Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2013, $4,000,000)
Founded in 1990, YouthBuild USA is a national nonprofit organization that works to unleash the positive energy of low-income disadvantaged youth to help rebuild their communities and their lives. There are 273 YouthBuild programs in 45 states serving 10,000 youth per year. This 2013 proposal addresses the problem of academic underachievement and accompanying issues by providing mentoring for an additional 2,700 at-risk youth through 71 local YouthBuild Mentoring sub-awardees in 38 states to improve youth outcomes.
A Category 3 program, YouthBuild Mentoring employs group mentoring in the first three months to support one-on-one matches over the next 12 months, with relationships structured around three sets of activities: group mentoring, individual Life Planning, and community service projects. YouthBuild USA will strengthen this mentoring approach with a) training for the local mentoring staff on mentoring after YouthBuild program graduation, dealing with trauma, and gang-awareness; b) remote and on-site technical assistance; and c) experienced site and new site sub-awards. Up to nine outstanding mentoring coordinators (Peer A-Team) will provide peer coaching and training. National partnerships are in place with Education Northwest for resource development and MENTOR for supplementary training opportunities. Nationally recognized mentoring experts will continue to provide quality coaching. While no portion of the projected budget of this grant will go toward research, a collaborative with Stephen and Mary Agnes Hamilton (Cornell University) will provide additional research-based insights to improve the quality of YouthBuild mentoring.
CA/NCF