National PAL Mentoring for Youth Affected by Opioids

The National Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues, Inc. (NPAL) in partnership with seven affiliate sites located in high-poverty areas across the county, seeks to provide programming to serve youth affected by the opioid and methamphetamine crisis. The program goal is to improve short- and long-term outcomes for 525 youth impacted by opioids and drug use, through high-quality small group mentoring programs focused on reducing substance abuse. NPAL will implement an opioid/substance abuse prevention curriculum designed specifically for the youth impacted by opioid. Through this curriculum, mentees will be taught about the dangers associated with opioid use and how to refuse/resist the urge to partake, and provide support for youth who may have family members engaging in opioid or other drug abuse. The curriculum will support the program’s weekly small group mentoring which include direct opportunities for law enforcement and at-risk youth to build affirming relationships and find common ground through educational and enrichment activities. Programming will consist of mentoring twice once-to-twice a week during the after-school hours for a twelve-month period. The deliverables will include: Engage an opioid/substance abuse prevention subject matter expert to create recorded and virtual trainings for sites; Produce training materials and conduct training webinars created for PAL programs, in conjunction with select resources from DEA Operation Prevention curricula; NPAL Mentor Site Coordinator will provide case management for youth; and Conduct quarterly webinars for site Mentor Coordinators and mentors on best practices for mentoring specific youth populations/activities. Performance measures will be collected for this grant based on OJJDP’s FY 2021 Juvenile Mentoring Program Performance Measures. None of the data collected will be used for research purposes.