National PAL Mentoring Program (Recovery Act)

This grant program is authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) (the 'Recovery Act'). Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention made awards to programs that have a national scope and national impact on combating juvenile delinquency, reducing the victimization of children, and improving the juvenile justice system through mentoring activities. This program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002.

The National Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues (National PAL) seeks to initiate community-based youth mentoring programs that strengthen and expand mentoring and dropout prevention services to at-risk/high-risk populations. National PAL serves over 1.5 million youth in 348 local Chapters located in 45 states as well as Washington, DC and the Virgin Islands. By building on local PALs' capacity to mentor at-risk/high-risk youth, implementation of a structured mentoring program combined with an effective interactive dropout prevention program creates greater opportunities for individual/group mentoring and academic achievement. The goals for the project are as follows: a) During an 18-month time period, conduct a National PAL Mentoring Program in partnership with 150 local and state PAL Chapters who are located in a minimum of 37 of the 45 states that National PAL has an affiliation with. b)Provide support for children identified as being at-risk/high-risk for negative behaviors by establishing a positive mentoring relationship with a trained PAL volunteer mentor. c) Provide professional and timely support to matches in order to maintain relationships and enhance the experience for both mentors and mentees. d) Provide 150 PAL sites with training, technical assistance, and appropriate resources that enable them to implement a quality mentoring program and sustain positive matches at the local level; and e)Provide mentors/mentees and other PAL youth participants with the opportunity to participate in a stimulating dropout prevention program, 'Interactive Health and Decision Making Series.'

This project achieves the Recovery Act objective of promoting economic recovery by preserving or creating jobs. For every $33,333 approximately 150 jobs will be created or retained over a three year period. CA/NCF