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It Takes a Community: Nine Principles for Effective Youth Services Organizations

From Peter Samuelson In 2014, the Thrive Foundation searched across the nation for organizations providing services to disadvantaged youth nationwide with a caring adult at the center of their program delivery model and found eight exemplary organizations. Led by Thrive’s Director of Research and Evaluation, Peter Samuelson, Ph.D., the foundation then embarked on an evaluation to […]

There’s no substitute for someone who gets you

by Laura Yoviene and Jean Rhodes We like people who “get” us–those friends and family members who seem to understand who we are at an intuitive level and yet love and appreciate us all the same. Students gravitate toward teachers, guidance counselors, and other adults who get them, which creates opportunities for these caring adults to influence students’ career choices and […]

In praise of mentors: Miss Blanchard, Mr. P, and the many caring adults who change our lives

I bid farewell to my dad on a brisk November morning in 1979. After our hugs, I climbed onto my new yellow moped, sped down our steep driveway, and headed toward school. It seemed odd to be arriving at school so early on a Saturday morning, but I was joined by other seniors who were also taking the […]

It Takes a Community to Heal Traumatized Youth, and Formal and Natural Mentors Have a Part to Play

By Cathy Anthofer-Fialon, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange Juvenile justice is a delicate dance between the court, families and the community. Juvenile justice began as a recognition that youth/children are different from adults and benefit from the rehabilitative nature of the court system. However, communities can demand youth be “taught a lesson” and pressure may be […]

When Mentoring First-Generation College Students, It Is The Little Things That Make The Difference

How to Help First-Generation Students Succeed A combination of simple nudges and regular check-ins from mentors can go a long way. Written by Mikhail Zinshteyn, Education Writers Association A few weeks ago Reina Olivas got on the phone with a freshman college student. “She was having a hard time with the cultural experience, the college […]

The Seeds of Extreme Self-Criticism Can Have Deadly Results: Implications for Mentors

Written by Michael O. Schroeder, U.S. News From a very early age, we learn – in a manner of speaking – to nitpick ourselves. We take information from those we encounter and the world around us to fine-tune how we act and who we are, taking note of what doesn’t work in an ongoing internal dialogue that stretches […]

How To Talk To Kids About Tragic Events

Written by Kelly Wallace, CNN After a horrific event like the terrorism in Brussels or the Paris attacks, parents are faced with this dilemma: What do I tell my kids? How can I talk to them about something so senseless and indiscriminate? About something that we can’t make sense of ourselves? “When we feel ourselves […]

Mentoring For Youth With Backgrounds Of Involvement In Commercial Sex Activity

Group Review Board David DuBois, Ph.D., Chair and Jennifer K. Felner (University of Illinois at Chicago) National Mentoring Resource Center This review examines research on mentoring for youth with backgrounds of involvement (or high-risk for involvement) in commercial sex activity (YCSA). The review is organized around four questions: What is the documented effectiveness of mentoring […]

Mentoring: A Key Part of the Conversation at White House Summit

By: Noelle Hurd I am just returning from a day-long summit at the White House. The summit was sponsored by FLOTUS’s office and was titled Beating the Odds: Successful Strategies from Schools & Youth Agencies that Build Ladders of Opportunity. The summit was part of the First Lady’s Reach Higher Initiative(https://www.whitehouse.gov/reach-higher) which broadly focuses on […]

Part 2: A Novel Program Provides a Network of Support for At-Risk Youth

How a Tapestry of Care Helps Teens Succeed By David Bornstein In the second installment of a two-part series on Thread, the Baltimore-based social support program, author David Bornstein revisits the organization and examines the structural aspects of its programmatic success. From the author’s description of Thread’s programming, “The organization works with public high school […]