Project M2 - Mobilizing Mentors

The El Paso County's Juvenile Probation Department (JPD), the Border Children's Mental Health Collaborative (BCMHC), the El Paso Rehabilitation Center, and Child Protective Services propose to expand the range of services they offer to the youth of El Paso by collaborating with the El Paso chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. This collaboration will expand the community's capacity to provide mentoring services to previously underserved youth with physical disabilities and youth who are at significant risk of dropping out of school, engaging in violence/gang activity, and/or engaging in substance abuse. Risk factors may include (but are not limited to): single-parent-headed households, poverty, families with abuse/neglect/mental health/behavioral/emotional issues, academic problems, children who have had a parent die, and children with families with criminal justice involvement. There are currently over 500 juveniles involved with JPD and BCMHC, some of which are already on Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Paso's waiting list for mentors.

This project will improve youth outcomes in at-risk youth mentoring programs by establishing and strengthening collaborative community approaches, improving the administration of mentoring programs for at-risk, underserved youth, including expanding existing mentoring strategies and program design, and enhancing and organizational capacity, system efficiency, and cost-effectiveness though training and technical assistance among partnering organizations.
CA/NCF