NRPA supports efforts to expand mentoring opportunities through parks and recreation by providing training, guidance, resources and professional development opportunities, which include in-person and virtual learning events, to the field. These opportunties help advance an agency and community-wide “mentoring mindset.” Park and recreation professionals are regularly interacting with youth in a variety of roles — youth sports coaches, afterschool and summer program leaders, employers of youth, environmental educators, etc. Applying a mentoring mindset and equipping park and recreation professionals with additional skills, competencies and confidence to serve as mentors in these roles provides another opportunity to advance social-emotional learning and positive youth development.
As a park and recreational professional, you play a key role in making sure that every coach has the resources and guidance to move beyond coaching and become a mentor — helping young athletes thrive both on and off the field. The Mentoring Through Youth Sports guide aims to help weave mentoring into all youth sports programs.
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The Building Local Partnerships to Support Youth in Parks and Recreation resource offers strategies and case studies for connecting youth to services to support their overall mental health and well-being.
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The Amplifying Youth Voice in Parks and Recreation resource equips park and recreation professionals with practical strategies to embed youth voice in programs by offering choice, seeking feedback and involving youth in decision-making, fostering greater ownership, leadership and engagement among participants.
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NRPA’s Youth Mentoring Framework helps local park and recreation agencies craft their own unique, individualized mentoring programs. It is designed to help your agency leverage local park and recreation assets that build protective factors around at-risk youth, while also forming strong social connections and positive relationships to address distress, adversity and other challenges that youth experience.
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Mentoring in Parks and Recreation: A Best Practice Guide highlights the best practices for establishing effective mentoring practices that park and recreation professionals can use to implement programs at their agencies.
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Career Pathways Through Youth Mentoring is designed to help park and recreation professionals and other youth mentoring service providers promote career interest and exploration within their youth mentoring programs. This resource summarizes the importance of career exploration among youth and helps mentoring programs create and implement career-focused mentoring activities. It is designed to help mentoring programs navigate common challenges using real-world examples.
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Community Service Through Youth Mentoring equips park and recreation professionals and other youth mentoring service providers with the tools necessary to integrate elements of community service into their youth mentoring programs. This resource summarizes the importance of engaging youth in community service and is designed to help youth mentoring programs introduce and integrate community service into their programs.
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The Mentoring in Parks and Recreation: Strategies to Engage Families and Caregivers resource is designed to help park and recreation professionals and other youth mentoring service providers integrate family engagement components into youth mentoring programs. This resource explores the importance of family/caregiver engagement and relationships, highlights key considerations for planning and developing family engagement activities, explores family engagement strategies that can be integrated into mentoring, and identifies common challenges of family engagement and how to overcome them.
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The Closing the Mentoring Relationship: Guidance and Best Practices for Park and Recreation Programs guide helps prepare park and recreation staff to understand and implement best practices related to mentor/mentee closure, ensuring relationships end with positive outcomes for all.
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The Mentorship for Rural Youth Impacted by Opioids in the Appalachia Region brief discusses the impact of opioid misuse in the Appalachian region and explores the ongoing work of NRPA’s Youth Mentoring Initiative. This initiative addresses and mitigates the risks associated with opioid use disorder for children and adolescents through the implementation of a youth mentorship program.
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Further Reading
Mentorship Program Resources: MENTOR’s cornerstone publication, Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™ highlights six evidence-based standards that are intended to be applicable for any type of mentoring program. Supplemental guides are also available for specific target programs. MENTOR is a national partner of NRPA and a leading organization in the mentoring field.
Please note: These resources are not a prescription. Each local park and recreation agency should ensure that their mentoring program reflects the needs of youth in the local community, the unique community culture and the assets at your organization’s disposal.
Mentoring in Parks and Recreation: Strategies to Engage Families and Caregivers
Closing the Mentoring Relationship: Guidance and Best Practices for Park and Recreation Programs 