Is it a Mentoring Program a Street Outreach Program or Both? Safe and Successful Youth Initiative

• In Event: Evaluating Reentry and Desistance Programs

Abstract

This session describes results from a study examining the evidence-based mentoring aspects of a street outreach violence intervention called the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI). SSYI is considered a 'Promising Practice' by Crime Solutions and is implemented in more than a dozen cities in Massachusetts since 2012. Past research on SSYI has shown that the dosage and duration of contact between participants and staff is directly related to reduced recidvisim. In the current study, SSYI participants were surveyed using validated scales from the evidence-based mentoring literature to examine the degree to which prior dosage and duration results are acting as proxies for the program using evidence-based mentoring practices, despite no explicit staff training or program components focused on mentoring as an intervention approach. Findings from the survey strongly support the existence of evidence-based mentoring practices and related improvements in youth well-being outcomes, consistent with findings in the mentoring literature. Implications for adopting evidence-based mentoring practices as a formal enhancement to street outreach violence intervention programs like SSYI will be discussed, and placed in contrast with the credible messenger mentoring approaches that typically do not contain evidence-based practices from the mentoring research literature.

Author

• Patricia Campie, The Genoa Group