In 2014, the Lincoln County Resource Board completed an Assessment of Needs (completed by Dr. Cynthia Berry) based on 2007-2013 data. The “Demographics of Lincoln County” section of the report captured statistics on the population and general demographic information, poverty, insurance, unemployment, income, children receiving cash assistance and food stamps, and data on the special needs population. A review of this information reveals the need to continue the Therapeutic Mentoring program to enhance protective factors and facilitate family stability. According to the report, the population of Lincoln County grew 35% from 2000 to 2010. However, the population tapered off to a 1.2% growth from 2008 to 2012. The U.S Census Bureau shows that …show more content…
This has resulted in a 7% increase in the number of households who received cash assistance and food stamps from 2007 to 2012. The article The Effects of Low-Income Communities on Families, by Esther Lenice Vargas states, “Socioeconomic status can affect communities and families in many ways. It can affect the quality and environment of families, how families cope, the climate and resources available in communities (such as schools, recreational activities and the level of health care available), how community members use their neighborhoods, community involvement and safety.” Children in families with inadequate income are often deprived of healthy foods, live in overcrowded quarters, have inadequate places to play, go without preventative health care, and have little chance for more than a high school …show more content…
Jekielek, M.A., titled, Mentoring: A Promising Strategy for Youth Development which reviewed research on ten local and nationwide mentoring programs. It concludes that mentoring is one of the most promising programs for children at risk, especially when paired with other supportive services. The report confirms that mentored youth have fewer absences in school, better attitudes toward school, fewer incidents of hitting others, less alcohol and drug use, more positive attitudes toward their elders and helping others in general, and improved relationships with their parents. Establishing a positive relationship with a caring adult can serve as a protective factor for at-risk youth and can significantly offset the effects of existing risk factors. Through their collaborative relationships with other service providers and strong knowledge base of community resources, PCHAS mentors are able to link youth and their families to other supports, as
These programs may include Welfare, food stamps (SNAP), and government housing projects. According to the authors, the results showed from the analysis of how many families are on food stamps is, in 2011 over 1.5 million households with about 3 million children were surviving on less than $2.00 a day, including a family member in the work force (Edin, Shaefer, 2016). It is amazing that these families are living on so little when on when many people spend more than that before they go to school, or work. For example, grabbing a quick breakfast before work can cost almost $7.00. The authors noted that they researched about a total of 18 families, but only 8 total are featured in the book.
The Lincoln County Needs Assessment quoted a recently released national research report that indicated mentoring is one of the keys to academic achievement and keeping students in school and on track. This new research reinforced the growing body of evidence that mentoring is also a critical asset in helping America’s disconnected young people to persevere and find pathways to meaningful and productive lives. (America’s Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises and Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 2012). In the Executive Director’s View section (#3) of the 2014 Lincoln County Needs Assessment, when asked the question “Is there another provider or program you can think of that would enhance the effectiveness of our local system of the care?”, the reply was “Expanding the therapeutic mentoring program based on its effectiveness in reaching kids with varying degrees of mental health needs and the ability for mentors to get
While the evidence for mentoring programs suggest that mentoring does appear to have a positive effect on education, training, and employment as well as self-esteem and social skills, mentoring is essentially an unproven strategy (Headley, 2004). Furthermore, the evaluations that have been conducted on the mentoring programs have not demonstrated strong effects for positive outcomes. In fact, some studies have found negative or no effects at all for youth mentoring (Rhodes, 2008). Other studies have shown that positive effects have diminished significantly within a few months of the program ending (Rhodes, 2008). These findings identify the importance of more research in the efficacy and lasting impact of mentoring for youths. Blinn-Pike (2011) compared several studies and found that mentoring improved interpersonal relationships, behavior and reduced violence in the mentees. However, these findings are limited by several variables, including, the small amount of studies, small sample sizes within the studies and that most of the effect sizes were small and medium, with only one effect size that was considered large (.80). Headley (2004) also found that most mentoring programs in Australia and overseas had not been subject to an external evaluation. If the effectiveness and impact of mentoring programs such as the BBBS-AU program, are to be determined more
A growing body of research suggests that natural mentors, that is, caring nonparental adults, such as extended family members, neighbors, teachers, and after school staff, who provide young people with ongoing support and guidance, play an important role in healthy development, particularly during adolescence (DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005b; Hirsch, Deutsch, & DuBois, 2011; Rhodes,Spencer, Keller, Liang, & Noam, 2006; Theokas & Lerner, 2006). Based on these studies we determine that mentors play a vital role in helping youth navigate the uncertainty of the adolescent years. Studies show that youth are less likely to engage in high risk behaviors ranging from use of illicit substances, truancy, and teen pregnancy. Dropout rates were also found to significantly diminish with the presence of a natural or volunteer mentorship. The use of mentoring programs to improve outcomes for at-risk youth has grown steadily in recent years (Rhodes & Roffman 2003). Resilience research has consistently identified the presence of a supportive and caring nonparental adult in the lives of children and youth who succeed despite adversity and hardship (Masten & Garmezy 1985; Werner 1992). Both natural mentors and volunteer mentors can buffer youth from poor outcomes by (1) providing a
The program being implemented is a mentoring program based off of the successful model of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Using this mentoring approach to rehabilitative ends, allows for the successful integration of many different key factors that need to change in order for success. Mentoring has proven to be effective in treating crime and delinquency in multiple crime/offense types. Add to that as well the promising results in regard to drugs and substance abuse, educational improvements, and mental health and behavioral health involved with psychological functioning. In all, this gives credence to a program based on mentoring and using it to treat at-risk youth between the ages of 6 and 18.
According to the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (2010), mentoring helps prevent at-risk students from becoming involved in delinquency activities and also helps those who are already delinquent to change their lives for the better. Mentoring relationships have been shown to improve students’ self-esteem, behavior, and academic performance.
The ultimate goal of the MODEL Program is to reduce the health-risk behavior and achievement gap of youth to develop positive future leaders (Collins, 2002). MODEL does this by incorporating a comprehensive mentoring program, which serves selective youth participants chosen from at-risk middle and high schools that want to be a greater influence in their communities. Some participants will be from a juvenile or other intervention program. The participants’ age varies between twelve to twenty-five years old. The age of eighteen to twenty-five is considered emerging adulthood, the time in between adolescence and adulthood, which in most cases today, is considered as “prolonged adolescence” (Arnett, 2000). For attending students, there will be ongoing advisement and courses, along with summer and winter sessions of real life venture projects. These projects include local community services at family resource centers, recreation centers, churches, clinics/hospitals, and participation in juvenile program focus groups that discuss consequences
I have benefited from this programme as having a committed mentor helps you maintain focus on your goals you need to achieve to register professionally, not only will one develop a professional relationship but younger professionals get valuable
The mentoring program is used as way to help juvenile offenders change their behavior and maladaptive thought. Attendance of the mentoring program is dependent on the judge that is adjudicating the child, the probation officer handling the case or the guardian of the juvenile offender. Most of the time, the judge or probation officer look at the needs of the child and the distress of the family to determine if the child would benefit from the program. If a child exhibits poor coping skills or poor decision-making skills, a mentor may be useful so that the child can experience being around someone of more positive regard. When a child is having family issues; for instance an
The four-year mentoring program is purposely designed for low socioeconomics students at the Oswego high school in Oswego, NY. The program intends to encourage and help the students graduate high school on time. The aims to hire mentors who can prepare the students with lifelong skills that can help them with jobs or college. Before implementation of the program, approval from the school board is needed. There will be professionals from the education department such as professors and counselors, hiring mentors as well as someone to train the mentors, and a program coordinator to run the program. Students who exhibit poor grades and academic disadvantage, will be selected to participate in the program. Parental/guardian permission will be necessary for child participation in the mentoring program. Mentors and the program coordinator will create a paper document for the parents to sign allowing the students to participate in the program. In the form, there will be a section asking the parents if they would like to be a part of the student activities with their child. In order for the program to be successful, some materials will be needed to keep all the student’s information, records, and
The MODEL Program will contribute to advance mentoring programs for youth with the most need that: (1) helps these kids in getting support and direction from a guide; (2) enhances the civic and scholastic participation of the youth; (3) enhances interpersonal connections between the youth and their associates, instructors, adults, and relatives; (4) diminishes the youth dropout rate from schools; (5) decreases adolescent misconduct and participation in gangs; (6) and enhances youth career goals and employment through network of computer science education.
Five months ago a group of randoms entered a classroom on the third floor of Schneider at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on a Tuesday at about 11 AM. All of us probably thinking the same thing, “Do we have to mentor right away?”, “Who are these professors?”, “Oh thank god, I know someone in this class.” There were feelings of nervousness, excitement, and confusion swirling about the class but it was not long before the class jelled and became almost like a family. Five months later we are coming to the close of the Mentoring Youth with Differing Abilities course and it has been one wild ride. There were good times, bad times, awkward times, and everything in between, all occurring while we learned and experienced new things.
After researching the best practices for services delivery to the at-risk youth in Chicago, I discovered multiple resources. There were so many centers that provided information to the youth to help better them. However, only one of those resource centers was known for their best practices. That center is the Youth Outreach Services (YOS). This center offers the best practices in counseling, prevention, child welfare, and juvenile justice. The mission of YOS is that they believe every individual has the potential to find a positive way through life and have positivity in adulthood. YOS works in partnerships with their clients in order to develop the skills they will use for a lifetime. Their primary goal is to make sure local teenagers have the resources they need to deal with the current issues in Chicago, as well as, preventing them. YOS always provide positivity to the youth and wants to make sure they are proactive. They promote social engagement, help build self-confidence and help individuals manage their negative behaviors.
This article examined the long history of student mentoring for at risk kids. They found that there was a seventy percent growth in school-based mentoring programs. Big
One thing I believe is a necessity in growing up is having a mentor. Having a mentor is, not only, beneficial for the mentee but also the mentor. Being a mentor is a learning experience for everyone participating, it helps people grow as a person and friendships are created when a bond if formed. Some people might think it's a waste of time for a child or that it'll never work out for a troubled delinquent but based on the research I've done, I have proven them wrong. Through-out this paper I will provide the pros and cons of mentoring and how they affect both mentor and mentee. To back up my proposal that mentoring is supporting, I will supply examples to answer the question: Is mentoring really important?