Mentoring has been shown to make dramatic differences in the futures of at-risk children, but far too few children are helped. By compensating mentors based on the future success of their mentees, we could help millions of children and save trillions of dollars on welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, crime and prison costs, and other costs totaling $2.2 trillion/year.
Why is this important?
We have 7-10 times more people in prison than countries in Europe and 60% of those in prison never graduated from high school. The benefits of mentoring are profound since there is compelling evidence that mentoring helps keep children in school, helps them avoid drugs, gangs, crime, prison, and welfare while earning substantially higher incomes. Six Princeton professors liked this idea, but we need the people in politics to pay attention.
