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OJJDP officials promote mentoring but warn programs must follow proven practices
Summary
OJJDP officials and speakers at the teleconference said mentoring can help reduce juvenile crime and substance abuse, but warned many mentoring efforts fail without training, careful matching and sustained commitment; a Phoenix example was cited as successful practice.
Shay Bilchik told the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's national teleconference that although juvenile crime saw recent downturns, the nation faces increases in juvenile substance abuse and earlier increases in youth offending. He said mentoring is a promising tool to "beat back this challenge" when implemented with fidelity.
Bilchik cautioned against poorly designed mentoring that pairs well-intentioned adults with at-risk youth without training, careful matching or long-term commitment. "Many times what ends up happening is you just let these kids down," he said, urging programs to adopt sustained, practice-driven approaches.
Bilchik cited a program example in Phoenix and credited a practitioner named Caroline for producing results there; the transcript references the Phoenix example but does not provide Caroline's full name or additional program details.
John J. Wilson's announcement that OJJDP will develop performance-based standards for health services in juvenile facilities was framed as part of the agency's response to the study and to improving conditions that affect rehabilitation and program outcomes.
The teleconference emphasized program quality: officials recommended mentoring follow evidence-based principles—training, matching, and sustained commitment—while noting that broader system reforms and standards development remain necessary. Specific program names, funding amounts and timelines were not specified in the transcript.
