Executive Summary
The topic of the research is determining the problem faced by the Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center and illustrating possible solutions that are based on evidence and recent literature. The center deals with assisting vulnerable young individuals with academic and physical health issues and mental health problems. It has been identified that the organization lacks mentors who can provide the needed support and effort toward minimizing the existing issue.
The purpose of the research is to highlight solutions such as marketing the volunteer position through social media and creating more interest in being involved in the organization. The topic is important, and its rationale directly correlates with the problems encountered by troubled youth. Specifically, high recidivism and absenteeism from school facilitate low professional achievements and increase the likelihood of negative health effects. The current research provides an overview of the initiative, its main barrier, and well as solutions to increase the number of mentors and decrease low retention. Findings suggest that social media marketing is an excellent way to address the aforementioned problems.
Background
The Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center is located in San Antonio, Texas. The facility specializes in assisting troubled youth by minimizing factors that can generate vulnerabilities in terms of health, psychological well-being, and legal problems. Hence, the children can acquire resources, such as health checks, while recovering from a dangerous situation (Juvenile Detention Center). For the youth to receive guidance and assistance, mentors are required to oversee them and provide support. However, the issue is that mentorship needs to be adequately addressed, and more volunteers agree to work on the cause.
Diagnosis
In regards to Bexar County’s Center for Juveniles, the mission and values of the organization are excellent for vulnerable populations. However, a major problem that arises is the lack of personnel. Mentorship relations cannot be underestimated as they have been proven to have a positive effect on children (Jones et al., 2022). At the same time, a lack of mentors willing to put effort into assisting the youth generates a major problem in which emotional, physical, and legal issues are not adequately dealt with. To determine solutions and the nature of the problem, it is essential to highlight the current situation supported by data. Relevant information does, indeed, support the need for efficient mentors and illustrates the potential barriers encountered by organizations that have the problem of understaffing.
Current Situation
The current situation, namely, the lack of mentors involved in the problem, can be explained through the lack of effective advertisements for the center’s mentorship program. On the one hand, investing in marketing appears to become secondary when it comes to centers that require direct capital directed toward medical and educational resources. Hence, program managers may view advertisements as unimportant. On the other hand, social media marketing requires various considerations, which can become a complex barrier (Folk et al., 2020). Creating attractive marketing strategies that would influence people to become mentors implies targeting the ads to a specific audience and presenting a concise yet effective message. Implementing marketing to attract volunteers would generate positive organizational outcomes, such as adverse health and psychological results for the children and higher recidivism.
Supporting Data/Analysis
The importance of mentorship for vulnerable individuals is well-supported in the relevant literature. As highlighted previously, community-based programs positively impact the youth and generate advantageous long-term effects on physical and mental well-being (Jones et al., 2022). Furthermore, mentoring increases the likelihood of academic and professional success as children are more likely to be inspired to achieve their goals and objectives (Reid-Griffin, 2019). Such achievements can only be achieved through excellent resource management (Anwar & Abdullah, 2021). The resources are to be allocated towards marketing to attract individuals who can positively impact young people in vulnerable socioeconomic situations and with mental health issues.
Recommended Intervention
The implementation can take one month as the main strategy is advertising the initiative. The recommendation is to invest in social media marketing to establish interest in becoming a volunteer mentor at the Bexar Center for Youth. Marketing is an essential tool in creating an audience that will first find out about the initiative. This may generate investments from individuals interested in the problem that is being solved at the Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center. However, the solution will also motivate individuals to contribute with their time. As highlighted previously, social media is an efficient channel for recruiting (Folk et al., 2020). It is recommended that a clip or a written ad is established describing the vision, mission, and values of the organization. This is an easy and effective way to share information in a way that is interesting and captivating for the audience while making it informative and helpful for potential candidates.
Furthermore, information on mentorship at Bexar, such as the requirements for candidates, expectations, and duties, is to be included. Additionally, the ad can contain information on the aspects that will be included in the work with the children, such as socialization (Tewksbury & Ross, 2017). Candidates will have the opportunity to learn about the opportunity, decide whether the position aligns with their personalities and academic experience, and enroll in the initiative as mentors in case of success. After hiring, the mentors are to be provided with resources and supported by the managers (Rohatinsky et al., 2020). This will ensure high retention, and the issue of understaffing will be minimized, as well as the additional finances required for training new volunteers and employees.
Applicable Organizational Behavior Concepts
The organizational behavior concept that aligns with the aforementioned recommendation is the collegial model. The collegial model is a structure in which individuals have a collaborative interaction. This is the case both among colleagues within the organization as well as with the juveniles who require the support of a mentor.
Researchers mention the importance of communication with individuals who have a past experience with troubles with the law (Rohatinsky et al., 2020). This generates socialization, which allows children to have further success in school and their future professions. However, mentorship, while to a major extent built on collaboration and discussions among individuals who trust each other, also correlates with a level of admiration and guidance.
A custodial model, while not autocratic, in an organizational behavior builds on supporting employees or, as in the case of the youth center, the children. To a certain extent, mentorship is a provision of an example that can become the basis for personal improvements (Jones et al., 2022). Young people who have not been exposed to positive examples in terms of adults benefit from having a role model. In this case, the model is the mentor volunteer who participates in their mental and physical well-being, motivates them to study, and shows them a path in life that correlates with prosperity and happiness.
References
Anwar, G., & Abdullah, N. N. (2021). The impact of Human Resource Management Practice on organizational performance. International Journal of Engineering, Business and Management, 5(1), 35–47. Web.
Folk, J. B., Harrison, A., Rodriguez, C., Wallace, A., & Tolou-Shams, M. (2020). Feasibility of social media–based recruitment and perceived acceptability of digital health interventions for caregivers of justice-involved youth: Mixed Methods Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(4). Web.
Jones, K., Parra-Cardona, R., Sánchez, B., Vohra-Gupta, S., & Franklin, C. (2022). All things considered: Examining mentoring relationships between white mentors and Black Youth in community-based youth mentoring programs. Child & Youth Care Forum. Web.
Reid-Griffin, A. (2019). Mentoring: Helping youth make a difference in STEM. Journal Of Education in Science Environment and Health, 5(1), 1–11. Web.
Rohatinsky, N., Cave, J., & Krauter, C. (2020). Establishing a mentorship program in rural workplaces: Connection, Communication, and support required. Rural and Remote Health. Web.
Tewksbury, R., & Ross, J. I. (2017). Instructing and mentoring ex-con university students in departments of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Corrections, 4(2), 79–88. Web.
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