Entries by Monica Arkin

[Webinar] Capacity Building Strategies for Smaller Mentoring Organizations

Many youth mentoring programs in the U.S. are smaller-scale programs that serve fewer than 100 mentor matches. Smaller programs often have limited staff time that is split between supporting mentor matches, recruiting new mentors, and raising funding to keep the lights on. In this webinar, we will explore proven capacity building strategies for smaller organizations […]

Ask Congress to Stand up for Mentoring

Over the next few weeks Congress will decide funding levels for some of the nation’s most important federal programs. We want the needs of young people to be top of mind for members of Congress right now. Mentoring programs look very different due to the impact of COVID-19. Programs across the nation are connecting young […]

Mentoring organizations impact mentors, too

Ellison, R. L., Cory, M., Horwath, J., Barnett, A., & Huppert, E. (2020). Can mentor organizations impact mentor outcomes? Assessing organizational norms on mentor intent to stay and willingness to “go the extra mile.” Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22391 Summarized by Monica Arkin  Notes of Interest: While most youth mentoring research focuses on youth outcomes, […]

Program evaluation is critical to determine whether children’s needs are adequately addressed

Axford, A., Bjornstad, G., Matthews, J., Whybra, L., Berry, V., Ukoumunne, O. C., Hobbs, T., Wrigley, Z., Brook, L., … & Warner, G. (2020). The effectiveness of a community-based mentoring program for children aged 5–11 years: Results from a randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-020-01132-4 Summarized by Monica Arkin Notes of Interest: This randomized controlled […]

Social-emotional development is critical to prevent youth violence

Malti, T. (2020). Children and Violence: Nurturing Social‐Emotional Development to Promote Mental Health. Social Policy Report, 33(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/sop2.8 Summarized Monica Arkin Notes of interest: While research on violence in children and youth tends to focus on risk factors, this article focuses on protective factors. Positive social-emotional development is a central protective factor that helps children […]

Lessons Learned for Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Y-USA’s Out-of-School Time Programs

By Zakia Redd, Kristine Andrews, and Fadumo M. Abdi, Child Trends The following is an executive summary of a longer brief, which is available here. Youth development program practitioners, policymakers, and funders are increasingly interested in how out-of-school time (OST) programs can effectively reach and engage diverse populations of young people. Indeed, research indicates that […]

Recommendations for applying a social justice lens to youth mentoring

Albright, J. N., Hurd, N. M., & Hussain, S. B. (2017). Applying a Social Justice Lens to Youth Mentoring: A Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Practice. Society for Community Research and Action. DOI 10.1002/ajcp.12143. Summarized by Karina DeAndrade and Harry Bayly Notes of Interest The authors reviewed literature on youth mentoring initiatives that […]

What’s Worrying Teenagers Right Now

By Ana Homayoun, New York Times Published June 11, 2020; Updated June 18, 2020 According to Nancy Lublin, the chief executive and co-founder of Crisis Text Line, a free mental health texting service providing confidential crisis intervention, the top three topics in conversations since the pandemic began have been “anxiety,” “depression” and “relationships.” But in the past […]

The impact of natural mentors on developing youth in foster care

Greeson, J. K. P., Weiler, L. M., Thompson, A. E., Taussig, H. N. (2016). A First Look At Natural Mentoring Among Preadolescent Foster Children. Journal of Communit Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/jcop.21788 Summarized by Karina DeAndrade and Harry Bayly Notes of Interest: This study focused on the effects of natural mentors and their impact on preadolescent foster […]

Professor Sonia Livingstone on parenting for a digital future

Professor Sonia Livingstone of the London School of Economics and Political Science spoke with The Chronicle about her new book with Alicia Blum-Ross, Parenting for a Digital Future: How Hopes and Fears about Technology Shape Children’s Lives. Tell us about your new book. There are so many anxieties about digital parenting! These have been building […]