NCJ Number
207515
Date Published
June 2004
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This paper explores the potential for using paid mentor-counselors to provide extended contact with high-risk juveniles.
Abstract
The author first describes the characteristics of the high-risk juvenile population, which includes foster-care children and youth, homeless children and youth, school dropouts, and youth already in the juvenile justice system. The paper then assesses the current system of serving juveniles and its limits. It concludes that even when high-risk juveniles are identified, few services are available to assist them, and still fewer can assist them for an extended period. The author argues that research and logic suggest that the presence of caring and committed adults who are available over the long term to guide youth through their life experiences can make a significant difference in the direction of a youth's life. Paid mentors are trained to befriend and support high-risk youth over an extended time period (up to 12 years), using proven techniques, social skills, and services to help high-risk youth resolve their problems constructively. Volunteer mentors have a role to play in guiding high-risk youth; however, the most effective mentoring requires a high degree of patience, acceptance, openness, and perceptiveness that even the best intentioned volunteer may find difficult to sustain. The children's village WAY program is profiled as one of the best documented examples of using paid mentors. WAY counselors help juveniles who have been in residential treatment centers make the transition back into the community. The WAY has proven its effectiveness, as have other paid mentor-counselor programs, namely, Quantum Opportunities and Friends of the Children. The paper concludes that the use of such paid mentor-counselors has proven its worth in practice and deserves to be replicated. 6 notes