FY 2021 Mentoring for Youth Affected by the Opioid Crisis and Drug Addiction

Arizona Criminal Justice Commission's (ACJC), project will introduce a Co-Blended Mentor model in Arizona, using a tiered developmental approach to relationship- and resiliency skills-building, together with a teams-based Hub and Spoke wrap around model to support the entire family system. To address the disparities occurring in rural communities, the project serves a geographically diverse set of rural localities across the state through the funding of three sites in the following counties: Graham, Mohave, and Yavapai. The overarching goals of the project include decreasing youth substance use and increasing youth resiliency through innovative trauma-informed approaches to youth mentoring. Primary activities and deliverables include quality mentor training; site policies, procedures and protocols consistent with the six standards of the Elements of Effective Practice; incorporating tech-based programming; model implementation; and robust program evaluation. The project will benefit opioid affected youth ages 5-17 years and the parents/caregivers and systems that serve them.