Overcoming ACES: a mentoring program in Bexar County, Texas

The Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, Category 3 (Mentoring Programs for Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System) provides funding to support youth mentoring organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a juvenile justice agency. The focus is to provide mentoring services to those youth screened as being low risk to public safety by a juvenile justice agency as part of an overall diversion approach with a goal of rehabilitation and accountability. This program is authorized and funded pursuant to Pub. L. No. 116-6, 133 Stat. 13, 115.

BBBS of South Texas Inc.’s Texas and Bexar County Juvenile Probation (BCJP) program will prevent youth who have experienced adverse childhood events from entering the juvenile justice system and prevent recidivism for those already in trouble. The population to be served is youth referred for services by BCJP in Bexar County Texas. Youth referred will be youth who are already exhibiting delinquent behavior as well as their younger siblings who have not come into contact with the juvenile justice system, but are at risk due to exposure to trauma. The project goals and objectives are to (1) match 100 youth each year in one-to-one mentoring relationships, and (2) implement strategies informed by decades of best practices to enhance all of the elements of effective practice. The program’s specific enhancement activities include (1) enhancing recruitment messaging; (2) developing sector-expert recruitment councils; (3) providing enhanced safety training to youth and parents at enrollment and annually while matched; (4) utilizing the Search Institute Developmental Assets profile for matching and to track youth outcomes; (5) providing enhanced post-match mentor training, including closure training; (6) meeting in-person with volunteers regularly for support; and (7) providing enhanced training to more deeply engage parents as partners. The anticipated outcomes and major deliverables include continuing agency success in recruiting volunteers, increasing match retention rates, and measuring concrete client outcomes. CA/NCF