Researching Youth Mentoring Programs — Dr. Carla Herrera
Since 1998, Dr. Carla Herrera of Herrera Consulting Group, LLC has dedicated her career to evaluating mentoring programs. She started with Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), a nonprofit organization that was a leader in evaluating youth mentoring programs. When it closed in 2012, she continued as an independent consultant, conducting evaluations of mentoring programs, like Great Life Mentoring. Her research outlines whether and how these programs benefit the youth they serve—with an eye toward program improvement.
In the past, Dr. Herrera has worked with both local and national leaders in youth mentoring. “I’ve worked with programs including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA’s Reach & Rise mentoring program, and Friends of the Children,” she shares. “The people doing this work are truly dedicated, talented, and passionate about mentoring. Our nation’s young people have access to so many fabulous programs across the country—but we could always do more to bring high-quality mentoring to youth who could benefit from the extra support.”
Evidence-Based Youth Mentoring
In 2014, Dr. Herrera and Dr. David DuBois were introduced to Great Life Mentoring by Janet Heubach from MENTOR Washington. “She was impressed with Great Life Mentoring – and we were also immediately impressed,” says Dr. Herrera. “The time the program takes to prepare each and every volunteer and the support it has in place to make every match successful – it is truly special and unique. Dr. DuBois and I have been working with Great Life Mentoring ever since!”
“The studies I have conducted have outlined a number of benefits of mentoring program involvement,” explains Dr. Herrera. “For example, improvements in measures of well-being and family functioning; decreases in negative behaviors; and academic improvements. They have also highlighted the importance of strong program practices, like volunteer training and support, and the role of mentoring relationship quality and duration in contributing to youth benefits. A study Dr. DuBois and I conducted with Great Life Mentoring specifically supported benefits in youth’s overall functioning.”
The Great Potential of Great Life Mentoring
Stellar leadership and program staff, intensive training for mentors to ensure they are adequately prepared, careful youth-mentor matching, and ongoing, in-person support for their matches are some of the reasons Dr. Herrera believes in Great Life Mentoring’s potential.
“Great Life Mentoring mentors become a part of the youth’s treatment plan, documenting their activities and benefiting from program expertise every step of the way,” adds Dr. Herrera. “All of these ingredients contribute to youth-mentor relationships that last an average of four years – a duration practically unheard of in volunteer-based mentoring programs.”
“And the strength of those relationships is likely what contributes to youth benefits. Without an impact study, these are just ‘best guesses’ – one of the main reasons we are conducting our new study of the program! The study will allow us to rigorously assess the program’s benefits and understand more about how those benefits are yielded—which is an important step in making Great Life Mentoring available to more youth.”
Learn about the SMART study and get involved at: https://uicsmartresearchproject.greatlifementoring.com/
