4-H National Mentoring Program

The National Mentoring Program provides funding to support national mentoring organizations in their efforts to strengthen and/or expand their existing mentoring activities within local chapters or sub-awardees to reduce juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, truancy, and other problem and high-risk behaviors. FY 2014 funding will address the factors that can lead to or serve as a catalyst for delinquency or other problem behaviors in underserved youth, including youth in high-risk environments, children of incarcerated parents and tribal youth. The program is comprised of three categories: Category 1 for organizations implementing one-on-one mentoring programs, Category 2 for Group mentoring programs and Category 3 for a combination of both one-on-one and group mentoring.

National 4-H Council, in partnership with land-grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System, will strengthen and expand mentoring programs through three 4-H Programs of Distinction: 4-H Mentoring: Youth & Families with Promise (4-H YFP), 4-H Tech Wizards, and 4-H Living Interactive Family Education (4-H LIFE). All incorporate positive youth development core principles to improve the well-being of at-risk youth ages 5-17, especially underserved populations of Tribal, Latino, and African American youth; children of military parents; children of incarcerated parents; and youth involved in the juvenile justice system. 4-H YFP is a prevention program that targets youth who have below-average school performance, poor social skills and/or weak family bonds with one-on-one mentoring and family strengthening activities. 4-H Tech Wizards engages underserved youth in an interactive group mentoring program that focuses on science, technology, engineering, math education and after school tutoring through mentoring and community service. 4-H LIFE utilizes parenting classes, 4-H club meetings, and group mentoring to strengthen parent/child bonds, develop leadership and decision making skills in the children of incarcerated parents or in the juvenile justice system and improve the quality of family visits through shared 4-H Club activities. Identified objectives are: 1) provide combined one-on-one and group mentoring to underserved youth; and 2) improve outcomes for at-risk youth in mentoring programs by establishing and strengthening collaborative community approaches. Strategies for engaging mentees and mentors include volunteer recruitment (including veterans), parent involvement, ongoing training for mentors, family nights, summer camps, 4-H Club meetings, and other structured activities. Performance measures include number of youth served, mentors trained/retained, and percentage of youth completing the program and exhibiting the desired outcomes. Participation and outcome data will be collected and reported by local program staff. In addition to OJJDP performance metrics, an experienced university research and evaluation professional will be contracted as the lead evaluator to implement the 'Common Measures' evaluation, which measures trends in 4-H positive youth development outcomes over time. An estimated 20,000 youth ($1,000 per youth cost) will be served in no less than 46 states and the District of Columbia. CA/NCF