All young people need support, guidance, and opportunities during adolescence, a time of rapid growth and change. With this support, they can develop self-assurance and create a healthy, successful life.
Key elements of are:
• Healthy messages to adolescents about their bodies, their behaviors and their interactions;
• Safe and structured places for teens to study, recreate and socialize;
• Strengthened relationships with adult role models, such as parents, mentors, coaches or community leaders;
• Skill development in literacy, competence, work readiness and social skills; and
• Opportunities to serve others and build self-esteem.
If these factors are being addressed, young people can become not just “problem-free” but “fully prepared” and engaged constructively in their communities and society. These key elements result in the following outcomes:
• Increased opportunities and avenues for positive use of time;
• Increased opportunities for positive self-expression; and
• Increased opportunities for youth participation and civic engagement.
Children in Foster Care
On any given day in America, more than 550,000 children and youth are in foster care. Foster care is the full-time substitute care of children outside of their own home by people other than their biological or adoptive parents or legal guardians. Children who are removed from their biological or adoptive parents, or other legal guardians, are placed in foster care in a variety of settings. They may be placed in the care of relatives other than the family members involved in the neglect or abuse (kin placement), non-relatives, therapeutic or treatment foster care, or in an institution or group home.
Children are placed in foster care for a number of reasons. In many cases, they have suffered physical or sexual abuse or neglect at home and are placed in a safe environment. Others have been neglected by their parents or legal guardians or have parents or legal guardians who are unable to take care of them because of substance abuse, incarceration, or mental health problems. These children are placed into custodial care while the parents or guardians receive treatment or counseling or fulfill their sentences. A small percentage, however, are placed in foster care because their parents feel unable to control them, and their behavior may have led to delinquency or fear of harm to others. These youth desperately need a caring adult to stand by them through this difficult transition. A mentor may serve as a positive role model as well as a friend to the youth. Mentoring is a structured and trusting relationship that brings young people together with caring individuals who offer guidance, support, and encouragement aimed at developing the competence and character of the mentee. Some mentors themselves may have been in the foster care system.
Each year, between 18,000 and 20,000 youth aged 16 and older ―age out‖ of the foster care system, meaning that they must now face life on their own. Studies have found that within 12-18 months after leaving foster care, the incidence of incarceration and public assistance is much higher for these youth than the general population. During this crucial transition period, they are at risk for a number of adverse outcomes, including homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse, dependence on public assistance, unemployment, pregnancy, and involvement in the criminal justice system. Studies have also shown that a mentor—a trusted adult who becomes a consistent and caring adult in a young person‘s life—can play a crucial role in easing a youth‘s transition to independent living.
Children Involved In Gangs
Research indicates that gang members are responsible for a disproportionate share of violent juvenile offenses. Youth gangs continue to have a significant adverse impact on youth, families, and communities. Risk factors that lead to gang involvement also lead to other problem behaviors such as truancy, delinquency, violence, and dropping out of school.
Mentoring is one of the most commonly used strategies to prevent, divert, and remediate youth engaged in, or at risk for, delinquent and other antisocial behavior, aggression, and school failure. Studies indicate that mentoring has the greatest effect on reducing delinquency and aggression, the problem behaviors that are increased by gang membership. Additional research has shown that a strong predictor of sustained gang affiliation is a high level of interaction with antisocial peers and a low level of interaction with pro-social peers. (OJJDP 2009)
Children of Prisoners
In the United States, 1 in every 50 children has a parent behind bars. More than half of the people incarcerated in state prisons and almost 1 in 3 of those in federal prisons report having children younger than 18. When parents get sent to prison, their relationships with their children change in ways they never imagined.
Mentors can help meet their needs and increase the resiliency of children.
Parents experience:
Children have the need for:
