Wilson to Unveil Youth Mentoring Program

Gov. Pete Wilson hopes he has an answer to one of the most difficult questions confronting today’s conservative lawmakers: How do you shrink government social programs and at the same time deter the destructive behavior that poverty sometimes creates?

In other words, how do you give hope to the increasingly hopeless?

Today in Los Angeles, Wilson will join a panel of corporate and community leaders to kick off his response--a program called the California Mentor Initiative. It uses an old concept that seeks friendly bonds between people who are otherwise strangers--a citizen volunteer and a troubled youth.

But it is vastly unprecedented in scope, calling for $15 million in state funds to reach about 1 million teenagers in the next four years. Today, just 70,000 California youths are in such programs.

“I’m convinced that no education program that seeks to modify or prevent irresponsible adolescent behavior will be anywhere near as successful as one reinforced by a strong, caring adult who’s won a child’s trust and respect,” Wilson said in his State of the State speech in January. “Too many children don’t have that strong and caring adult in their lives. That’s why I attach such importance to the California Mentor Initiative.”

Officials told The Times that Wilson is so enthusiastic about the program that he will participate himself, selecting a troubled youth who will meet periodically over the next year with the governor and his wife, Gayle, for recreational, instructive or leisurely activities.

Aides said they do not plan to identify the youth. But they hope that accounts of Wilson’s participation will help overcome one of the program’s biggest challenges--finding mentors who are willing to make the necessary commitment.

Wilson’s idea counts on an army of untapped volunteers who, the governor believes, are willing to help their community if they are told how to do it. It also has deep roots in Republican hopes to shrink government and turn more responsibility for social problems over to private leaders.

“It all comes down to a person being involved with another person in a positive way,” said Andrew M. Mecca, director of the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs and head of the mentor program. “You can’t buy it, you can’t legislate it. It’s somebody who steps up and says, ‘I’ll work with one kid.’ ”

In his comments today, Wilson will introduce a panel of 37 industry leaders such as Donald G. Fisher, chairman of the Gap, and Sherry Lansing, chairwoman of Paramount Pictures. They will oversee the distribution of state grants to successful mentoring programs.

Some corporate sponsors plan to encourage the program by offering their employees time off for participation. Others, such as professional sports franchises, are expected to provide free tickets or products to those who make the commitment.

Wilson’s effort is likely to be the target of skeptics, who consider the idea an odd one for a governor whose policies have been considered more tough on the poor than sympathetic. Even supporters of the plan say government cutbacks--especially the closing of libraries and recreational activity centers--have exacerbated the problems that mentoring seeks to address.

In the Legislature, where lawmakers must still approve the $15 million Wilson seeks for the program, Democrats have asked for more proof that the plan will work. They also have warned that they will balance programs like mentoring against another round of welfare cuts that Wilson proposed for the 1996-97 budget year.

“It’s a question of priorities,” said Pat Leary, consultant to the Senate Budget Committee. “For [welfare eligible] families . . . are they best served by seeing a mentor for a few hours a week or having decent housing over the heads?”

So far, from community experiences to government analysis, there is a strong and widespread consensus that mentoring programs can be a powerful tool for saving lives that might otherwise be considered beyond help.

In one of the few studies of the issue, a Philadelphia consultant reported in November that the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America program has reduced drug use among participating teenagers by 46%. It also found sharp reductions in alcohol use, violent behavior and truancy.

And in California, one of the most riveting success stories is Michael Gibson, a 20-year-old from Oakland.

By the age of 16, Gibson was serving time in jail for three counts of armed robbery and attempted murder of a police officer. “My future was either death or jail,” he said.

But today, after reluctantly taking a parole officer’s advice to join a mentor program, Gibson is finishing his first year of community college with a 3.75 grade-point average. When he started school last fall, it was the first time he had stepped inside a classroom in more than six years. And this fall, he hopes to be an English major at one of the four-year universities he recently toured around the country.

Gibson said he credits his mentor, Martin Jacks, with turning his life around. And he said his experience has led him to work at youth authorities in San Jose and San Francisco, trying to encourage other troubled teenagers to join mentor programs.

“A lot of people can benefit,” he said. “Because how I benefited is--it basically provided me with a role model; a confidant, a teacher and somebody, well, just a friend.”

Jacks, who will join the governor on the dais at today’s announcement, is director of the Mentoring Center in downtown Oakland, a program he founded about six years ago.

Jacks said his program places youths in one of four categories depending on need and difficulty. Mentors are matched with each category based on their experience and their time commitment.

“This is real life,” Jacks said. “Mentoring is not a sidebar, ‘I’ll get to it when I can in my spare time’ kind of thing. . . . A lot of programs don’t prepare their mentors for that, so they think there is going to be a kid waiting with a pen and a pad for you to spew your wisdom.”

California has a growing number of mentor programs that serve various populations and use different methods. In general, state officials said mentors should expect to dedicate at least an hour a week for more than a year. They have also established a statewide hotline at (800) 444-3066 for volunteers to obtain referrals for nearby mentor programs.

“They need to be committed, that is absolutely a critical part of it,” said Patrice Theard, director of One on One in Los Angeles. “It will do more harm to a child if a mentor comes in . . . and, in mid-course, leaves the relationship.”

Based on experience, Theard and others said they are confident that there are enough prospective mentors in California to reach Wilson’s goal of 1 million youths by 2000.