Mentoring Program Reviews

This is a program designed to help young people in foster care and with serious mental health challenges prepare for postsecondary education. The program is rated Effective. Youths who received the intervention had statistically significant improvements on self-determination, mental health empowerment, transition planning, career self-efficacy, hope, barriers to education, postsecondary preparation, and transition planning, but not on quality of life or mental health recovery.

Date Posted: 08/22/2016 (CrimeSolutions)

Also known as the Eisenhower Foundation’s Quantum Opportunities Program, this program is an intensive, year-round, multicomponent intervention for high-risk minority students from inner-city neighborhoods, which is provided throughout all 4 years of high school. The program is rated Effective. Program participants had statistically significantly higher grade point averages, high school graduation rates, and college acceptance rates as compared with control group youths.

Date Posted: 09/08/2015 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a one-on-one mentoring program in which youth referred from a community mental health agency receive support from adult volunteers with whom they spend 2 to 3 hours weekly on positive community activities. The program is rated Effective. The intervention was shown to be associated with a statistically significant increase in global functioning and a lower likelihood of an unplanned and client-initiated ending of treatment.

Date Posted: 05/13/2019 (CrimeSolutions)

This in-school smoking prevention program was designed to spread and sustain norms of non-smoking behavior among 12–13 year olds, using influential peer opinion leaders. The program is rated No Effects. Youths who received the intervention did not differ statistically significantly from youths who did not receive the intervention in their odds of smoking in the last week, at 2 years post-intervention.

Date Posted: 8/15/2016 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a group mentoring program that seeks to reduce recidivism of youth on probation in New York City, using an interactive journaling curriculum based on cognitive-behavioral principles. The program is rated No Effects. Program participants showed a statistically significant reduction in felony reconvictions, compared with comparison group youth at 24 months; however, there were no statistically significant differences on arrests, felony arrests, or reconvictions.

Date Posted: 11/05/2019 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based program designed for at-risk middle school students that aims to improve academic performance, promote school connectedness, and decrease disciplinary actions. The program is rated No Effects. There was no statistically significant impact on students’ English, reading, or science grades; measures of school connectedness; or school absences. However, treatment group students had statistically significantly fewer discipline referrals compared with control group students.

Date Posted: 01/15/2015 (CrimeSolutions)

This is an after-school intervention designed to help students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) develop, practice, and generalize academic and social skills by using volunteer mentors to deliver skills training to students. This program is rated as No Effects. Academic functioning and parent/teacher ratings of student behavior reflecting ADHD symptoms did not differ statistically significantly between youths in the intervention group and those in the control group.

Date Posted: 11/07/2016 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a one-to-one mentoring program in which children (ages 5–11) meet weekly over 12 months with an adult volunteer. Mentors engage in structured activities to help reduce behavior and emotional problems in children by developing self-esteem, self-efficacy, social skills, and future aspirations. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between groups in parent- and teacher-rated problem or prosocial behavior or in child self-esteem or goals.

Date Posted: 08/09/2021 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based, structured mentoring program designed to reduce school absences and promote student engagement. This program is rated No Effects. One study found students in the program had statistically significant fewer days absent and more days in school. However, program students also had statistically significant lower math scores. There were no other statistically significant differences in outcomes. A second study also found no statistically significant differences.

Date Posted: 11/08/2017 (CrimeSolutions)

This is an afterschool program that prepares middle school students for academic and social success. The program is rated No Effects. Participants showed statistically significant higher rates of attendance and a greater likelihood of being on track to graduate and passing 12th grade English/language arts (ELA) than nonparticipants. Groups did not differ in ELA or math test scores, 12th grade suspensions, passing ELA and math comprehensive tests, or on-time promotion to 12th grade.

Date Posted: 07/13/2020 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a tutoring intervention designed to improve reading and math skills among 14- to 15-year old youths in foster care who were 1 to 3 years behind grade level in reading and/or math. The program also aimed to build a mentoring relationship between the youth and the tutor and provide access to independent living workshops. This program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups on any of the outcomes assessed.

Date Posted: 11/07/2016 (CrimeSolutions)

This mentoring program for urban high school students is designed to improve college readiness. The program is rated No Effects. Compared with comparison students, treatment students were more likely to graduate and reported higher self-advocacy and critical thinking. These differences were statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences in attending college, taking AP courses, task persistence, sitting in on college courses, seeking help, or growth mindset.

Date Posted: 08/30/2021 (CrimeSolutions)

This individual and group mentoring intervention was designed to improve transition outcomes for foster youth by increasing their self-determination skills. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between program participants and the comparison group in number of arrests or convictions, charge severity, range of punitive system involvement, comprehensive criminal justice involvement, delinquency, dropping out of high school, or homelessness.

Date Posted: 01/21/2020 (CrimeSolutions)

An intensive residential program that provides training and services, including structured one-on-one mentoring, to at-risk youth (ages 16 to 18 years). This program is rated No Effects. The program had a statistically significant, positive impact on employment and GED attainment among participating youth as compared with control group youth. However, the program had no effect on youths’ frequency of arrests, marijuana or other illegal drug use, delinquent behavior, or psychological distress.

Date Posted: 09/22/2014 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a summer jobs program in Chicago, Ill., which seeks to reduce youth violence by providing high-risk students (grades 8–12) with part-time summer employment and access to an adult job mentor. The program is rated No Effects. There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment group and the control group in violent crime arrests, property crime arrests, drug arrests, or other arrests.

Date Posted: 02/04/2021 (CrimeSolutions)

A high school transition program that targets ninth-grade students who are at risk of dropping out. Its goal is to improve high school graduation rates. This program is rated No Effects. The program did not have a statistically significant overall effect on students’ high school graduation rates or on several other measures (such as credits earned). There was a statistically significant positive effect on school attachment.

Date Posted: 04/27/2015 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based group mentoring program that seeks to improve academic performance and promote resilience against criminal involvement for ninth graders at risk of dropping out. The program is rated No Effects. While there were statistically significant increases in problem solving and prosocial peers for the intervention group, there were no statistically significant differences between intervention and comparison students in juvenile offenses, empathy, and perceptions of home support.

Date Posted: 06/16/2020 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a program that uses a caring adult, called a Promotor, to provide case management, mentoring, and advocacy for youths. This program is rated No Effects. The intervention had statistically significant positive effects on school enrollment, housing stability, and births, but had statistically significant negative effects on getting into a fight and binge drinking. There were no effects on employment, carrying a weapon, incarceration, marijuana use, or perception of control of one’s life.

Date Posted: 08/08/2017 (CrimeSolutions)

This was a mentoring program in which high school juniors had regularly scheduled one-on-one contacts with trained college advisors to increase college attendance rates. The program is rated No Effects. The program was shown to have small positive effects on enrollment rates and number of months enrolled in California State University and University of California campuses, but did not have statistically significant effects on 2-year, 4-year, or overall college enrollment or months of attendance.

Date Posted: 08/08/2017 (CrimeSolutions)

This is an intervention for urban minority freshmen at risk of dropping out of high school. The goal was to enhance school-related cognitions and behaviors. The program is rated Promising. The program did not statistically significantly impact students’ absences, grade point averages, or decision-making efficacy, but had statistically significant effects on discipline referrals, negative school behavior, performance in mathematics and language arts, and other self-reported outcomes.

Date Posted: 3/30/2015 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a mentoring program for disadvantaged elementary school children that aims to enrich their social environment and enable their acquisition of new skills through an authentic relationship with a caring adult. This program was rated Promising. The findings show a statistically significant improvement in the prosocial behavior and likelihood of high-track attendance in school for the children assigned to the intervention, compared with children in the control group.

Date Posted: 02/12/2019 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a college counseling program that promotes 4-year college enrollment and completion for low-income, first-generation students. The program is rated Promising. Participants in each of two cohorts had a statistically significant greater likelihood of enrolling in a 4-year college or any college, compared with the control group. In one cohort, participants were also enrolled in more total semesters and more likely to be continuously enrolled in college, compared with control students.

Date Posted: 08/14/2020 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based, mentoring program designed to improve academic performance and life satisfaction and reduce absences and behavioral infractions. The program is rated Promising. Participants had a statistically significant decrease in unexcused absences and higher math and English grades, compared with the control group. However, there were no effects on school-reported behavioral infractions, science or history grades, positive affect, negative affect, coping, or overall mental health.

Date Posted: 08/08/2017 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based program that integrates a case-management framework for providing social support to truant youth. The goals of the program are to improve school attendance and renew progress toward graduation. This program is rated Promising. Students in the intervention group were more likely to have graduated and less likely to have dropped out than students in the comparison group.

Date Posted: 05/01/2018 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a mentoring program for youth who show low levels of antisocial behavior. This program was rated Promising. Youth in the program had statistically significant improvements in offending behavior, antisocial behavior, negative affect, association with antisocial peers, emotional well-being, and involvement in education or employment, compared with youth in the control group, but not in volume of offending behavior, use of alcohol or drugs, impulsivity, or aspirations for the future.

Date Posted: 10/15/2018 (CrimeSolutions)

This cognitive–behavioral mentoring intervention was designed to improve child behavior and family functioning among 8- to 12-year olds with mental health disorders, and their primary caregivers. This program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups on measures of child behavior, parenting stress, perceived social support, and attachment to parents.

Date Posted: 03/06/2017 (CrimeSolutions)

The program is a school-based peer mentoring program in which high school students provide one-on-one mentoring to late elementary and early middle school students. This program is rated Promising. The mentored children showed statistically significant improvement on measures of spelling achievement and connectedness to school and to parents compared with the control group. However, mentored and control group children did not significantly differ on connectedness to reading, future, or friends.

Date Posted: 10/06/2015 (CrimeSolutions)

This program was designed to help high school students with mild learning disabilities improve their ability to identify postsecondary career goals. This program is rated Promising. The program group showed statistically significant improvement in social connectedness, transition competency, and self-determination, compared with the control group. However, there were no statistically significant differences in career/educational goals, academic connectedness, and familial connectedness.

Date Posted: 08/03/2015 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a tutoring and mentoring program to improve the literacy outcomes of elementary school-aged children at risk of academic failure. This program is rated Promising. Program participants made statistically significantly greater gains in reading comprehension scores and teacher-assessed reading skills over an academic year, as compared with the control group. However, there were no differences in vocabulary and word attack scores from pre- to postintervention.

Date Posted: 08/31/2015 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a group-mentoring afterschool program in which elementary and middle school students with the diagnosis of a learning disability (LD) or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) meet with high school or college student mentors who also have LD/ADHD, to discuss and address their strengths and challenges. The program is rated Promising. The program was shown to be associated with statistically significant decreases in depression and increases in self-esteem over the program period.

Date Posted: 02/04/2021 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a positive youth development program for preadolescent children (ages 9-11) who have current or previous child welfare involvement due to one or more adverse childhood experiences. The program is rated Promising. Children who participated in the program displayed statistically significant reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms, dissociation symptoms, and scores on key mental health outcomes, compared with children in the control group.

Date Posted: 07/20/2015 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based mentoring program for low-income high school students designed to increase academic achievement and college attendance and success. The program is rated Promising. Program participants had a statistically significant increase in receiving a C grade or above in algebra I and in scores on a standardized state math exam, compared with the comparison group. However, there was not a statistically significant difference between groups in receiving a C grade or above in geometry.

Date Posted: 02/17/2021 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a structured, one-on-one tutoring and mentoring intervention that was designed to improve language arts skills among low-achieving students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program is rated Promising. Students in the intervention group showed a statistically significant increase in their reading comprehension and overall reading quotient scores, compared with students in the comparison group. However, there were no significant differences in reading fluency scores.

Date Posted: 10/09/2019 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a community-based program in which adolescent mothers had meetings with trained home visitors, who delivered a parenting and an adolescent curriculum. This program is rated Promising. Treatment group participants demonstrated statistically significantly improvements in parenting skills and school status compared with the control group. However, there was no statistically significant impact on depressive symptoms, condom and hormonal contraceptive use, or repeat pregnancies.

Date Posted: 09/06/2016 (CrimeSolutions)

This was a multicomponent intervention to prevent delinquency and substance misuse for girls in foster care transitioning from elementary school to middle school. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group girls reported statistically significantly reduced tobacco use, marijuana use, and delinquent behavior, compared with control group girls. However, there was no statistically significant impact on alcohol use or association with delinquent peers.

Date Posted: 09/16/2014 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a multicomponent program that aims to improve academic outcomes for high school students from low socioeconomic backgrounds primarily through a relationship with a student-parent support worker. This program is rated Promising. Youth eligible for the program were more likely to have graduated from high school and enrolled in postsecondary education within 5 years after starting high school, compared with youth in the comparison group. This difference was statistically significant.

Date Posted: 11/05/2018 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a mentoring program for fifth- and sixth-grade public school students who are at increased risk for underachievement and antisocial behaviors. The program’s goals are to strengthen a students’ self-esteem, social skills, motivation, and study skills using college student mentors. This program was rated as Promising. Students who participated in the program had a statistically significantly lower risk of dropping out of school, compared with students in the comparison group.

Date Posted: 09/12/2018 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a mentoring program that uses volunteer community members to strengthen the supportive environment and improve psychosocial outcomes among youth living without an adult caregiver in rural Rwanda. The program is rated Promising. Youth in the intervention group showed statistically significant greater improvements in scores for depression, grief, marginalization, and adult support at 18 months, compared with the youth in the comparison group.

Date Posted:11/13/2020 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a diversion program in which juveniles ages 13–18, who have committed non-violent offenses, study works of literature and classic virtue theory in small groups, led by trained volunteer mentors. The goal is to foster moral development and reduce recidivism. The program is rated Promising. Participants had a statistically significantly lower chance of being prosecuted for any offense (including misdemeanors and felonies) and fewer arrests than the comparison group.

Date Posted: 03/28/2016 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based intervention to improve the social-emotional and behavioral skills of young children at risk for mental health disorders and substance abuse. This program is rated Promising. The program had a statistically significant, positive effect on children’s task orientation, behavior control, assertiveness, and peer social skills. The program was also associated with a statistically significant decline in the average number of suspensions and office disciplinary referrals.

Date Posted: 12/22/2023 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based, substance-use-prevention program for adolescent girls, which uses solution-focused brief therapy and community and peer mentorship. The program is rated Promising. Program participation was shown to have a statistically significant effect on lowering drug use, improving social competence, increasing knowledge surrounding drug use, and increasing negative attitudes toward drug use. The program had no statistically significant effect on grade point average or self-esteem.

Date Posted: 12/07/2017 (CrimeSolutions)

This program offered one-to-one mentoring to at-risk students in 7th to 9th grades in an urban middle school setting to reduce their discipline referrals and school absences and to improve their school connectedness. This program is rated Promising. The program was associated with a statistically significant decline in the number of office disciplinary referrals and a statistically significant increase in school connectedness. However, the program had no impact on unexcused absences.

Date Posted: 08/19/2014 (CrimeSolutions)

This is a school-based, suicide prevention program designed to build socioecological-protective influences across a full student population, using youth opinion leaders from diverse social cliques to develop and deliver messaging aimed at changing the norms and behaviors of their peers. This program is rated Promising. Peer leaders in the intervention schools showed statistically significant improvements on perceptions and behaviors pertaining to suicide and on social connectedness.

Date Posted: 6/13/2016 (CrimeSolutions)

This is an intervention designed to prevent future criminal activity among system-involved youth through using short-term, high-intensity relationships with paid mentors, referred to as Advocates. The program is rated Promising. Program participants showed statistically significant improvement in educational engagement and reductions in serious dispositions, compared with a comparison group.

Date Posted: 10/16/2019 (CrimeSolutions)

This program was designed to provide adult support to suicidal youth following psychiatric care. The program is rated Promising. Program participants showed statistically significant improvements on mortality, suicide and drug-related deaths, outpatient psychotherapy sessions, medication follow-up sessions, and outpatient drug or alcohol treatment but not on suicidal ideation, suicide, depression, negative attitudes about the future, functional impairment, or inpatient drug or alcohol treatment.

Date Posted: 01/15/2015 (CrimeSolutions)