Mentoring

This is a prison housing unit program for young adults that seeks to change correctional culture and increase safety. The program is rated Promising. Young adults in the treatment group had a statistically significant lower likelihood of violent charges and convictions, compared with the control group. There were no statistically significant differences between treatment and control groups on the number of disciplinary charges or convictions, or serious incidents or events in the facilities.

This was an urban-based intensive supervision program in which high-risk, gang-affiliated youths (ages 12–19) were assigned to work with a probation officer who was paired with a paid “street mentor.” The program is rated Promising. Youths in the program were significantly less likely than those in the comparison group to have a new conviction in the follow-up period of up to 3 years and remained offense-free for a longer period.

This program aims to prevent sexual violence in middle school male athletes. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences between treatment and control group athletes in reports of abuse (relationship, cybersexual, or sexual), sexual harassment, negative bystander behaviors, sex-equitable attitudes, or intention to intervene. Treatment group athletes reported statistically significantly more positive bystander behaviors and recognized more signs of abuse.

This is a one-to-one mentoring program aimed at improving public safety by assisting youths who commit offenses with comprehensive reentry services following their release into the community. The program is rated Ineffective. There was no statistically significant difference between program and comparison group youths in prevalence of reoffense. Program youths had statistically significantly fewer official juvenile justice contacts within 1 year of release, compared with comparison group youth

This mentoring program for urban high school students is designed to improve college readiness. The program is rated Ineffective. Compared with comparison students, treatment students were more likely to graduate and reported higher self-advocacy and critical thinking. These differences were statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences in attending college, taking AP courses, task persistence, sitting in on college courses, seeking help, or growth mindset.

This is a one-to-one mentoring program in which children (ages 5–11) meet weekly over 12 months with an adult volunteer. Mentors engage in structured activities to help reduce behavior and emotional problems in children by developing self-esteem, self-efficacy, social skills, and future aspirations. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences between groups in parent- and teacher-rated problem or prosocial behavior or in child self-esteem or goals.

This is a school-based mentoring program for low-income high school students designed to increase academic achievement and college attendance and success. The program is rated Promising. Program participants had a statistically significant increase in receiving a C grade or above in algebra I and in scores on a standardized state math exam, compared with the comparison group. However, there was not a statistically significant difference between groups in receiving a C grade or above in geometry.

This is a group-mentoring afterschool program in which elementary and middle school students with the diagnosis of a learning disability (LD) or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) meet with high school or college student mentors who also have LD/ADHD, to discuss and address their strengths and challenges. The program is rated Promising. The program was shown to be associated with statistically significant decreases in depression and increases in self-esteem over the program period.

This is a responsive intervention that seeks to reduce severe aggressive behaviors of incarcerated youth at a juvenile justice institution in the Netherlands. The program is rated Promising. Intervention group youth, compared with treatment-as-usual group youth, had statistically significant higher aggression-related skills, lower cognitive distortions (such as how youth think about aggression), and a lower recidivism risk for violent and general offenses at the 3-year follow up.

This is a summer jobs program in Chicago, Ill., which seeks to reduce youth violence by providing high-risk students (grades 8–12) with part-time summer employment and access to an adult job mentor. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment group and the control group in violent crime arrests, property crime arrests, drug arrests, or other arrests.

This is a mentoring program that uses volunteer community members to strengthen the supportive environment and improve psychosocial outcomes among youth living without an adult caregiver in rural Rwanda. The program is rated Promising. Youth in the intervention group showed statistically significant greater improvements in scores for depression, grief, marginalization, and adult support at 18 months, compared with the youth in the comparison group.

This is a college counseling program that promotes 4-year college enrollment and completion for low-income, first-generation students. The program is rated Promising. Participants in each of two cohorts had a statistically significant greater likelihood of enrolling in a 4-year college or any college, compared with the control group. In one cohort, participants were also enrolled in more total semesters and more likely to be continuously enrolled in college, compared with control students.

This is an afterschool program that prepares middle school students for academic and social success. The program is rated No Effects. Participants showed statistically significant higher rates of attendance and a greater likelihood of being on track to graduate and passing 12th grade English/language arts (ELA) than nonparticipants. Groups did not differ in ELA or math test scores, 12th grade suspensions, passing ELA and math comprehensive tests, or on-time promotion to 12th grade.

This is a school-based group mentoring program that seeks to improve academic performance and promote resilience against criminal involvement for ninth graders at risk of dropping out. The program is rated No Effects. While there were statistically significant increases in problem solving and prosocial peers for the intervention group, there were no statistically significant differences between intervention and comparison students in juvenile offenses, empathy, and perceptions of home support.

This individual and group mentoring intervention was designed to improve transition outcomes for foster youth by increasing their self-determination skills. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences between program participants and the comparison group in number of arrests or convictions, charge severity, range of punitive system involvement, comprehensive criminal justice involvement, delinquency, dropping out of high school, or homelessness.

This is a group mentoring program that seeks to reduce recidivism of youth on probation in New York City, using an interactive journaling curriculum based on cognitive-behavioral principles. The program is rated Ineffective Program participants showed a statistically significant reduction in felony reconvictions, compared with comparison group youth at 24 months; however, there were no statistically significant differences on arrests, felony arrests, or reconvictions.

This is an intervention designed to prevent future criminal activity among system-involved youth through using short-term, high-intensity relationships with paid mentors, referred to as Advocates. The program is rated Promising. Program participants showed statistically significant improvement in educational engagement and reductions in serious dispositions, compared with a comparison group.

This is a structured, one-on-one tutoring and mentoring intervention that was designed to improve language arts skills among low-achieving students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program is rated Promising. Students in the intervention group showed a statistically significant increase in their reading comprehension and overall reading quotient scores, compared with students in the comparison group. However, there were no significant differences in reading fluency scores.

This is a one-on-one mentoring program in which youth referred from a community mental health agency receive support from adult volunteers with whom they spend 2 to 3 hours weekly on positive community activities. The program is rated Effective. The intervention was shown to be associated with a statistically significant increase in global functioning and a lower likelihood of an unplanned and client-initiated ending of treatment.

This is a mentoring program for disadvantaged elementary school children that aims to enrich their social environment and enable their acquisition of new skills through an authentic relationship with a caring adult. This program was rated Promising. The findings show a statistically significant improvement in the prosocial behavior and likelihood of high-track attendance in school for the children assigned to the intervention, compared with children in the control group.

This is a multicomponent program that aims to improve academic outcomes for high school students from low socioeconomic backgrounds primarily through a relationship with a student-parent support worker. This program is rated Promising. Youth eligible for the program were more likely to have graduated from high school and enrolled in postsecondary education within 5 years after starting high school, compared with youth in the comparison group. This difference was statistically significant.

This is a mentoring program for youth who show low levels of antisocial behavior. This program was rated Promising. Youth in the program had statistically significant improvements in offending behavior, antisocial behavior, negative affect, association with antisocial peers, emotional well-being, and involvement in education or employment, compared with youth in the control group, but not in volume of offending behavior, use of alcohol or drugs, impulsivity, or aspirations for the future.

This is a mentoring program for fifth- and sixth-grade public school students who are at increased risk for underachievement and antisocial behaviors. The program’s goals are to strengthen a students’ self-esteem, social skills, motivation, and study skills using college student mentors. This program was rated as Promising. Students who participated in the program had a statistically significantly lower risk of dropping out of school, compared with students in the comparison group.

This is an adult reentry program designed to reduce recidivism among high-risk males who were previously released from a state prison but returned to prison for violating conditions of their supervised release. The program is rated Promising. The program was shown to have a statistically significant effect on reducing revocation and reconviction; however, it did not have a statistically significant effect on reducing rearrests and reincarceration.

This is a school-based program that integrates a case-management framework for providing social support to truant youth. The goals of the program are to improve school attendance and renew progress toward graduation. This program is rated Promising. Students in the intervention group were more likely to have graduated and less likely to have dropped out than students in the comparison group.

This is a school-based, substance-use-prevention program for adolescent girls, which uses solution-focused brief therapy and community and peer mentorship. The program is rated Promising. Program participation was shown to have a statistically significant effect on lowering drug use, improving social competence, increasing knowledge surrounding drug use, and increasing negative attitudes toward drug use. The program had no statistically significant effect on grade point average or self-esteem.

This is a school-based, structured mentoring program designed to reduce school absences and promote student engagement. This program is rated No Effects. One study found students in the program had statistically significant fewer days absent and more days in school. However, program students also had statistically significant lower math scores. There were no other statistically significant differences in outcomes. A second study also found no statistically significant differences

This was a mentoring program in which high school juniors had regularly scheduled one-on-one contacts with trained college advisors to increase college attendance rates. The program is rated Ineffective. The program was shown to have small positive effects on enrollment rates and number of months enrolled in California State University and University of California campuses, but did not have statistically significant effects on 2-year, 4-year, or overall college enrollment or months of attendance.

This is a school-based, mentoring program designed to improve academic performance and life satisfaction and reduce absences and behavioral infractions. The program is rated Promising. Participants had a statistically significant decrease in unexcused absences and higher math and English grades, compared with the control group. However, there were no effects on school-reported behavioral infractions, science or history grades, positive affect, negative affect, coping, or overall mental health.

This cognitive–behavioral mentoring intervention was designed to improve child behavior and family functioning among 8- to 12-year olds with mental health disorders, and their primary caregivers. This program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups on measures of child behavior, parenting stress, perceived social support, and attachment to parents.

This cognitive–behavioral, group-mentoring intervention was designed to improve child behavior and family functioning among 8- to 12-year olds with mental health disorders, and their primary caregivers. This program is rated Promising. Although there were statistically significant improvements on measures of social problem solving and behavior problems, there were no improvements on measures of social skills among children in the intervention group, compared with the control group.

This is a school-based intervention designed to help students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) develop, practice, and generalize academic and social skills by using volunteer mentors to deliver skills training to students. This program is rated as Ineffective. Academic functioning and parent/teacher ratings of student behavior reflecting ADHD symptoms did not differ statistically significantly for youths in the intervention group, compared with the control group.

This is a tutoring intervention designed to improve reading and math skills among 14- to 15-year old youths in foster care who were 1 to 3 years behind grade level in reading and/or math. The program also aimed to build a mentoring relationship between the youth and the tutor and provide access to independent living workshops. This program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups on any of the outcomes assessed.

This is a community-based program in which adolescent mothers had meetings with trained home visitors, who delivered a parenting and an adolescent curriculum. This program is rated Promising. Treatment group participants demonstrated statistically significantly improvements in parenting skills and school status compared with the control group. However, there was no statistically significant impact on depressive symptoms, condom and hormonal contraceptive use, or repeat pregnancies.

This is a program designed to help young people in foster care and with serious mental health challenges prepare for postsecondary education. The program is rated Effective. Youths who received the intervention had statistically significant improvements on self-determination, mental health empowerment, transition planning, career self-efficacy, hope, barriers to education, postsecondary preparation, and transition planning, but not on quality of life or mental health recovery.

This is a school-based, suicide prevention program designed to build socioecological-protective influences across a full student population, using youth opinion leaders from diverse social cliques to develop and deliver messaging aimed at changing the norms and behaviors of their peers. This program is rated Promising. Peer leaders in the intervention schools showed statistically significant improvements on perceptions and behaviors pertaining to suicide and on social connectedness.

This is a diversion program in which juveniles ages 13–18, who have committed non-violent offenses, study works of literature and classic virtue theory in small groups, led by trained volunteer mentors. The goal is to foster moral development and reduce recidivism. The program is rated Promising. Participants had a statistically significantly lower chance of being prosecuted for any offense (including misdemeanors and felonies) and fewer arrests than the comparison group.

The program is a school-based peer mentoring program in which high school students provide one-on-one mentoring to late elementary and early middle school students. This program is rated Promising. The mentored children showed statistically significant improvement on measures of spelling achievement and connectedness to school and to parents compared with the control group. However, mentored and control group children did not significantly differ on connectedness to reading, future, or friends.

Also known as the Eisenhower Foundation’s Quantum Opportunities Program, this program is an intensive, year-round, multicomponent intervention for high-risk minority students from inner-city neighborhoods, which is provided throughout all 4 years of high school. The program is rated Effective. Program participants had statistically significantly higher grade point averages, high school graduation rates, and college acceptance rates as compared with control group youths.

This is a tutoring and mentoring program to improve the literacy outcomes of elementary school-aged children at risk of academic failure. This program is rated Promising. Program participants made statistically significantly greater gains in reading comprehension scores and teacher-assessed reading skills over an academic year, as compared with the control group. However, there were no differences in vocabulary and word attack scores from pre- to postintervention.

This program was designed to help high school students with mild learning disabilities improve their ability to identify postsecondary career goals. This program is rated Promising. The program group showed statistically significant improvement in social connectedness, transition competency, and self-determination, compared with the control group. However, there were no statistically significant differences in career/educational goals, academic connectedness, and familial connectedness.

This is a positive youth development program for preadolescent children (ages 9-11) who have current or previous child welfare involvement due to one or more adverse childhood experiences. The program is rated Promising. Children who participated in the program displayed statistically significant reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms, dissociation symptoms, and scores on key mental health outcomes, compared with children in the control group.

This is an intervention for urban minority freshmen at risk of dropping out of high school. The goal was to enhance school-related cognitions and behaviors. The program is rated Promising. The program did not statistically significantly impact students’ absences, grade point averages, or decision-making efficacy, but had statistically significant effects on discipline referrals, negative school behavior, performance in mathematics and language arts, and other self-reported outcomes.

This is a school-based program designed for at-risk middle school students that aims to improve academic performance, promote school connectedness, and decrease disciplinary actions. The program is rated Ineffective. There was no statistically significant impact on students’ English, reading, or science grades; measures of school connectedness; or school absences. However, treatment group students had statistically significantly fewer discipline referrals compared with control group students.

An intensive residential program that provides training and services, including structured one-on-one mentoring, to at-risk youth (ages 16 to 18 years). This program is rated Ineffective. The program had a statistically significant, positive impact on employment and GED attainment among participating youth as compared with control group youth. However, the program had no effect on youths’ frequency of arrests, marijuana or other illegal drug use, delinquent behavior, or psychological distress.

This is a school-based intervention to improve the social-emotional and behavioral skills of young children at risk for mental health disorders and substance abuse. This program is rated Promising. The program had a statistically significant, positive effect on children’s task orientation, behavior control, assertiveness, and peer social skills. The program was also associated with a statistically significant decline in the average number of suspensions and office disciplinary referrals.

This program offered one-to-one mentoring to at-risk students in 7th to 9th grades in an urban middle school setting to reduce their discipline referrals and school absences and to improve their school connectedness. This program is rated Promising. The program was associated with a statistically significant decline in the number of office disciplinary referrals and a statistically significant increase in school connectedness. However, the program had no impact on unexcused absences.

This is a voluntary, faith-based prisoner reentry program that attempts to prepare inmates for reintegration into the community, employment, family, and other significant relationships through programming. The program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant reductions in rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration rates for the treatment group, compared with the comparison group. However, there was no statistically significant impact on revocations for a technical violation.

This is an intergenerational mentoring initiative designed to delay or reduce substance use by increasing the resiliency and protective factors of at-risk middle school youth. The program is rated Promising. The treatment group showed statistically significant improvements in school attendance; reactions to situations involving drug use; and attitudes toward school, the future, and elders, compared with the control group; however, there were no effects on overall well-being or substance use.

This is a comprehensive, multiyear program designed to reduce youth gang crime and violence. The program is rated Promising. The target area demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in calls for shots fired and gang-related incidents compared with the comparison area. However, there were no statistically significant impacts on calls for vandalism, incidents of serious violence, gang-related incidents of serious violence, or student attendance.

This is a multisystemic intervention for boys younger than 12 who display aggression and antisocial behavior problems. This program is rated Effective. Boys who participated in the program showed a statistically significant decrease in delinquency and aggression scores and in behaviors such as rule-breaking, aggression, and conduct problems, compared with control group boys.

This program provides intensive treatment in a dedicated housing unit to male incarcerated persons with substance abuse problems during the last 9 to 12 months of their prison terms. The program is rated Promising. Participants had statistically significant lower reincarceration rates at the 24-month and 5-year follow-up periods, compared with the control group. There were no significant differences between the groups in reincarceration rates at the 36-month follow up or in drug use at the 5-year follow up.

This program offers one-to-one mentoring in a community setting for at-risk youth between the ages of 6 and 18. This program is rated Effective. It was associated with a statistically significant reduction in initiating drug and alcohol use and antisocial behavior among mentored youth, compared with non-mentored youth. Mentored youth also showed statistically significant improvement in relationships with parents and academic performance (i.e., better grades and fewer absences).