Be A Mentor, Inc.

Program Overview and Background

Be A Mentor is partnering with Richmond Police Activities League (RPAL), a non-profit agency based out of Richmond, CA that provides diversion programs and youth activities to underserved youth and Lost Angels Children’s Project (LACP), a non-profit agency based out of Antelope Valley, CA that serves disadvantaged youth, families, and distressed communities through innovative vocational training programs. Together we are implementing an evidence-based mentoring program for youth who have been impacted by the justice system or are at-risk of becoming justice involved. We will use a combination mentoring model that consists of both group and one-to-one mentoring.

Program Services

Since its founding more than three decades ago, Be A Mentor has matched more than 4,000 youth from high-crime, low-income urban schools with caring adult mentors to act as guides and role models in their lives. Be A Mentor has run numerous direct service projects that provided one-on-one mentoring to children of incarcerated parents, foster care youth, and low-performing students. This project will start with a group cohort model, then mentees can give input to select their mentor, and begin meeting 1:1. Continued group meetings and activities will be planned, including psychoeducation for juvenile justice involvement, goal-setting, career and education support, and referrals to resources as needed.

Target Population

We aim to provide mentoring under this grant to young people with any one or more of the following:

• Juvenile Justice Involvement.
• Youth who are in RPALs diversion programs.
• Youth who are in LACP’s vocational training program.
• Youth whose parents are or have been incarcerated.
• Youth referred from other community-based agencies, schools, and families who have been impacted by their own, or their families’ justice involvement.

Mentor Recruitment and Training

• 276 youth served under this grant
• 276 mentors recruited under this grant
• 276 proposed matches
• For mentor recruitment, we target College Students, Adult Volunteers, Athletic Coaches, and Law Enforcement Officers
• Duration of program services: 1 calendar year
• Expected intensity of match contact: 2-3 hours
• Expected length of a match: 1 calendar year
• Expected frequency of match contact: Weekly
• Number of training hours required before a mentor is matched with a youth: 8 hours