Editor’s note: This commentary is by Chad Butt and Benji Thurber, executive director and communications director respectively, who work for Mobius, a nonprofit that supports youth mentoring programs throughout the state of Vermont. They are both residents of Burlington.
[A]s Paul Heintz highlighted in his recent Seven Days article “State of Need,” Vermont’s efforts to address poverty over the past decade have been largely unsuccessful. Not only has the state not reached its lofty 10-year goal of cutting the child poverty rate in half, the percentage of young people living in poverty has actually increased from 12.4 percent in 2007 to 14.8 percent in 2016. In terms of the overall poverty rate, in 2016, Vermont was the only state in the country to experience a statistically significant increase, rising from 10.2 percent in 2015 to 11.9 percent in 2016.
Youth living in poverty often lack the resources and support they need to keep up with their peers both academically and in preparing for life after high school. The 2016 Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test results revealed that low-income students in Vermont, as a group, did not meet proficiency standards in any subject or grade level. And, according to the Vermont Agency of Education and Vermont Student Assistance Corp., while Vermont has one of the higher high school graduation rates in the country at 88 percent, there is a significant post-secondary gap. Nearly 75 percent of high school seniors in Vermont express interest in attending post-secondary education, but only 59 percent end up enrolling. Based on data from the J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation, that percentage drops even lower for youth living in poverty: only 37 percent of youth from low-income households end up pursuing any additional education after graduating from high school.
That’s the bad news. The good news is there are real, tangible ways that each of us can help young people in our communities find a pathway out of poverty. One way you can make a positive impact is by volunteering as a mentor.
According to research by MENTOR (The National Mentoring Partnership), one in three young Vermonters will enter adulthood without having a structured or informal mentor in their lives. The organization we work for, Mobius, supports formalized mentoring programs throughout the state that match adult volunteers as mentors for young people at their school or in their community. Collectively there are more than 140 formal mentoring programs in Vermont, supporting more than 2,300 youth (ages 5-22). There are also many more adults — natural mentors — who may not identify themselves by the title of “mentor,” who are also playing that role. There are countless coaches, teachers, guidance counselors, after-school staff members, religious leaders, and family friends who are taking the time to befriend a young person and act as a positive role model.
[National research from Big Brothers Big Sisters shows that youth who are matched in a formal mentoring relationship for at least 18 months are 52 percent less likely to skip a day of school, and 55 percent more likely to go on to college. Locally, the results of the Vermont Mentoring Surveys show that more than 74 percent of mentors are playing an active role in their mentee’s education. That role could range from regular communication with the youth’s teacher or guidance counselor, and/or helping with homework, to simply talking with their mentee about the importance of school. This data tells us that mentors who work with older youth are well positioned to be a resource to promote post-secondary education. Additionally, while we think of the junior and senior years of high school being the time when post-high school plans are made, in truth there may be a crossroad moment that happens years earlier. According to [VSAC’s Senior Survey for the high school class of 2016, 76 percent of students who made the decision to enroll in a college or trade school made a plan to do so before entering seventh grade. Meanwhile, 55 percent of students who elected not to pursue post-secondary education didn’t decide to go that route until 11th or 12th grade.
In addition to the well-documented financial barriers that come with higher education, youth living in poverty also often lack the necessary support, outside of school, to help guide them through the process of exploring college and trade school options, identify scholarships and financial aid opportunities, and also just help them think critically about what they want to do after high school. Mentoring programs are not the only outlet for providing this support, of course, but formal mentors can play a critical role in helping these youth succeed. One helpful source of information that a mentor or another adult working with a teen can share is the “Pathways to Promising Careers” brochure by the McClure Foundation, which lays out more than 50 specific job types that pay a median wage of more than $20 per hour, and are projected to have more than 100 openings in Vermont between 2014 and 2024, along with the specific education required to qualify for them. Some of them do require extensive schooling but many of them only require an associate’s degree, certificate, or specialized training in the field. We’re also excited by [Sen. Bernie Sanders’ efforts this fall to engage youth in learning more about post-secondary options by hosting college fairs at Castleton University and Lyndon State College.
Mobius believes that every young person in Vermont who wants a mentor should have that opportunity, from their early school years until they successfully enter adulthood. We urge schools and youth service agencies that do not currently have mentoring programs to consider working with Mobius to start one, or to connect with an existing program in your area. The staff time for a program coordinator does cost money, but it is an investment that yields in-kind resources worth many times more in the form of community members volunteering their time as mentors. Volunteer-driven programs like mentoring can be a cost-effective way to both address the need for more dedicated time helping youth navigate their next steps, and also build ties that bridge generations and make the community stronger as a whole. By developing connections and working together to solve these larger societal problems, maybe we can make a tangible impact on the youth poverty rate by 2026.
