National PAL Mentoring Program

The Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, Category 1 (National Mentoring Program) provides funding to support national mentoring organizations (those with local chapters or sub-awardees in at least 45 states) in their efforts to strengthen and/or expand their existing mentoring activities within local chapters or sub-awardees in at least 38 states to reduce juvenile delinquency, drug abuse (specifically opioid abuse), truancy, and other problem and high-risk behaviors. FY 2018 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; youth with disabilities; youth impacted by opioids; and youth in rural communities. This program is authorized and funded pursuant to Pub. L. No. 115-141, 132 Stat. 348, 423.

The Association of National Police Athletic/Activities Leagues (PAL) will expand and enhance its National PAL Mentoring Program to serve at-risk and high-risk youth throughout the country. The goal of the National PAL Mentoring Program is to develop positive relationships between at-risk and high-risk youth ages 8–17 and law enforcement professionals while helping youth develop protective factors to buffer the impact of violent and high-crime neighborhoods, poverty, and negative peer influences. Youth will participate in group mentoring at local PAL chapters across the country. National PAL mentoring connects youth with mentors (7:1 mentee-to-mentor ratio) to engage in weekly mentoring sessions. The program will target the following populations: AI/AN youth, children affected by opioid abuse, children from military families, children of incarcerated parents, youth with disabilities, and youth living in rural communities. To serve AI/AN youth, National PAL will ensure that tribal police department PALs are provided the opportunity to run the program and will provide targeted training and technical support to sites with a high native youth population. To serve youth affected by opioid abuse, National PAL will partner with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to become a national partner in the DEA 360 initiative. In order to achieve the project goal, National PAL will: (1) provide approximately 140 local PAL chapters with subawards to implement the program; (2) improve the quality of implementation through trainings and technical assistance; (3) continue to provide a diverse array of curricula options; and (4) thoroughly track performance measures and outcomes through an online grant management system and pre- and post-mentor/mentee surveys. Pre- and post-surveys for mentees and mentors will assess project progress. National PAL will collect performance measures data monthly through an existing online reporting system on social support improvement, engagement in juvenile delinquency, and attitude toward delinquent behavior and activities. Data collection will not constitute research for generalizable knowledge. CA/NCF