Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP)

Project Summary for 1999-JG-FX-0023
The Juvenile Mentoring Program will work to reduce juvenile delinquency and predilection toward gang participation, improve academic performance, reconnect parent/child relationships, reduce the dropout rate for at-risk Native American youth, ages 10-18, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian reservation, in southeastern Montana, through the development and implementation of one-to-one mentoring. The project will focus on utilizing adult leaders (police officers, teachers, judges, cultural leaders, etc.) within the community to serve as mentors. The JUMP program will be both school and after-school based for 12 consecutive months each year and will work on the premise of pairing a positive alcohol and drug free adult with an at-risk youth for guidance, friendship, and structure.

The significance of this program is based on the adage, "it takes an entire village to raise a child". This is a traditional belief of Native American people. Through the JUMP program, the adult mentors will serve as safe adults who will befriend the youth, encourage them and believe in them.