Explores the novel approach of using paid mentor-counselors to work with high-risk youth and concludes that by complementing rather than supplanting volunteer mentors, these individuals can concentrate on the young people who most need their support. The paid mentor-counselor reflects the unique value of a middle ground in the youth arena: concerned and caring adults who befriend and support young people and seek to guide and mentor them, but who occupy paid positions. These mentor-counselors are committed to staying with young people over many years, and the longevity of their connection appears to be a key to the success that programs of this kind are producing. Among the arguments for more widespread use of mentor-counselors is that other attempts to intervene successfully with high-risk young people have failed, and that state officials and policymakers are beginning to seek preventive strategies to head off imprisonment of high-risk youth who have found their way into the criminal justice system. Stronger and more complete evidence that the mentor-counselor can bring about results – school attachment, lower criminal involvement, sustained employment, and lower recidivism rates – will be the single most powerful factor in spurring wider adoption of this approach.
