AZ RISE 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.

The Pima Prevention Partnership (PPP) proposes to initiate its enhanced AZ RISE Mentoring Program in Tucson, AZ, among the program's extremely vulnerable mentee population to reduce substance abuse risk, with a focus on opioids. AZ RISE mentees will increase their social/emotional connectedness and improve their self-efficacy and self-regulation skills. Each year, AZ RISE will provide mentoring to 60 male and female youth, ages12–17, enrolled at PPP’s publicly chartered middle school and high school, and its state-licensed adolescent behavioral health clinic. PPP proposes to enhance its mentor training to include Opioid Use: Prevention, Detection, and Referral to Treatment; Mental Health First Aid; and trauma-informed care. The enhanced training will ensure that mentors have the necessary knowledge and tools to respond to substance abuse risk. As part of scheduling weekly after-school group mentoring time, the Match Support Specialist will organize 10 large-group mentoring activities per year related to science, technology, engineering, arts, or math; certificate training for matches in bicycle maintenance and repair, culinary arts, and babysitting/childcare; curriculum-based relationship training; evidence-based family strengthening workshops; financial literacy; future planning; and education and career action planning. CA/NCF