Approximately 5,000 mentoring programs across the U.S. serve about three million youth, according to the MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership. The Corporation for National and Community Service reports that almost 12 million Americans volunteer their time as mentors annually.
Mentoring has evolved to address serious youth-related social problems through peer, group, and e-mentoring programs in settings such as afterschool programs, faith-based organizations, and work sites. Mentoring serves youth in foster care, children of incarcerated parents, immigrant youth, juvenile delinquents, juveniles re-entering the community, and children in military families, with the goal of improving academic performance, decreasing recidivism and substance use, and building interest in future careers.
