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Mentoring Disaffected Young People: An Evaluation of Mentoring Plus

NCJ Number
205782
Author(s)
Michael Shiner; Tara Young; Tim Newburn; Sylvie Groben
Date Published
2004
Length
92 pages
Annotation
This report presents the methodology and findings of an evaluation that examined the implementation and achievements of a set of British programs known as Mentoring Plus, which pairs at-risk youth with an adult volunteer to act as a role model and guide for the youth in managing life situations.
Abstract
Mentoring Plus is based on the widely acclaimed and award-winning Dalston Youth Project (DYP), which targeted disaffected youth and sought to build their basic education, employment skills, and confidence through a one-to-one mentoring relationship with an adult volunteer drawn from the local community combined with a structured education and careers program. Based on the DYP model, a series of new projects known as Mentoring Plus had been established in eight London boroughs, Manchester and Bath, and Northeast Somerset. The 10 projects shared a similar structure and aimed to reduce youth crime and other at-risk behavior; to help at-risk youth pursue educational, training, and employment goals; and to enable community members to become involved in addressing community problems through volunteer work. The evaluation was conducted from July 2000 to September 2003, based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The evaluation examined the process by which high-risk youth became involved in the program, as well as why similar youth did not; and it considered the youths' experiences in the program as well as those of the mentors. The impact of mentoring was determined by assessing the meanings that mentors and mentees attributed to the program. The medium-term impact of the mentoring experiences focused on the youths' social engagement (education, training, and work), levels of offending, drug use, and general psychological functioning. The evaluation involved 378 youth participants in the program and 172 youth recruited for the comparison group. The comparison group consisted of youth who had expressed an interest in the program but did not, for whatever reason, become a participant. The evaluation determined that the youth who participated in the programs were at high risk of social exclusion, including a large proportion of Black African/Caribbean youth. The program helped these youth to become actively involved in educational and employment pursuits. During the period covered by the evaluation, the gains achieved in involving youth in education and employment did not translate into reductions in offending, although this may be achieved over a more extended period. Offending did decline substantially among the program participants, but there was a similar decline among members of the comparison group. 9 tables, 13 figures, 20 notes, 27 references, and appended supplementary tables