From this Year’s Annual Report: Credible Messengers Improving Outcomes for Justice-Involved Youth
Young people with involvement in the criminal justice system experience high recidivism rates and often struggle to connect to education and employment. A 2019 NYC Opportunity evaluation found that the Arches Transformative Mentoring (Arches) program can help reverse these outcomes. Arches, which launched in 2012, has had remarkable success helping disconnected, justice system-involved young people between 16 and 24 develop the attitudinal and behavioral skills necessary to advance in education and the workforce, and to desist from criminal activity.
Arches is a group mentoring program that uses an evidence-based journaling curriculum centered on cognitive-behavioral principles, delivered by “credible messengers,” individuals who have similar backgrounds to the young people being served, often including prior justice system involvement.
An evaluation of Arches by the Urban Institute found that it reduces felony reconviction by more than 69 percent over one year and more than 57 percent over two years relative to a matched comparison group — impacts rarely seen in similar programs. The program launched in partnership between the Department of Probation; the Young Men’s Initiative (YMI), which works to combat the obstacles to advancement faced by boys and men of color; and NYC Opportunity.
Arches has the potential to help produce a significant shift in how the public sector treats justice system-involved individuals. Its strong impact evaluation findings have helped to propel this strategy to national prominence and spread to other cities.
