Relationship between adult mentors and placement outcomes among at-risk youth

Approximately 1.3 million students drop out of school each year (National Guard Youth Foundation, 2012). The Youth ChalleNGe Program, which caters to at-risk youths who have dropped out of high school, utilizes a mentoring program. This study examines the relationship between the youth having regular contact with a mentor and the youth’s placement outcomes. The sample of this study included 215 youths who graduated in September of 2008 from the Youth ChalleNGe Program (YCP) at the Gillis W. Long Center in Carville, LA. Data regarding each youth’s placements during the post-residential phase and the number of contacts with his or her mentor were collected by secondary data analysis. The major finding of this study reveals that there is a statistically significant relationship between regular contact with mentors and placement outcomes for at-risk youths. Being the first study that empirically examined the mentoring aspect of YCP, this study advances the field of youth services in an important way