YOUTH RISING, MULTISTATE MENTORING EXPANSION FOR AT-RISK YOUTH

Youth Rising (YR), a nonprofit organization, will expand its current Youth Rising Leadership Institute - Peer Mentor Program (YRLI-PMP), a comprehensive, evidence-based, and youth-centered peer mentoring program in the following states; 1) Arizona, 2) Idaho, 3) Oregon, 4) Tennessee and 5) Utah. The program employs strategies to reduce the occurrence of high-risk youth drug use, homelessness, high school drop-out and other negative behavior indicators, while increasing youth belonging, security, agency, community-connectedness and overall well-being of high-risk youth through a peer mentoring program. The four essential components of the Youth Rising Leadership Institute - Peer Mentor Program consist of (1) Recruitment and Mentor Matching (2) Assessment, Capacity Building, and Leadership Development (3) Person-Centered Action Planning and (4) Program Evaluation. Youth Rising will serve at-risk youth in grades 6-12 in the five states over the three-year implementation period. 

Youth Rising tailors all programming to prioritize youth who are any one or a combination of the following indicators: low-income, culturally diverse, experiencing homelessness, experiencing emotional or wellbeing challenges, involved in the juvenile justice system, involved in the foster care system, a target of any kind of bullying, including cyberbully, a victim of crime, experience substance abuse within themselves or their household, are children of active military duty personnel or incarcerated parents or live in rural communities.