Youth Achieving Success (YAS) Mentoring Program for Juvenile Girls

The Reducing Risk for Girls in the Juvenile Justice System supports girls who are involved in the juvenile justice system. This program is authorized and funded pursuant to Pub. L. No. 116-93;133 Stat. 2317, 2410.

The Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College will implement the Youth Achieving Success (YAS) Mentoring Program, which is designed to help female youth create positive changes that keep them from reoffending. YAS Mentoring Program pairs college student mentors with female youth offenders ages 13–17. They plan to serve a total of 125 girls who live in high-poverty areas and rural areas. The project goals are to train college mentors to help juvenile offenders create better life choices, create a roadmap with juvenile offenders for future academic and career plans that keep them from illegal activities, and provide resources to juvenile offenders and their families to create positive environments and implement deterrence activities. The college students will be trained using the Adverse Childhood Experiences curriculum; Friends First Students Teaching About Relationships and Success curriculum; Safe Dates curriculum; and the Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders curriculum. Additionally, the mentors will be equipped with leadership skills through ongoing training provided by youth service professionals. The mentors will also attend a workshop led by the Davidson County Juvenile Court, which will teach them how to interact with juvenile female offenders. Through collaborations with the local juvenile court and community organizations, YAS has outlined a plan to meet these goals. Data will be collected through Institutional Review Board-approved research. It is anticipated that involvement in the YAS Mentoring Program will deter youth from participating in illegal activities, encourage participants to seek help when facing tough decisions, and increase protective environments for all participants. The applicant has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Davidson County Juvenile Court. CA/NCF.