In this report, researchers present their assessment of the Reach & Rise® Program and cognitive behavioral mentoring.
This study evaluates the extent to which mentor programming enhanced by cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can make a difference in the lives of at-risk youth. This research deepens the understanding of how to leverage and bring to scale innovative techniques that help equip mentoring to meet the needs of at-risk youth and prevent future system involvement. Researchers evaluated the implementation and impact of CBT enhancements to a mentoring program already committed to a CBT focus—YMCA’s Reach & Rise® program (R&R), including pre-match training modules for mentors on CBT techniques, strategies for augmenting the youth's growth plan, mentor-support CBT-focused "check-in" tools, and a CBT parent education and support component. The project's goal was to evaluate (1) the impacts of this mentoring model on mentoring relationship quality and youth outcomes; (2) the effects of the CBT-related enhancements on receipt of these impacts; and (3) the implementation of the program and its enhancements including their costs. The authors found statistically significant or marginally significant impacts of the R&R program on parent reports of arrest, self-reports of delinquency and substance use, hope for the future, and school and family connectedness. Analyses provided some support for the authors’ theory of change: mentors who received more program supports for their use of CBT strategies had mentees who reported mentors’ more frequent use of these approaches during their interactions, which were in turn associated with stronger relationships and more positive outcomes. The study also found that caregivers who received program supports for their use of CBT strategies were more likely to report implementing those strategies with their children, and caregiver implementation of CBT strategies was associated with more positive youth outcomes.