Safe Yakima Youth Mentoring Program

The Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, Category 4 (Project Sites and Mentoring Strategies for Youth Impacted by Opioids) supports youth mentoring organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a public or private substance abuse treatment agency. The focus of this category is to provide mentoring services as a part of a prevention, treatment and supportive approach for those youth impacted by opioids. This program is authorized and funded pursuant to Pub. L. No. 116-6, 133 Stat. 13, 115.

Safe Yakima Valley's Youth Mentoring Program will mitigate the adverse impact of individual and family opioid abuse. The program's goal is to engage 150 youth who are receiving treatment for an opioid addiction or are the children of parents in an opioid treatment program in a mentoring experience. This includes making modifications to incorporate the best practices defined in the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring to better equip the program to expand to match youth with adult mentors. The program's target population is Yakima County youth who are ages 10-17 when they enter the program and who meet one or more of the following criteria: ( 1) are enrolled in or on the waitlist for a drug treatment program, (2) have utilized the Yakima County Needle Exchange Service, (3) have parents who are enrolled in or are on the waitlist for a drug treatment program, (4) have parents who have utilized the needle exchange service, and (5) who have been determined to be at an elevated risk for heroin and methamphetamine use based on the results of either the Washington Assessment of Risk and Needs Survey (WARNS), the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire (ACEs), or the Washington State HYS. Six program objectives will be tracked: (1) expand and enhance Safe Yakima Valley's Young Ladies Law & Justice Mentoring Program with Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, (2) develop 150 positive adult role models with a high degree of mentor competency derived through successful completion of mentor training, (3) provide opioid, methamphetamine, and prescription drug abuse awareness training to 150 adult mentors, ( 4) initiate direct one-on-one mentoring for 150 targeted youth for a minimum of 39 contact hours over a 9-month minimum match period, (5) provide 10 hours of Keepin' it REAL drug ­prevention training to 150 targeted youth, and (6) provide nine, 2-hour mentee family engagement events. No portion of the project budget will be used to conduct research. CA/NCF