Strengthening Youth Services: The National Mentoring Resource

The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) and The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) have developed a resource to help strengthen youth mentoring services nationwide: the National Mentoring Resource Center.

The Resource Center was launched this January, after a special presentation at the National Mentoring Summit, with the goal to “improve the quality and effectiveness of mentoring across the country by supporting youth mentoring practitioners to more deeply incorporate evidence-based practices.”

This new source provides the following tools for success:

Resources and Research Board: a dynamic repository of mentoring program resources—such as training guides, handbooks and curricula—to help promote positive youth outcomes, especially regarding prevention of delinquent behavior, victimization and juvenile justice system involvement. The National Mentoring Resource Center Research Board reviews all materials to assess and report on the evidence to ensure their effectiveness.

Technical Assistance: including development of new or revision of existing mentoring training materials; guidance and consultation on mentor recruitment plans and strategies; analysis of mentor screening processes; and analysis of match support processes and consultation on strategies for improvement.

The National Resource Center also supports the Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series—a free, online tool committed its mission.

This series of free webinars is held on the third Thursday of each month and covers topics that focus on strengthening mentoring practices, sharing new resources, and helping the field put research into practice.

Supported by the OJJDP, the webinar series has provided a wealth of information from experts pertaining to improving youth mentoring programs including the following:

• A New Lens for Mentoring: Trauma Informed Care
• Using Research to Inform Your Mentoring Program
• Leveraging Mentoring to Support Black Male Achievement

To learn more, visit the MENTOR website.