Fostering Healthy Futures® for Teens

The Fostering Healthy Futures® for Teens (FHF-T) study is testing, in a rigorous, randomized controlled trial, whether a mentoring program for eighth and ninth graders with child welfare involvement fosters better adolescent well-being. Mentors are graduate students in social work and psychology who engage one-on-one with teens in their communities on goal setting and skill-building activities to promote positive youth development within the five REACH Domains: relationships, education, activities, career and health.

The intentional mentoring includes working with teens on emotion recognition, perspective-taking, problem solving, effective communication, managing anger, healthy coping, positive relationship development and resisting peer pressure for deviant activities. The study is examining short-term outcomes in each of the REACH domains; long-term outcomes include a reduction of adverse outcomes across multiple systems (e.g. juvenile justice, mental health and education).