Delaware 2nd Chance Mentoring Initiative

The Second Chance Act (P.L. 110-199) authorizes grants to government agencies and nonprofit groups to provide employment assistance, substance abuse treatment, housing, family programming, mentoring, victims support, and other services to help adult and juvenile ex-offenders make a successful transition from incarceration to the community. In support of the goals of the Second Chance Act, OJJDP will provide grants to support mentoring and other transitional services essential to reintegrating juvenile offenders into the community. The grants will be used for mentoring juvenile offenders during confinement, through transition back to the community, and post-release; transitional services to assist the reintegration of youth offenders into the community; and training in offender and victims issues. The legislative authority for this initiative can be found in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002 and the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2009, Pub. L. 111-8.

This new mentoring initiative is a collaboration between Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware and three well-respected community organizations that have extensive experience working with the juvenile justice system - the YMCA Resource Center of Delaware, the Delaware Center for Justice (DE Center) and the Delaware Girls' Initiative. The goal of the project is to assist youth offenders to successfully reintegrate into their communities, after confinement in a correctional facility. Objectives are to: 1. Provide evidence-based mentor services, educational and transitional support services for 75 youth annually; 2. Reduce recidivism among participating youth ex-offenders; and 3. Assist youth in building necessary positive youth development assets & achieving academic success. In addition to group educational and transitional support services, this new collaboration will bring high-quality mentoring and support services to incarcerated male & female youth offenders in Delaware. All mentoring services will be based on the Big Brothers Big Sisters evidence-based program model and specifically targeted to address the needs of youth offenders. The mentoring will begin during incarceration and continue after release. Big Brothers Big Sisters will match participating youth with a one-on-one adult mentor. The YMCA Resource Center will provide a comprehensive package of group programs and individual transitional services to meet the physical, social and emotional needs of the program participants. These transitional services will begin during confinement and continue post-release and will include: Violence Prevention; Communication Skills; Stress Management; Employment Skills Development and Basic Financial Management. The DE Center for Justice will provide group Victim's Sensitivity training for 75 youth during incarceration. The DE Girls Initiative will provide trainings and support for female mentors regarding gender responsive practices and services for girls in the juvenile justice system. CA/NCF