Our Partners
In addition to our core partners and coalitions, CMP collaborates extensively with others in the field to expand and improve mentoring services, utilizing a variety of innovative approaches. These efforts include the development of new service collaboratives to enhance and expand existing mentoring efforts, as well as utilizing ongoing partnerships with individual programs and coalitions to strengthen services, implement key innovations, and fill service gaps. These activities are undertaken in addition to providing no or low-cost services to a wide array of mentoring programs.
Some of our current strategic partnerships in development include:
Service Collaboratives:
State Employee Mentoring Program
In order to help close the mentoring gap in California and nationwide, the State of California adopted a policy in 1996 called “2119-Mentoring Leave,” which allows any state employee up to 40 hours of paid time off to serve as a mentor for a young person, as a match to 40 hours given of their own time. Although 2119 presented a great opportunity, it was never fully implemented. CMP has convened the State Employee Mentoring (SEM) workgroup, with participation from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), the California Department of Transportation (DOT), and Department of Public Health (DPH), and Friends for Youth. The workgroup is currently supporting the implementation of pilot programs under DOT and DPH while working to gain support and build infrastructure to implement this program system-wide. State officials interested in joining this workgroup and/or launching a pilot SEM program are enthusiastically invited to join our work, and CMP is also seeking funding and support to build the capacity of California mentoring programs to accommodate a new influx of state employee mentors.
Los Angeles Foster Youth Mentoring Collaborative
CMP has teamed up with Be A Mentor and the Human Trafficking Legal Network to streamline, enhance, and expand mentoring efforts for foster youth in LA County. Core partners are currently assembling to shape a scalable pipeline that will (a) connect safe, caring adults, peers, and former foster youth to current foster youth in need of support; (b) reduce systemic barriers to community connections and mentoring that youth in foster care often face; and (c) connect youth and matches to quality programming, training, and resources to enhance the mentoring experience and improve outcomes for youth in foster care. This initiative has great potential to prevent foster youth from ending up homeless and exploited into human trafficking due to the lack of individualized support during teen years in particular. Providers of all kinds serving youth in foster care are invited to reach out to us if you are interested in being part of this important collaborative, and CMP is also seeking funding to support the effort.
COVID Wellness Checkin Program
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit some youth and families especially hard, in particular creating added layers of isolation and lack of resources for many youth in foster care as well as youth who have been disconnected from their schools. Be A Mentor and CMP have together developed a plan to recruit, screen, and train a large number of caring adults with strong youth service experience, as well as youth formerly involved in foster care and justice systems, to conduct 3-5 wellness check-in calls with youth in such situations. The collaborative currently seeks funding and partners to assist in rolling out this lifeline to our most isolated youth in the face of the COVID pandemic.
Please contact support@camentoringpartnership.org if you are interested in being part of any of these strategic innovations.
Ongoing Program Partners:
San Francisco Unified School District Mentoring For Success Program
Los Angeles Unified School District Villages Mentoring Movement
Give A Beat (Los Angeles)
Metro Community Ministries, Inc. (San Diego)
Peacemakers, Inc. (Contra Costa / Marin Unified School Districts)
