Second Chance for New Mexico Youth Collaborative

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 this goal, OJJDP will provide grants to support mentoring and other transitional services essential to reintegrating juvenile offenders into their communities. The grants will be used to mentor juvenile offenders during confinement, through transition back to the community, and post-release; to provide transitional services to assist them in their reintegration into the community; and to support training in offender and victims issues. Targeted youth must be younger than 18 years old. The initiative's legislative authority is found in the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub. L. 111-117).

The Second Chance for New Mexico Youth Collaborative unites the San Juan County Partnership, the New Mexico Conference of Churches (NMCC), and Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) affiliates of Central New Mexico, Northern New Mexico and San Juan County. The project goal is to empower youth to make responsible decisions and access the resources necessary to carry them out. The partnership will assist youth in successful reintegration and avoidance of recidivism. Team mentoring strategies already piloted by NMCC will support BBBS evidence-based models coordinated with transitional support services. The collaborative will coordinate with New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) and promote delivery of re-entry support services by non-profit groups and Juvenile Justice Boards/Advisory Committees in the twelve-county area to be served. Youth will be mentored beginning in a secure custody facility and continuing after release for no less than one year. NMCC will recruit and train mentors, primarily from congregations, and enroll youth through extensive contacts within the juvenile justice system. BBBS will enroll, match and supervise mentor teams and measure success through the Youth Outcome Survey and Strength of Relationship Survey. Partners will report outputs and outcomes for 169 youth-mentor partnerships with data assistance from CYFD.

CA/NCF