This Bulletin was prepared under grant number 98–JG–FX–0002 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

From the Administrator The support and example of caring adults play a critical role in helping youth at risk for delinquency to overcome the challenges they face. Juvenile mentoring programs are an effective means of providing at-risk youth with the adult assistance and positive role models they require. Many valuable lessons have been learned since the implementation of OJJDP’s Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP) in 1996. This Bulletin lists the parameters under which the current 164 JUMP projects operate and describes the scope and methodology of JUMP’s ongoing national evaluation. Preliminary findings from the national evaluation are also provided, including the degree to which youth and mentors were satisfied with the mentoring relationship and whether each perceived any benefit to the youth as a result of participation in JUMP. Both youth and mentors were quite positive when rating their mentoring experiences, which were assessed in such terms as school achievement, abstention from drugs and alcohol, and avoidance of violence. Mentoring can be used as a primary intervention to prevent delinquency or as a remedial intervention to address it. This Bulletin provides information and additional resources that will enable readers to assess JUMP’s merits for their communities. John J. Wilson Acting Administrator