PATH's NWI Mentoring Initiative for At Risk Youth

PATH, Inc. will provide a prevention approach to reaching youth who are affected by Opioid Crisis by: 1) Substance Abuse Prevention for MS Students in partnership with three school districts. 2) Expand access to mentoring services by providing after school mentoring for middle school students in three communities in partnership with three after school providers, and 3) Support groups for High school students affected by opioids (either users or students who have parents with substance abuse disorder). The project will provide substance abuse prevention to 750 middle school students, mentors to 90 mentees, support groups for 45 students annually. The program will also include a process and implementation evaluation to collect data on required performance measures and for internal improvement (CQI) by Independent Evaluation Firm, ITMESA, LLC. Additionally, PATH will partner with Boys and Girls Clubs in Northwest Indiana and three local school districts, which will serve middle schools in three high risk communities (Gary, East Chicago and Hammond).  The project will target youth in grades 5-12 (mentees) whose ages primarily range from 11-18. High School Seniors, college students, law enforcement officers, and community volunteers will be used as mentors in the Mentoring component (LivTrue). PATH will provide 36+ hours of substance abuse prevention programming to students grades 6-8, 48 hours of mentoring annual for students grades 5-8 in after school setting, and support groups for high school students weekly for 90 minutes (45 students annually). PATH will also provide services to county Juvenile Detention Center for 60 youth annually.