Posts

Mentors helping students prepare for college: More than just making the grade

Woods, C. & Preciado, M. (2016). Student–Mentor Relationships and Students’ College Attitudes. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 21(2), 90-103. DOI: 10.1080/10824669.2015.1127767 Summarized by Justin Preston   Introduction Research has demonstrated that low-income high school students are less likely to plan for college, apply to selective colleges and universities, and complete a […]

Mentoring for young people leaving foster care: Promise and potential pitfalls

Spencer, R., Collins, M. E., Ward, R., & Smashnaya, S. (2010). Mentoring for young people leaving foster care: Promise and potential pitfalls. Social work, 55(3), 225-234. Summarized by Jeremy Astesano Notes of Interest: Children in foster care, who lose access to that support system around the time they legally become adults, are a group who can benefit […]

Profiles in Mentoring: A Conversation with Johanna Greeson on Natural Mentoring and Foster Care

Below is a profile of Professor Johanna Greeson. Johanna’s excellent new book will be out next month!  by Kate Powers Introduction: Johanna Greeson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Greeson received her MSW from Bryn Mawr College in 1999, and then returned to […]

Foster care youth speak: We need career mentoring!

Hudson, A. (2015). Career mentoring needs of youths in foster care: Voices for change. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 26, 131-137. Background Once young adults age out of the foster care system they are more likely than their non-fostered peers to experience homelessness, poverty, incarceration, and a variety of mental health issues. According […]

Study Finds Positive Physical and Mental Health Outcomes for Mentored Foster Care Youth

Ahrens, K. R., DuBois, D. L., Richardson, L. P., Fan, M. Y., & Lozano, P. (2008). Youth in foster care with adult mentors during adolescence have improved adult outcomes. Pediatrics, 121(2), e246-e252. Summarized by Elyssa Weber, UMB clinical psychology doctoral student Introduction: Young adults in foster care are more likely to have poorer physical and […]

Important study of mentoring for higher-risk youth

Mentoring Experiences and Outcomes for Youth with Varying Risk Profiles by Carla Herrera, David L. DuBois, Jean Baldwin Grossman reprinted from MDRC More and more, mentoring programs are being asked to serve young people who are considered “higher risk.” While mentoring has a strong research base generally, relatively little is known about mentoring programs’ capacities to […]

When College students mentor high-risk youth: Two important lessons

summarized by Stella Kanchewa Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 69-78. Introduction: Credit bearing service-learning experiences for college students can mutually engender growth among students who participate within these courses and the communities they serve. Students’ experiences within these courses encourage increasing awareness of social inequities (e.g., systemic oppression, marginalization and privilege), particularly biases and […]

Research identifies key program features to support success for youth with disabilities

Lindsay, S., Hartman, L. R., & Fellin, M. (2016). A systematic review of mentorship programs to facilitate transition to post-secondary education and employment for youth and young adults with disabilities. Disability & Rehabilitation, 38(14), 1329-1340. Summarized by Jessica Cunningham Background: Youth with disabilities encounter barriers when attempting to gain access to higher education and the […]

Researchers propose pyramid model for mentoring African American youth

Washington, G., Barnes, D., & Watts, R. J. (2014). Reducing risk for youth violence by promoting healthy development with pyramid mentoring: A proposal for a culturally centered group mentoring. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24646-657. doi:10.1080/10911359.2014.922789 Summarized by Julia Mancini   Notes of Interest: This article describes the development of a comprehensive […]

New program combines coding and mentoring to help at-risk youth

Written by Jessica Guynn and Megan Diskin, USA TODAY CAMARILLO and SAN QUENTIN, Calif. — Inside an aging brick facility ringed by a chain-link fence and agricultural fields, 14 young people convicted of violent crimes are trying to program a better future for themselves. For the last two months they’ve been learning to write code through a first-of-its-kind pilot program at the Ventura […]