Mentoring for Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative is a joint effort by the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice to support schools and communities in creating safer and healthier learning environments. This solicitation invites current SS/HS grantees to develop proposals that will increase the capacity of their SS/HS collaborations to develop and implement community based mentoring programs or to expand and enhance existing mentoring programs and strategies. This program advances the provision of integrated resources for prevention and early intervention services for children and youth by supporting effective evidence-based mentoring services to young people who are underserved. The intent of this program is to demonstrate new mentoring efforts or to expand existing mentoring efforts that work in concert with a grantee's SS/HS comprehensive plan.

Farmington Municipal Schools will expand one-on-one mentoring services and group-based mentor/mentee activities to more than 50 students from Tibbetts Middle School that are "high-risk" and "at-risk" of educational failure, truancy, and juvenile delinquency. This evidence-based one-on-one mentoring approach builds upon existing resources and partnerships to achieve the following goals: (1) reduce disruptive and abusive behavior in the schools and community; (2) decrease use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs among students; (3) encourage appropriate behavioral, social, and emotional development; and (4) increase school attendance, core subject test scores, and graduation rates. The project will promote prosocial behaviors by mobilizing adults to mentor middle school students who are in critical need of positive role models. Outcomes will be achieved by consistently establishing weekly mentoring sessions with close supervision. Mentors will complete interviews, background checks, training, and monthly continuing education. Outcomes will be measured using school and justice system incident reports, test scores, and Youth, Risk and Resiliency Report survey data.
CA/NCF