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April 24, 2023, Durham, NC – iRT President and Senior Research Scientist Dr. Janis Kupersmidt will be presenting at the 2023 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) National Research Conference in Arlington, Virginia on May 23. Kupersmidt will present as a panelist in a conference session entitled Promoting Evidence-Based Youth Mentoring: The Benefits of Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations to discuss the results and policy implications from the evaluation of the effectiveness of implementing enhanced mentoring practices in mentoring programs serving children of incarcerated caregivers. The NIJ National Research Conference brings researchers and practitioners together from across the nation to share, discuss, and learn about [...]

April 03, 2023, Durham, NC – As rates of incarceration in the United States have steadily climbed for the past 40 years, providing high quality support to children of incarcerated parents has become increasingly important to limit negative impacts on their self-esteem, relationships with their parents, and sense of the future, among other harmful effects. Mentoring programs can reduce negative behavioral, social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes for children of incarcerated parents by providing youth with opportunities for growth and engagement in supportive relationships. iRT conducts research on mentoring best practices to assist mentoring programs serving children of incarcerated parents and help [...]

April 03, 2023, Durham, NC – Are you looking for training programs and evaluation resources to take your mentoring program to the next level? Mentoring Central’s annual membership is your one-stop shop for access to a large array of training, evaluation, and mentoring-related products for your mentoring program. Whether your program offers Community-based mentoring, Site-based mentoring, e-Mentoring, Group mentoring, or some combination of these program models, the membership package will meet the needs of your program. With access to all of Mentoring Central’s trainings through our annual membership, you can enroll mentors, program staff, mentees, and parents or guardians of mentees [...]

February 23, 2023, Durham, NC – Dr. Janis Kupersmidt, Dr. Rebecca Stelter, and Elizabeth Porter represented Mentoring Central, a division of iRT, at the annual National Mentoring Summit in Washington, DC, last month. The 2023 Summit, convened by MENTOR, brought mentoring professionals and advocates from across the nation together for expert-led presentations and networking opportunities to share mentoring best practices and drive positive change for young people. Mentoring Central’s researchers have presented at or attended the National Mentoring Summit every year since the first annual meeting was held in 2012. This year, the Summit was held in person after being held [...]

February 7, 2023, Durham, NC – Youth with disabilities account for a significant portion of the mentees enrolled in mentoring programs across the United States. A national study conducted by MENTOR found that approximately 10 percent of youth served in mentoring programs nationally have a disability.1 However, many mentoring programs lack the resources needed to meet the unique needs of mentees with disabilities. Mentoring program staff must implement inclusive strategies in the training, policies, and design of their mentoring program to achieve positive outcomes for every mentee enrolled in the program. iRT consulted with Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD) and [...]