2016 – D1: Juvenile Mentoring Program

The Junior League of Collin County wins this year’s Award for Community Impact.

The JLCC has partnered with the Collin County Juvenile Probation Services (Juvenile Probation Services) to provide selected first time, nonviolent youth a structured mentoring program that specifically addresses behavior that will equip them with the tools to be successful after they are released from probation.

Curriculum was researched and developed to address issues for at-risk youth such as uncovering their unique personality traits, motivational influences, boundary setting, assertive and effective communication, managing negative emotions, positive self-image and media literacy.

The objective of these sessions is to provide positive interactions with League volunteers that help the youth navigate the topic material and curriculum. JLCC provides reliable mentors that participants can count on each month until they complete the program. This helps them develop trust and interpersonal skills. Participating in the program gives them a sense of accomplishment, increased self-esteem, self-confidence, and simultaneously builds upon good mentor-mentee relationships and increased communication skills via peer-to-peer sharing.

In the two years Juvenile Mentoring Program (JuMP) has been in place, 40 youth have completed the program and graduated. Of those that graduated, 100% have successfully completed probation. Due to the success of the mentoring and the positive impact seen in the graduates, Juvenile Probation Services asked the JLCC to expand from the original location in McKinney, Texas to a second location in Plano, Texas this year. Now the two organizations are in discussions about expanding into a third major Collin County city as well as adding parent education classes in each of the cities.