National Mentoring Month and More - a Roundup

January is National Mentoring Month

• Read the president's proclamation.
• Olivia's Story: one youth breaks free from drugs, alcohol, and crime. In case you missed it, we recently posted the moving story of a young woman, Olivia, and her journey out of a life of crime and drugs. She thanks a lot of people for helping her do it, but her mentor's among those at the top of the list. Check it out!
• Ideas for celebrating National Mentoring Month (including Thank-Your-Mentor Day, on January 25) from the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY).
• More from NCFY:
  • A "mentoring hub" consortium in Ohio that might give you ideas for streamlining recruitment and matching mentors to youth.
  • A whole issue of the journal New Directions in Youth Development devoted to promising practices in youth mentoring.
  • Funding: Tribal Youth National Mentoring Program from the Department of Justice (DOJ). Application deadline is February 28, 2011.  There's also a National Mentoring Program grant from DOJ, but as I read it, it's only open to national organizations. Still, if you're eligible, check it out -- the deadline to apply is also February 28, 2011.
    

  
Engaging Young People

• Whether you're formally mentoring youth or you serve them another way, you'll find these resources that I found via sparkaction invaluable:
  • Children as Citizens: Engaging Adolescents in Research on Exposure to Violence - This seminar, hosted by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), will be held in Washington, D.C. on January 25, 2011, from 11 am-12:30 pm. Don't worry if you can't make it, as it will be recorded and posted to the NIJ website. 
  • Core Principles for Engaging Young People in Community Change - An excellent resource from the Forum for Youth Investment (FYI).
  • Youth Adult Partnerships in Public Action - A guide to building effective partnerships with youth, also from FYI.
  • Adding it Up: Guide to Mapping Public Resources - How to draw up a children, family, and youth resource map, and what having one can do for your community.
  • Building Effective Youth Councils - yet another resource from FYI. Although aimed at helping states and localities support their youth councils, I'm confident that this guide could be usefully applied to young people in or leaving the juvenile justice system (or in alcohol and drug treatment) who are ready for leadership and growth. 

 
 
More Juvenile Justice System and Adolescent Substance Abuse News

• The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has published its proposed program plan for 2011 (hat tip to JUVJUST).  You can submit comments on it until February 28, 2011.
• Want to know what the producer of "Beyond 'Scared Straight'" thinks of the overwhelming amount of research showing that "Scared Straight" is ineffective and makes kids more likely to commit crimes?  He says, "Academic studies don't work." Since those studies show the program hurts kids and their communities (and yes they do great followup, contrary to his assertion that they don't), I suppose he'd have to believe that. What do you think?
• Getting the Facts Straight about Girls in the Juvenile Justice System - A handy short report from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's Center for Girls and Young Women.  From 2009. 
• Webinar: Implications of Health Care Reform for the Addiction Services Workforce - Sponsored by the Addiction Technolgoy Transfer Center (ATTC) Network, this webinar will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2011 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EST. Follow the link to learn more.