Facts
Why Mentoring?
At Friends for Youth, we know that mentoring works. We see the changes every day when positive, healthy adult role models are given a chance to impact the life of a youth. However, to those who haven’t yet had the chance to see the difference that the mentors and programs at Friends for Youth have made for themselves, here are some basic statistics that we’ve compiled from 2023 that demonstrate mentoring makes a difference.
In 2023, Friends for Youth served a total of 335 youth in the five-county Denver-Metro area that were involved in the juvenile justice, child welfare, foster care systems, and schools.
Of the 72 youth served in the One-to-One Community Mentoring Program: 92% spent at least one year in a mentoring relationship with a caring adult; 82% successfully completed probation, did not incur further charges, or remained out of the Juvenile Justice system; 93% identified their match as positive and beneficial; 86% stayed in school, graduated from high school, or pursued a GED or secondary education.
Of the 106 youth served in the Site-Based Group Mentoring Program: 86% attended group each week; 98% rated their experience as positive and beneficial; 81% demonstrated an increase in developmental assets and 11% also received a one-to-one mentor. With the recent implementation of The Diamond Standard curriculum and complimentary evaluation measure, data collection for program evaluation is still in process.
Of the 72 youth served in the Success Journey Program: 86% of youth in their first year with Success Journey did not re-offend or incur new charges while on parole; 88% spent at least one year in a one-to-one relationship with a caring adult.
In 2023, Friends for Youth served a total of 335 youth in the five-county Denver-Metro area that were involved in the juvenile justice, child welfare, foster care systems, and schools.
Of the 72 youth served in the One-to-One Community Mentoring Program: 92% spent at least one year in a mentoring relationship with a caring adult; 82% successfully completed probation, did not incur further charges, or remained out of the Juvenile Justice system; 93% identified their match as positive and beneficial; 86% stayed in school, graduated from high school, or pursued a GED or secondary education.
Of the 106 youth served in the Site-Based Group Mentoring Program: 86% attended group each week; 98% rated their experience as positive and beneficial; 81% demonstrated an increase in developmental assets and 11% also received a one-to-one mentor. With the recent implementation of The Diamond Standard curriculum and complimentary evaluation measure, data collection for program evaluation is still in process.
Of the 72 youth served in the Success Journey Program: 86% of youth in their first year with Success Journey did not re-offend or incur new charges while on parole; 88% spent at least one year in a one-to-one relationship with a caring adult.
The Challenge
In Colorado alone, we have 10,503 youth who are in out of home placements, 359,000 children living in a single parent home, 7,751 youth who are incarcerated and 12,002 documented gang members.
Perhaps one of the most staggering statistics is that 89% of the youth that we work with have absolutely no father, no father figure, or male role model.
But don’t let the statistics fool you – even though 11% may have a father, a large portion of these youth have been removed from the home due to abuse and neglect. There are youth that we serve that are wards of the state, bouncing between residential treatment centers who never get a visitor, even on Christmas and their birthday.
This continues to reinforce to our younger generation that nobody loves them and they have no value.
They could not be more wrong.
What these youth need is someone who loves and cares about them, no strings attached. They need a caring adult role model, a mentor.
While we are seeing a crisis with youth in Colorado that continue to fall through the cracks, there is a solution.
The Solution
While many of Colorado’s youth continue to fall through the cracks, we have found an amazing, breakthrough system that invests in youth people, teaches them skills, gives them hope, and helps them to invest in a brighter future for themselves. Are you ready for it? It is called mentoring and it is just a phone call away (hint – 303-756-9285).
All that may sound well and good, but we can back it up, too. Remember that recitivism rate? 80%. Under our Success Journey program, youth who spend the full year in the program with a mentor have a 96% success rate. That equates to a 4% recitivism rate.
But wait, there’s more. More than 85% of our youth who are matched with a mentor in our 1-to-1 program stay matched for a full year and most report better grades and higher self esteem. In our site-based groups, many of the kids week-to-week report that the best thing that happened to them was the group session and having the mentors visit them.
From doing mentoring for 15 years, we have found that when we take caring volunteers, place them with youth who have no positive adult role model, something unbelievable and unexpected happens – the kids like it!
What we do isn’t rocket science. We care for kids by spending time with them and loving them and encouraging them, and all of it combines to produce a very powerful message to our youth: You matter.
We have lofty dreams. We want every kid in Colorado to know what a healthy, positive adult looks like. But that gets a little hard unless we have a surplus of healthy, positive adults, right?
It turns out that the kids need someone to care about them. They need a mentor. They need you.
The Need
We know that providing for the needs of the thousands of kids with troubling situations in Colorado is a huge challenge. We also know that mentoring makes a huge difference. How do we put two and two together?
Simple. We need volunteers to step up and work with these kids and the funding to make it all happen.
If you feel called to come alongside a child and begin the mentoring process, we’d love to talk with you. Simply contact us to get the ball rolling.
If you feel that direct mentoring isn’t for you, but you are interested in make a financial contribution, please get a hold of us directly. There is no pressure and you can feel free to give wherever you are at.
The Need
We know that providing for the needs of the thousands of kids with troubling situations in Colorado is a huge challenge. We also know that mentoring makes a huge difference. How do we put two and two together?
Simple. We need volunteers to step up and work with these kids and the funding to make it all happen.
If you feel called to come alongside a child and begin the mentoring process, we’d love to talk with you. Simply contact us to get the ball rolling.
If you feel that direct mentoring isn’t for you, but you are interested in make a financial contribution, please get a hold of us directly. There is no pressure and you can feel free to give wherever you are at.