Mentors for Youth of Color in the Justice System
Many jurisdictions want models on how to recruit mentors of color for youth in the justice system, so here's two: the Reclaiming Futures site in Dayton, Ohio site is a great example (I plan to feature them in more detail in the near future), and so is the Seattle Reclaiming Futures site, whose 4C Coalition I featured in December.
At that time, the 4C Coalition had just joined the National CARES Mentoring Movement, which is devoted to connecting African-American youth with mentors of color, and has mentoring "circles" in 38 communities across the country. This month, the 4C Coalition is working with local churches to have "mentoring Sundays" throughout the month of May, and on June 17th, they'll be hosting a mentor "rally", using the star power of Susan L. Taylor, the former editor of Essence magazine who founded the CARES Mentoring Movement.
[Update: I've just been informed that the 4C Coalition netted 30 volunteers eager to mentor kids as part of one Mentor Sunday it held this month.]
I hope everyone's taking notes ... And if you've got other examples of mentoring programs that have been effective at recruiting mentors for kids in the justice system, leave a comment and let me know!
I am a mentor to youth within the community. We have been very successful with our group mentoring program (Boys to Men)at two of our South Los Angeles Public Libraries for young male youth. We conduct montly workshops for young men ages 11-17 where men come share their knowledge, advice and interact with the younger men.
That's fantastic. If you want to email me your contact info, I'd love to learn more about the program.
I am very interested in the mentoring program in Los Angeles. I would love more information. My contact email is mpacheco@pubdef.lacounty.gov.
Hi Maureen - I've already emailed you about this, but I thought I should indicate publicly that your comment had been seen. The person who left the comment about the mentoring program in L.A. libraries hasn't emailed me with contact info, and I've not found the program through Google, so I'm afraid I'm in the dark for the time being. I'll let you know if I hear anything, though.