Library of Congress Selects American Institutes for Research to Evaluate Mentoring Projects Aimed at Reducing Juvenile Delinquency
Washington, D.C. – The American Institutes for Research (AIR) has been selected to conduct a five-year scientifically-rigorous evaluation of ten mentoring enhancement demonstration projects funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The goal is to assess whether strategic enhancements to the roles that mentors play will improve youth outcomes.
The U.S. Library of Congress, which selected AIR, is partnering with OJJDP to oversee the research evaluation. The project will examine OJJDP’s 2012 Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Program (MEDP), which targets evidence-based enhancements that improve the effectiveness of mentoring and reduce juvenile delinquency.
AIR’s evaluation team will work with MEDP program sites to identify evidence that can shape the design and implementation of effective mentoring programs for youth at a national level. The evaluation will be a randomized-control trial that involves the analysis of data from surveys of youth, mentors, and parents. AIR will also provide training and technical assistance to the program sites to best prepare them for their participation in the evaluation.
AIR will partner with Thomas Keller (Portland State University), David Altschuler (Johns Hopkins University), independent consultant Carla Herrera (independent consultant, recently Senior Research Fellow for Public/Private Ventures), and independent consultant Janet Forbush (specialist in program development and evaluation of human services programs focusing on high-need youth populations).
For more information, please contact Dr. Roger Jarjoura, project director of the evaluation.
About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in education, health, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.
###