We talk about Raise youth mentoring as an early intervention strategy, but what does that mean and why is early intervention important?
Why are young people at risk?
Life is not always easy and adversity comes in many and varied forms. It is acknowledged that adversity can be a catalyst for growth. Even literary greats observed this with Ernest Hemingway claiming that “the world breaks everyone, and afterwards, some are strong at the broken places.”
How do some people become strong in the broken places while others stay broken?
Increasingly we are learning that it is not the challenges that define us, but the way we manage them that determines what life looks like on the other side.
Certainly life experience plays a part. The more challenges you experience, the more knowledge and skills you develop to deal well with adversity. But what happens when you’re transitioning from childhood into adulthood and haven’t yet developed this experience or skill set?
Statistically, the adolescent years between 15 and 17 are when most young lives are lost to suicide*. Raise youth mentoring was developed to intervene early – between the ages of 13 and 16 - supporting young people to develop the skills they need to not just survive but thrive during this challenging time.
When a young person is emerging from childhood it is likely that they’re not even aware that they need to develop life skills, or that confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging can, and should, be practiced and developed.
How can these skills be developed?
Raise mentoring provides a safe, confidential space for young people to be taken through an evidence-based curriculum designed to develop these life skills in a way which is suited to that young individual.
The volunteer mentors undergo expert training supervised by qualified professional psychologists, counsellors and youth workers.
Together, the mentor and mentee work on:
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Mental Health support |
Social and Emotional Wellbeing |
Engagement with school and learning |
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Mental health support |
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Social and emotional wellbeing |
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Engagement with school and learning |
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How do we know this works?
Research has shown that Raise youth mentoring significantly improves wellbeing with improvements in all ‘life skill’ areas amongst program participants.
The Raise youth mentoring program undergoes rigorous measurement and evaluation every year, contributing to the evidence base of what works. This ensures that our program is meeting the needs of young people and that impact is significant.
It takes a village to raise a child and we will keep building the Raise village until every young person who needs a mentor has one.
* Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Latest figures 2023. Suicide among children and adolescents (aged 17 and below), the majority occurred in those aged 15–17 (71.3%).
Find out more about becoming a Raise mentor
