From 2006 to 2010, youth mentoring in Massachusetts has experienced a greater than 30 percent increase in youth served, based on programs who completed the inaugural 2006, 2008 and 2010 Mass Mentoring Counts surveys.

Mass Mentoring Counts is a biennial statewide youth mentoring survey, conducted for MMP by the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts, which reveals mentoring trends, gaps and program practices.

Other key statewide findings from Mass Mentoring include:

• 172 programs reported serving more than 22,800 youth in formal mentoring relationships, a 16 percent increase between 2008 and 2010, and a 35 percent increase since the 2006 survey
• Programs reporting mentee counts over the past four years served more than 4,600 additional youth, a greater than 30 percent increase
• Approximately 2/3 of programs are site-based
• The vast majority of programs expect matches to last at least one school year
• 43 percent of programs set match commitment at 12 months. 73 percent require weekly meetings
• More older youth are being mentored: mentees in the 15-19 year-old age group represented 26 percent, while the proportion of 5-9 year-olds dropped to 22 percent
• Approximately 44 percent of mentoring programs identified their primary goal is to provide education and academic support, and 40 percent identified it as to increase the youth's self-esteem.  

Read a more detailed analysis:

• Mass Mentoring Counts 2010 executive summary
• Mass Mentoring Counts 2010 full report

Regional reports:

• Central MA
• Greater Boston
• Northeast MA
• Southeast MA
• Western MA

National

Research on youth mentoring is abundant and points to the impact that it has on strengthening academic performance and self-esteem, preventing risky behaviors and other benchmarks.

For a great resource, check out MENTOR's extensive research corner.