YouthBuild Mentoring

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 2016 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.

YouthBuild USA seeks to strengthen and expand existing formal one-on-one and group mentoring activities for at-risk youth within 45 programs in 38 states/territories. All mentoring services funded under this grant will initiate services with youth 17 years old or under who live in low-income communities with a high rate of exposure to violence, and who are identified as at-risk or high-risk for involvement with the juvenile justice system, including American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth. The FY 2016 program addresses the negative impacts of exposure to violence for youth living in low-income communities by a) improving outcomes for participating YouthBuild students in program engagement and completion, positive placement, and retention in placement; and b) reducing rates of substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, truancy, and program drop-outs. YouthBuild USA commits to the following five measurable objectives for this proposal: 1) Provide strengthened mentoring services within 45 programs across 38 states. This objective will be achieved through an adapted group mentoring curriculum, annual training at the National Mentoring Summit (through a partnership with MENTOR), and ongoing technical assistance. 2) Expand the capacity of 45 1ocal YouthBuild Mentoring programs to serve 16 and 17 year-old at-risk youth. In order to connect targeted youth from low-income communities with effective programs, subawardees will be equipped to build awareness for their programs, build mentoring partnerships in support of local at-risk youth, and recruit additional mentors. 3) Increase access to mentoring for AI/AN youth by establishing partnerships with local YouthBuild programs that could take advantage of AI/AN targeted mentoring services. A needs assessment will be conducted among subawardees, engaging staff on tribal lands or from programs off reservations that serve a relatively high percentage of AI/AN youth to provide insight into their needs. 4) Identify practices within YouthBuild programs for extending family engagement in the mentoring component. Subawardees will participate in a survey to identify methods used to engage mentees' family members. 5) Deepen knowledge of substance abuse prevention for mentees, mentors, staff, and parents/guardians of mentees within 45 programs in 38 states through educational on-site workshops for all programs. To measure progress for this initiative, YouthBuild USA will continue to use a thoroughly vetted tracking system to gather critical information from each subawardee. CA/NCF