Mentoring Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth: Positive Supports for Youth - PowerPoint Presentation

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Mentoring Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth: Positive Supports for Youth

Breaking the Cycle of Recidivism:

Transitioning Young People from Juvenile Delinquency Placements Back to Local Communities A Statewide Summit on Juvenile Reentry

December 14, 2012

G. Roger

Jarjoura, American

Institutes for ResearchSlide2

Some Assumptions

Not necessarily new informationMentoring is aboutInvesting in relationship

ChoicesModeling behaviorTeamwork is critical for successIt is difficult to accurately predict when it is time to give up on any particular youthWho a person “is” is not necessarily demonstrated by their behaviorMentoring is about giving, but we can’t take it personallySlide3

DefinitionReentry refers to the return of the offender from a placement outside of the home community back to the home community. Slide4

Note:Reentry or “Going Home” is what most juvenile offenders think about from the time they enter confinement until the moment they leave. Slide5

The Philosophy of Juvenile Reentry

Should include:Exit upon EntryPrinciples of balanced and restorative justiceSlide6

Exit upon Entry

A model for Reentry and Transition Services From the moment youths enter the facility, staff are implementing programs, services, and activities that support the youth’s successful exit from the facility and reentry into the community Beginning the process immediately is an important element of reentrySlide7

Balanced and Restorative Justice philosophy

Goals include:Community ProtectionAccountability

factors including restoring the community and victims for the harm done to them Core Competency Development allowing offenders to leave the juvenile justice system better prepared to successfully reenter the community than when they arrivedSlide8

NJDA’s vision statement reads:

The most efficient way to return a juvenile to a healthy, law abiding lifestyle is through healthy relationships with healthyadults in healthy environments.Slide9

Consider the following:

“Every reentry implies removal. As the degree of removal increases, the efforts required for successful reentry also increase.”The act of removing a juvenile from home, school, neighborhood, faith community, and friends can easily be negative and disruptive despite its intended positive outcomes.Slide10

Reentry challenges?

Community may not want them next doorGovernment restrictions on job and housingParole/probation officers have overwhelming caseloadsEx-offenders unaware of services that may be available to meet their needs

Little coordination between service providersSlide11

Putting this altogether:

Few resourcesFew skillsInadequate monitoringLeads to turning back to crimeSlide12

Success is Enhanced

When treatment spans the period of incarceration and the release period (Continuity of care)Vocational and job-training/preparationRaising educational attainmentDrug treatment programs inside and outComprehensive case managementTransition TeamsSlide13

CONFINEMENT

Institution

Community

Community

Reentry

Commitment

Successful

Termination

NORMALIZATION

TRANSITION

1. Pre-release Planning

3. Reintegration Activities

2. Structured Re-entry

The Continuum of Intervention for Youth CorrectionsSlide14

Phase 1: Making the Plan – Protect and Prepare

Making the Plan – Protect and Prepare refers to institution based programs designed to prepare offenders to reenter society.

Effective Assessment. The better the match between offender needs and programs and services, the greater the likelihood of success. Balanced assessments include a risk assessment (identification of those issues that increase the likelihood of recidivism), protective factor assessment (identification of those factors that work to prevent recidivism), and strengths-based assessment (identification of a place to start).Slide15

Phase 2: Transitioning Home – Control and Restore

People and agencies from the community are coming into the facilities to work with youth before they leave.There is a plan developed prior to release.Slide16

Phase 3: Staying Home – Sustain and Support

Sustaining momentum is a difficult task.The responsibility and productivity phase follows the successful completion of the reintegration plan.

Community-based, long-term support targets resources for the purpose of establishing networks of support for the offenders that will be sustained in the absence of juvenile justice supervision.Slide17

Why Mentoring?Adult guidance, support

Problem solving Transfer of support from confinement to chaos of daily lifeSlide18

Some Specific Protective Factors

active involvement in extracurricular eventsinvolvement in “required helpfulness”support outside the home environmentinterest in school and learningrelationships with other adults that are based on strong interpersonal skills and professional competenceSlide19

How it Works

significant adult relationships and positive use of time lead to:encouragement, high expectations, support system, recognition, and accomplishment, all of which leads to:self-efficacy, goals-oriented, personal responsibility, optimism, internal expectations, and coping ability

the end result is resiliency, or successSlide20

Why Do Some Avoid Delinquency?

They do not have the opportunity (includes effective supervision)The stakes are too high That is not who they areSome do not get caught!Slide21

Don’t Underestimate the Effect of Staying Busy

Positive activitiesProsocial peer networksEducationBut work is not always a good thingSlide22

Mentoring

From the research we know that mentoring is an effective intervention for:Predelinquents

DelinquentsJuvenile offenders returning from incarcerationWhen it is done correctly, it is a “Best Practice.” Slide23

What It Costs

Mentoring programs do not require a great deal of financial resourcesOn the other hand, when there is not a sufficient infrastructure to recruit, screen, train, and supervise the mentors, the mentoring is not likely to make a difference and may even be harmful for the youths.Slide24

What is Mentoring?

Supportive relationships with adults other than parentsAdult role models—the evidence points to better results for mentors over 21, with maturity and life experiences being critical factors

Caring adults—the motivation of the mentor is significantVolunteers as mentorsSlide25

Principle 1:

Start with a big vision for the ultimate outcome—Productively engaged adult citizensSlide26

Don’t aim too low

Why are the kids we serve different from our own children?Slide27

Life Prep

What is adult world like?What is the modern workplace all about?What skills and knowledge are required for competence on the job?It’s about fostering work-life readinessSlide28

Employers Would Like…

Communication skills—verbal and writtenHonesty/integrityTeamwork skillsInterpersonal skillsStrong work ethicHow can you have influence here?Slide29

Principle 2:

Understand adolescent development and how juvenile reentry programs fit into the processSlide30

This Means Focusing on Each:

CompetencyLife skillsPositive development—Strengths-basedInterpersonal skills (emotional intelligence)

AccountabilityDecision making and problem solvingSlide31

Normal Adolescent Development

Impulsivity declines with ageSensation-seeking declines with ageFuture orientation increases with ageAs people age, they spend more time thinking before they act

Resistance to peer pressure increases with ageBased on scholarship of Griffin (2010), Northwestern University Law SchoolSlide32

Consider:

From: Gardner and Steinberg (2005) “

Peer Influence on Risk Taking, Risk Preference, and Risky Decision Making in Adolescence and Adulthood: An Experimental Study” Developmental PsychologySlide33

When Kids Experience Trauma during Childhood

They experience delays in developmental milestonesHave higher rates of learning disabilitiesExperience difficulties with problem solvingAre more impulsive and engage in problem behaviors at higher rates

Struggle with interpersonal relationships and emotional intelligenceSlide34

Balanced and Restorative Justice philosophy

Goals include:Community ProtectionAccountability

factors including restoring the community and victims for the harm done to them Core Competency Development allowing offenders to leave the juvenile justice system better prepared to successfully reenter the community than when they arrivedSlide35

Mentoring Programs

Can inspire and guide people to pursue successful and productive futures, reaching their potential through positive relationships and

utilization of community resources Slide36

Mentoring Can be Transformative

Here we are looking for mentors to do more than simply “hang out” with the young peopleIf mentors are properly prepared, they can influence the youth in meaningful and significant ways

We may not see immediate short-term changes, but long-term personal growth has a lot to do with the adults in their livesSlide37

Mentors Can Build Skills in…

Decision MakingProblem SolvingAccessing Resources

Healthy RelationshipsSlide38

Principle 3:

It is all about Relationships and Contexts (and Time)Slide39

Consider the risk factors that contribute to the likelihood that the youths are going to be delinquent

Dysfunctional Family

Problems in SchoolChallenges around work

Negative Peers

Drugs and Alcohol

Disadvantaged

neighborhoods

Low academic achievement

Low self-esteem

Choices about spending leisure timeSlide40

These can all be reframed in terms of dysfunctional relationships

The relationship the kids have with their families

The relationship they have with their teachersThe relationship they have with work

The relationship they have with their peers

The relationship they have with drugs and alcohol

The relationship they have with the community

The relationship they have with learning

The relationship they have with themselves

The relationship they have with their free time

The relationship they have with moneySlide41

Context is Typically Underestimated

NJDA’s vision statement reads:The most efficient way to return a juvenile to a healthy, law abiding lifestyle is through healthy relationships with healthy adults in healthy environments.Slide42

Time: A Numbers Game

Think about the number of hours there are in a weekHow much of that time will a youth spend in the “company” of a mentor?How is the remaining time being spent? Slide43

Reality: Mentoring is Hard

only about one third of all matches turn into significant relationshipsit is not easy to “make a difference”

sometimes the needs of the youth are profoundmentors are just one influence amid many on the lives of the youngstersSlide44

Principle 4:

Find mentor programs that are R

ight Slide45

Critical components of effective

programs:Recruitment strategyEffective screening process

Effective orientation and ongoing training for mentorsSupport systems for mentorsStructured activities for the mentor and mentee are helpful for building the relationshipSlide46

Critical components of effective

programs:The more frequent the contact the betterSupport and involvement of the parents helps improve outcomes

Resources for mentors and families when needs are identifiedOngoing monitoring of program implementationSlide47

Effective Programs

incorporate practices that support mentor retention so the relationship does not terminate early if the mentor loses motivation or becomes overwhelmed. maintaining the mentor’s motivation through training, supervision, ongoing support, accountability, and recognition of their efforts fosters retentionSlide48

First Things First…

a good screening process can assess whether someone has the qualities and qualifications suitable for a relationship with a system-involved youthalso provides potential mentors with an accurate picture of the types of issues and problems they can expect to encounter working with court-involved youth Slide49

Screening Matters

An important part of retaining mentors is making sure the right people are brought on board from the start Slide50

Team Mentoring

A strategy that builds support and accountability for the mentorsA way to minimize the likelihood that mentors or mentees fall through the cracks when the mentor-mentee match doesn’t work outA way to build in natural selection to the match process, increasing the likelihood of a successful matchSlide51

Some Common Challenges

youth doesn’t return phone callsyouth doesn’t show up for meetings

youth is rude and hostile towards the mentoryouth doesn’t talk to mentoryouth is sexually promiscuousyouth breaks the lawyouth shows up high or intoxicatedmentor doesn’t know what to do with youthmentor feels overwhelmed by the youth’s problems

mentor doesn’t agree with the youth’s valuesmentor is frustrated by lack of impact on youthSlide52

Effective Programs

focus their efforts on tapping into the internal motivation of mentors by helping them become more competentassessing the relevance of their work

building their sense of belonging to a worthwhile effortSlide53

Consider the Following Scenario

A mentor and mentee are hanging out. The mentee says: “I didn’t feel like going to work yesterday, so I called in and said I was sick.”The “right” mentor would respond how? Pick one of the following responses:Slide54

The Mentor would Respond:

I understand. If I was only making $7.50 an hour, I would call in sick too if I didn’t feel like working.

That reminds me of a time that I called in sick so that I could go to the beach with my college friends. It was a nice day and we picked up some beer along the way and had a great time!Slide55

OR…

You are kidding. That was very irresponsible of you! You will not hold onto that job for very long playing those kinds of games.What do you think that was like for your boss and the rest of the staff? Have you been at work when someone else called in sick? What was that like? If your boss gets used to not having you around, how do you think this might affect you? Is there some other way you could have handled not wanting to go to work?Slide56

Is it

Important that Mentors are Volunteers?while there are some models of intensive mentoring (over 10 hours per week) for which the mentors are paid an hourly wage, most youths do not require this level of support

when we ask mentors to take on therapeutic roles, the mentoring piece may be neglectedoffering compensation for a mentor’s time complicates the screening and recruitment processes—you want mentors who want to make a difference in the lives of a youth, not those just looking for additional forms of incomeSlide57

How do we shape the mentoring experiences?

The best evidence we have is that one-on-one mentoring is the most effective--this does not mean, however, that one mentor cannot successfully work with more than one youth at a time, as long as the youths receive individual personal attention

The evidence also leans in favor of same-sex matches between mentor and menteeSlide58

How do we shape the mentoring experiences?

Mentors should be asked to make a commitment for a specific length of time—it is common to require one yearSlide59

Inoculation of Your Mentors

If we tell the new volunteers they are likely to want to quit for certain reasons (that we walk them through), it decreases the probability they will actually quit when faced with the challenges they were warned aboutSlide60

Things like:

System-involved youth have been let down by adults many times. They are likely to keep the mentors at arms length for some period of time until the mentor “passes the test.” This is a transient population and the youths may change residences, have their phone numbers disconnected or changed, or may spend very little time at home making it difficult to catch them. Slide61

And…

Many adults have a hard time with the progress that these youth demonstrate—it is often very slow and can involve several missteps and relapses along the way.

The strongest mentor-mentee relationships grow out of crises and conflicts—yet mentors will be inclined to avoid the youth while they are dealing with conflict and crises.There are many potentially upsetting elements to working with this population. Mentors need to learn to look for support and not look for the way out of the program.Slide62

Expectations

In any crisis—big or small—mentors need to know not only who to call and their phone number, but also that they are expected to call Without accountability, time together can easily slip into simply “hanging out” Key issues:

Maintaining contact with menteesWhat happens when kids get into trouble or are moved without notice? Make sure mentors have comprehensive contact information and plans to be in touch!Slide63

More on shaping the mentoring

experienceMentoring is going to be more effective if it involves regular (at least weekly) contact over an extended period of time.

The youths anticipate that adults are not in it for the long term and when they learn otherwise, they take the kinds of risks in the relationship with their mentors that lead to real personal growth and development.Slide64

Mentor Accountability

How do you plan to hold mentors accountable?What messages do they hear from you?Are those messages empowering or discouraging?Slide65

Additional Considerations

In programs working with delinquents, it is helpful initially at least to be able to leverage the participation of the youths with the mentors. At the same time, it is important that the mentor have some input in case dispositions—if the mentor wants to advocate on behalf of the youth, it can strengthen the relationship if it appears that the mentor’s input is at least considered.Slide66

Principle 5:

Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Single MomentSlide67

This is about things like…

Are you “impeccable” and thoughtful with your words?Are you more likely to ask questions or to lecture?Do youth believe that you LISTEN to them? Are they correct?

What do youth learn by watching your behavior?Would you say you are “Mentor-like”?