills‑based program that provides individualized student support, strengthens family engagement, and equips teachers with practical classroom management strategies to address behaviors. Findings from Guo’s research confirm that this integrated approach produces meaningful, measurable results.
- “Boys Town Nevada is proud to partner with UNLV and CCSD to design and pilot programs that gets and keeps students in school,” said John Etzell, Executive Director of Boys Town Nevada. “The success of our School Support Program over the last 7 years is tremendous and we are proud of the outcomes that this study confirms, a social skill based program working with students, parents and teachers is successful. This is a model that can and should be replicated throughout the state.”
- The study underscores the importance of community‑based research partnerships and data‑driven prevention strategies in education. Boys Town Nevada views the Lift model as a scalable solution that can be expanded to support more students across Nevada.
