BGR-HISD Youth Mentoring Partnership

Bethel’s Global Reach Houston ISD Youth Mentoring Partnership will mitigate the harmful impact of individual and family opioid abuse. The goal of the Partnership is to engage 300 youth aged 12 to 17 receiving treatment for an opioid addiction or are the children of parents in an opioid treatment program in a mentoring experience.  The Partnership includes mentoring program modifications incorporating best practices defined in the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring and the TEAM Risk Reduction Mentoring Curriculum. The target population for the Houston ISD Youth Mentoring Partnership are youth between the ages of 12 to 17 years at the time of entry and who meet one or more of the following criteria: 1) Enrolled in or on the waitlist for a drug treatment program, 2) Children of parents who are enrolled in or on the waitlist for a drug treatment program, 3) Students receiving support from the HISD Dropout Prevention and Recovery Office, and 4) Youth determined to be at an elevated risk for opioid and drug misuse based on results of either the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire (ACEs), or the Houston Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). Six program objectives will be tracked: 1) Expand and enhance BGR’s  Youth Mentoring Program with Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, 2) Develop 300 positive adult role models with a high degree of mentor competency derived through successful completion of mentor training, 3) Provide opioid, methamphetamine, and prescription drug abuse awareness training to 300 adult mentors, 4) Initiate direct one-on-one mentoring for 300 target youth for a minimum of 39 contact hours over a 9-month minimum match period, 5) Provide 10 hours of Keepin’ it REAL drug-prevention training to 300 target youth, and 6) Provide 9, two-hour mentee family engagement events. No portion of the project budget will be used to conduct research.