Youth Development & Mentorship

One-to-one mentoring with a consistent mentor.

Start a conversation Or call (718) 540-8268

Close-up of a mentor and a teenager shoulder to shoulder looking at a laptop, both faces lit by the screen, the community centre behind them dark.

Our mentorship programs serve young people who often lack a consistent adult in their lives: youth aging out of care, students at risk, first-generation college-bound teenagers, and young people who have been passed from one system to another.

Each young person is matched with a screened, committed mentor, and the relationship is supported by life-skills work, academic support, and transition help. The mentor stays consistent over time, and we track whether the program meets the outcomes it committed to.

We screen mentors, structure the program, and track outcomes.

Our education services work has shown us that programs change outcomes when the right adult keeps showing up and someone tracks whether it is working. Our youth development programs include both: mentors who are screened and trained before matching, a development framework around the relationship, and outcome tracking that gives the funder an accurate account of what the program is doing.

One-to-one mentoring within a structured program

We pair consistent one-to-one matching with a positive-youth-development framework (leadership, life skills, academics, and future-readiness), designed with the funder around a defined group of young people, and measured against outcomes set at the start.

One-to-one mentoring with screened, trained mentors: Mentors complete background checks and training in youth development and trauma-informed practice before a match, and each match is chosen for the young person and intended to be long-term.
Life-skills, leadership, and financial-literacy workshops: Group sessions run alongside the mentoring relationship within a positive-youth-development framework, held in community and school settings on a schedule young people can keep.
Academic support and college or career-readiness planning: Tutoring and schoolwork help run alongside planning for what comes after school, with goals defined with the funder for the group of young people served.
Transition support for youth aging out of systems: Young people leaving care keep a consistent adult through the change, with practical help preparing for the next step and transition goals set at the start.
Attendance and outcome tracking from day one: Attendance, engagement, and program-defined measures are recorded from the first week, and funders get regular reporting that includes where a match or component is not working.

Who it’s for

Youth aging out of care
Students at risk in school
First-generation college-bound youth
Youth from low-income families

Match, support, develop, track

Pick any part of the sentence to see the detail.

First, screen and train the mentors. Then match for the long term. Next, add structured programming. Finally, track whether it's working.

Mentors go through background checks and youth-development and trauma-informed training before a match, because a poorly suited mentor can do more harm than no mentor.

Common questions

How are mentors screened and prepared?

Mentors complete background checks and training in youth development and trauma-informed practice before they are matched. Because consistency matters, we prepare mentors to make a lasting commitment instead of filling slots quickly.

What ages and young people do the programs serve?

Programs are typically built for older youth and young adults, including youth aging out of care, students at risk, first-generation college-bound teenagers, and young people from low-income families. The exact population and age range are defined with the funding organization around the program's goals.

What does a mentoring relationship actually involve?

Consistent one-to-one time, supported by structured programming: life-skills and leadership workshops, academic support and tutoring, and college or career-readiness planning. Programming usually runs after school, evenings, and weekends in community and school settings, at a cadence the young person can sustain.

How do you know the program is making a difference?

Outcome measures are defined at the start (attendance, program completion, academic or transition goals) and tracked from the first week. Funders receive regular reporting against them, including when a match or a component needs to change.

Still have a question? Call (718) 540-8268, or see the social & community support overview.

If mentor matches are ending before the program year ends

Mentors drop off after a few months and the young person gets handed off again.: Mentoring research finds that a match ending early can leave a young person worse off than no match, and a quick re-match does not repair it. Screening for commitment matters more than filling slots fast. That is our approach: mentors trained before matching, and matches built to last many months.
People are hired but can't start because their clearances haven't come through.: Community organization staff working with students in city schools need NYC Public Schools security clearance before they start, and school-age child care programs have their own background check process. Start paperwork at offer and build clearance time into the launch date. Call with your sites and dates.
Attendance entry and participation targets eat the hours meant for young people.: DYCD contracts carry participation targets and deadlines for entering attendance in DYCD Connect, so tracking cannot wait for month end. Give it a named owner and record it the week it happens. We track attendance and program-defined measures from the first week.

Have this ready when you call