4-H National Mentoring Program

The Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, Category 1 (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 (in at least 45 states) to reduce juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, truancy, and other problem and high-risk behaviors. FY 2015 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. Programs are required to target American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth, and are also highly encouraged to target their mentoring services to children of parents on active military duty; children of incarcerated parents; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth; youth with disabilities; and youth in rural communities. This program is authorized by the FY15(OJJDP Ment. Oppor Yth) Pub. L. No. 113-235; 128 Stat. 2130, 2195.

The National 4-H Council, in partnership with the Land-Grant Universities (LGU) and the Cooperative Extension System, will strengthen and expand mentoring programs for youth ages 5-17, 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). 4-H YFP is a prevention program that will target 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 will engage 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 will utilize 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. All these programs will incorporate positive youth development core principles to improve the well-being of at-risk youth ages 5-17, especially underserved populations. Mentoring services and programs will be targeted towards Latino and African American youth, American Indian and Alaska Native youth both on and off reservations, children of parents on active military duty, children of incarcerated parents, LGBTQ youth, youth with disabilities, and youth in rural communities. Through this funding, National 4-H Council will provide combined one-on-one and group mentoring to 30,000 youth in no less than 45 states via an estimated 60 sub-awards. National 4-H Council will implement the “Common Measures” evaluation which measures trends in 4-H positive youth development outcomes over time, in addition to the OJJDP performance metrics.
CA/NCF