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Trauma-responsive Educational Practices: Providing Schools with Tools to Address the Youth Mental Health Crisis

By Anusha Chinthalapale, Reprinted from the American Youth Policy Forum Our youth are facing ever-increasing amounts of trauma and often expected to participate in classroom instruction and interact with educators, administrators, and other students as if none of the trauma exists. And the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem, which was a recent focus of […]

Shapiro: In His State of the Union Address, President Biden Called on All Americans to Step Up for Students. Here Are 3 Places to Start

By David Shapiro (CEO of MENTOR), Reprinted from The74 Two years into the pandemic, the student mental health crisis is finally getting the attention it deserves. On the biggest stage in politics, President Joe Biden used part of his State of the Union address to call on all Americans to step up to support students […]

Just in time for summer: A new camper-counselor relationship questionnaire

Rubin, R. O., Johnson, S. K., Christensen, K. M., & Rhodes, J. (2022). Development and initial validation of a camper-counselor relationship scale. Applied Developmental Science.  https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2022.2056462 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest: Research on summer camps has consistently found evidence that campers develop skills that positively contribute to their development (such as self-esteem, independence, teamwork, […]

Racism, Stress, and Youth Safety in Activity Spaces

By Dr. Anna Ortega-Williams, Dr. Jamie M. Booth, Dr. Dashawna J. Fussell-Ware, Dr. Yolanda Lawrence, Donnell Pearl, Ny’Ela Chapman, Reprinted from the Society for Research on Adolescence From Society for Research on Adolescence There is a gap in research wherein Black youths’ experiences of racism in routine spaces are sparsely documented. In their latest article […]

Familial Mentors May Help Promote Close Parent-Adolescent Relationships in Black Families

Source: Pexels By Janelle Billingsley, Reprinted from Youth NEX Studies show that a strong sense of connectedness to parents may protect Black youth from experiencing negative outcomes associated with exposure to anti-Black racism and structural inequality. [1,2] However, parents’ ability to support their children may be complicated during adolescence as parents and youth often experience […]

Black Children and Adolescents Can Achieve Greater Heights With Research-informed Policies and Practices

By Mavis Sanders, Joy Thompson, Kristen Harper, Reprinted from Child Trends Racial disparities in many indicators of child well-being (e.g., school suspension, suicide, exposure to violence, juvenile arrests) illustrate the need to improve Black children’s and adolescents’ experiences and outcomes across multiple domains, including education, health, child welfare, and criminal justice. However, to promote a […]

Predictors of foster care youths’ engagement in preventive interventions

Hambrick, E., Lee, S.-K., Weiler, L., Collins, J. O., Rhodes, T., & Taussig, H. (2022). Engagement in a preventive intervention for preadolescent children in foster care: Considerations for intervention design. Child Psychiatry & Human Development.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01341-8 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest: High levels of engagement are essential for preventative interventions. However, it’s challenging […]

Mentoring Young People Can Change Lives And Change Communities—and America Needs Many More Mentors

By Marvin Krislov, Reprinted from Forbes I’m a big believer in the power of mentorship. I know I’ve benefited from the support and wisdom of mentors. And, as I’ve written before, I’ve seen how that kind of coaching and support can be both a big benefit for college students and a benefit to those who […]

Reimagining Critical Mentorship for Equity-Deserving Youth

By Princess Asiedu, Emily Lim, & Ossob Nur, Reprinted from Youth REX How can we expand our understanding of youth mentorship in ways that center the strengths and voices of young people, promote intergenerational and multidirectional learning, and advance social justice? We delved into some of the infinite answers to this question during Critical Youth […]

New study explores how individual & environmental stressors and presenting challenges affect youth mentoring outcomes

Poon, C. Y. S., Herrera, C., Jarjoura, R., McQuillin, S. D., Keller, T. E., & Rhodes, J. E. (2022). Deconstructing “risk” in youth mentoring programs: How environmental stressors and presenting challenges shape mentoring relationship outcomes. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 02724316221078833. https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316221078833 Summarized by Ariel Ervin   Notes of Interest: A majority of mentoring programs serve underrepresented youth […]