Informal Mentoring in Reengagement: Relational Practices That Support Youth from Reconnection to Transition

Older youth benefit from guidance as they pursue secondary and postsecondary goals, yet access to mentoring and social capital remains unequal. This paper examines youth reengagement settings as contexts for positive youth development and informal mentoring for young people navigating adversity and systemic disparities. Drawing on qualitative data from 133 young people and 184 adults across 24 reengagement programs, the paper identifies a set of promising relational practices for how adults can support youth to reconnect with learning, persist toward academic goals, and transition into future education, work, and adulthood. The paper concludes that reengagement programs can be intentionally designed to offer mentor-rich environments that resonate with young people who experienced disconnection in other educational contexts, and offers recommendations for research, policy, and practice.