Juvenile Department Launches Mentoring Program

For Immediate Release: Friday, January 12, 2018

Washington County Juvenile Department Launches Mentoring Program

The Washington County Juvenile Department is excited to announce a new mentoring program, utilizing community volunteers. The Mentoring Program is a component of the Juvenile Department's Supervision, Training, and Employment Programs (STEP) and is designed to help at-risk youth reach personal goals, achieve academic success, obtain employment and develop social skills. Volunteer mentors are paired with youth, ages 12-17 and are matched with them based on mutual interests, personalities and specific requests of the youth and parents. The program operates on a trauma-informed care model whereby mentors receive training on the impact of trauma on the lives of young people and how they can help mitigate the negative impacts of that trauma, simply by being a supportive adult in a youth's life.

Mentors and youth participate in fun, pro-social activities they identify together, to include opportunities for volunteer work in the community. In addition to receiving orientation training and meeting eligibility requirements, mentors must commit to meet with their mentee for a minimum of eight hours per month for a minimum of six months. The benefits of mentoring are well known and include improving self-esteem, academic achievement and peer relationships while reducing drug use, aggression, depressive symptoms and delinquent acts.

The Juvenile Department is actively seeking volunteers, 20 years of age and older, who are interested in making a difference in the life of a young person. For more information, go to www.co.washington.or.us/Juvenile/step.cfm

The Washington County Juvenile Department is committed to the enhancement of public safety by holding youth accountable for their actions and by creating opportunities for change through swift and decisive use of effective practices, as well as building upon the strengths of youth and their families.

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