OJJDP supports wide-ranging mentoring initiatives to reduce juvenile delinquency, gang involvement, academic failure, victimization, and school dropout rates. While mentoring is traditionally a volunteer-based service, a need exists for staff and resources to support the efforts of each mentoring program. Developing and maintaining mentoring partnerships and collaboratives can build capacity and increase the power of mentoring to benefit more young people. Local mentoring partnerships and collaboratives can bring together public and private sector leadership, eliminate duplication of efforts, fill service gaps, and offer centralized services. The successful award recipient(s) will fund a coordinator position to support a local continuum of mentoring services for targeted youth.
This program is authorized by the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2013, Pub. L. No. 113-6, 127 Stat 198, 255.
City of Mason City's program will fund a Mentoring Collaborative Coordinator position to support a continuum of mentoring services for 186 youth, ages 11-15, living in a six county area of North Central Iowa. The goals of the program are to provide a Mentoring Collaborative Coordinator for the North Iowa area to guide the collaboration between public and private partners to enhance and expand critical components of local mentoring programs. The objectives of the program are to improve outcomes for 146 at-risk youth, ages 11-15, in mentoring programs by establishing and strengthening collaborative community approaches; and to provide direct one-on-one mentoring services to 40 youth involved in the juvenile justice system, recovering from substance abuse, and/or with emotional and behavioral issues. In addition, the coordinator will work to ensure the Guiding Good Choices model is incorporated in the mentoring programs, and provide training and technical assistance to other local mentoring programs.
NCA/NCF
