Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore, Category 4 Mentoring Project

The Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, Category 4 (Project Sites and Mentoring Strategies for Youth Impacted by Opioids and Drug Addiction) 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 and drug addiction. This program is authorized and funded pursuant to Pub. L. No. 116-93, 133 Stat. 2317, 2410.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore (BGCMB) project is housed at the community-based Brooklyn O'Malley Club, located in south Baltimore. The Club is located in a QOZ and high-poverty area within Baltimore City, which is part of the Baltimore/Washington High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The priority target population is youth ages 8–17 who attend Maree Garnett Farring School (adjacent to the Brooklyn Clubhouse) who have been impacted by opioids. This population includes youth who are currently using or have used opioids, youth at high risk for using opioids, and youth with family members who are currently using or have used opioids. Participants for this mentoring project will be recruited from current BGCMB members who attend afterschool or other Club programs and from Maree Garnett Farring School, with priority enrollment given to youth who are currently using or living with an active user or who have other very high risk factors. BGCMB’s overarching goal for the 3-year program is to improve prosocial outcomes for at-risk youth in the Brooklyn neighborhood of south Baltimore while reducing negative outcomes (juvenile delinquency and substance use) through mentoring. The program objectives associated with the program’s goal are to (1) provide mentoring services tailored to the needs of at least 40 identified at-risk youth ages 8–17 each year (120 total children served within the 3-year grant period) who are currently using or have used opioids, youth at high risk for using opioids, and youth with family members who are currently using or have used opioids; and (2) implement program design enhancements in the three identified interventions (Project Learn, Positive Action, SMART Leaders) that further align with research and evidence on effective mentoring approaches, all of which have been documented as effective at deterring opioid use among youth. The partnering public substance abuse treatment agency, Concerted Care Group, was chosen based on the current relationship and their close proximity to the Club. Concerted Care Group will accept referrals for any club family member needing treatment. They will also offer family engagement activities directly in the Clubhouse. CA/NCF