AARP Foundation Experience Corps Mentors

The Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, Category 2 (Multi-State Mentoring Program) provides funding to support mentoring organizations in their efforts to strengthen and/or expand their existing mentoring activities within local chapters or sub-awardees (in at least 5 states but fewer than 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 encouraged to target their mentoring services to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth; 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 AARP Foundation’s Experience Corps plans to enhance and expand the academic mentoring program, to serve 7,680 mentees and recruit 480 mentors at 14 locations in 13 states. Experience Corps targets children who are at-risk or high-risk for involvement in the juvenile justice system. The most prominent risk factors that emerge in early childhood for future involvement with the juvenile justice system are poverty and reading below grade level prior to and at the end of third grade. Experience Corps, through its evidence based program, will work with kids in grades K-3 in high poverty neighborhoods help increase their motivation to learn, accelerate their reading gains, and catch up to grade level reading by the end of third grade. An individual or small group of up to four students will be provided mentoring, 2 to 5 times a week, with sessions lasting 20-40 minutes depending on age and need. The goals of the Experience Corps Academic Mentoring Program are to: 1) Reduce high-risk disruptive behaviors and increase positive engagement behaviors in school, including participation and concentration in class, motivation to learn and attendance; 2) Increase academic literacy outcomes among participating mentees; and 3) Enhance ongoing training and additional support for mentors to ensure strong mentor-mentee relationships. Progress will be tracked by program staff using a unified database system to ensure consistency and data integrity. CA/NCF