Mentoring programs engage community advocates and volunteer mentors who are assigned to work with delinquent or at-risk youth and their families. Mentors can help create links from corrections to schools and the community. In some cases, mentors help monitor youth's compliance with conditions of parole. Research provides evidence of resilient children who emerge from childhoods of poverty, abuse, neglect, and delinquency to become emotionally whole, capable adults. One of the documented protective factors that contributes to resiliency is the presence of a source of support outside the family.
Mentors can be that source of support.
A caring mentor can appropriately reflect and validate the youth's feelings, help with problems, and, at times, offer considered advice. Mentors frequently are the means by which young people learn of positive opportunities outside their communities. While each mentoring program under JUMP must adhere to some basic requirements, grantees use a variety of program designs. Some programs emphasize tutoring and academics, while others emphasize vocational counseling and job skills. All sites are required to coordinate their activities with local schools.