Designing Effective Mentoring Programs for Disadvantaged Youth

This Brookings Institution policy memo reviews the evidence of success from past and current mentoring programs and recommends best practices that can make a difference in the lives of young people. The author looks at programs in school-based and community-based settings and identifies the program components that work best. He concludes that community-based mentoring programs are most likely to boost earnings for disadvantaged youth, and advocates for private sector and non-governmental organizations to help expand those programs. He also recommends best practices for implementing mentoring programs, such as thoroughly screening potential mentors and mentees and providing training and supervision.