Examining the Long-Term Effects of Child-Mentoring Programs on At-Risk Children

Schimmel/Conrades Science Center 176

Child care remains a complicated issue, with at-risk children suffering the most. As a response child-mentoring programs have been a topic of discussion regarding their long-term impacts. My project was focused on working with and collecting data on at-risk and/or low-income children. My literature review came from multiple academic sociological studies focused on mentoring programs. My relation to the overall project was working as an intern with the community organization Big Brothers Big Sisters. The goal was to understand the impacts of mentoring programs both through research along with actual work with the organization. A key component of the research was to see if these impacts change in relation to the longevity of the matches. The collection of data also included the impacts of the programs on children with incarcerated parents. Racial discrimination of children enrolled in child care programs was an area of focus. The reviews looked at what effect it had on a program’s performance as well as the mental well-being of individual children. Ultimately, I used all of the literature reviewed along with my personal experiences of outcomes good and bad while working at Big Brothers Big Sisters to come to my conclusion of the impacts of such programs.