Great Life Mentoring

Great Life Mentoring provides volunteer-based mentoring for children from low-resource families receiving outpatient mental health care. The program aims to provide stability and reduce isolation for the children through engagement in positive community activities with the one- to-one support and companionship of an adult mentor. Upon referral by his or her mental health treatment provider, a child is paired with a mentor with whom they spend time in the community for two to three hours a week for at least one year. The mentor becomes an integral part of the child’s mental health treatment plan and the professional team serving the child. Children participating in Great Life Mentoring have been found to utilize mental health services to a greater extent and when comparing change over time on clinician-ratings (on the Children’s Global Assessment of Functioning), Great Life Mentoring children showed significantly more favorable change than their matched counterparts. The Great Life Mentoring program model was founded by Elizabeth Higley in through a partnership with the Clark County Department of Community Services and Columbia River Mental Health Services. The program has produced unprecedented mentor retention rates and was awarded the designation of Research-Based Practice on the Washington State Inventory of Evidence-Based Practices and an Effective Practice by the US Department of Justice. Having achieved and maintained a 98% mentor retention rate and 4-year average match length for more than a decade, the program’s research component aims at replicating the model as an Evidence-Based Practice in response to youth needs in communities throughout the U.S. Great Life Mentoring cultivates meaningful relationships where children facing adversity – and the adults who mentor them – live happier, healthier lives. Excellence. Relationship. Well-Being.