The following reports and research findings were shared by Federal Mentoring Council members or presented at Council meetings:
MENTOR presented recommendations from the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth specifically targeting the coordination of mentoring programs among Federal agencies.
Heather Clawson and Aracelis Gray presented their findings from a study sponsored by the Family and Youth Services Bureau and a tool kit that they developed to help programs recruit minority mentors. The tool kit can be found at the FYSB clearinghouse.
MENTOR presented the results of an implementation study on Safety Net. Safety Net is a collaboration between MENTOR, National Center for Missing and Exploited Youth, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide rigorous background checks to mentoring programs and other youth serving organizations for a very modest fee. The implementation study revealed for the first time the analysis of applicant data that showed an alarming number of mentor applicants trying to hide their past, misrepresent their identifying information, and in some cases convicted offenders trying to become mentors.
For youth programs to succeed, policymakers, program leaders, and intermediary organizations need resources and strategies to support quality programs over time. Finding Resources to Support Mentoring Programs and Services for Youth is an important addition to The Finance Project’s body of resources on financing and sustaining supports and services for children, youth, and families. This brief outlines three strategies to finance and sustain mentoring programs and services for youth and illustrates these options through state and community examples.
