This research project investigates the effectiveness of mentors on rates of self-reported criminal offending for released offenders. I use data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) study (2004-2007), which sought to evaluate factors relating to high-risk offenders outcomes post release in an effort to reduce the societal problem of mass incarceration. Previous research has examined the use of mentors to improve the delinquent and criminogenic behavior of youth, but little is known about the effectiveness of mentors used to aid imprisoned adult males. I utilize negative binomial analysis to compare the number of self-reported criminal activities among released offenders with mentors versus those without mentors, and assess if the values varied between different reported levels of need for mentoring. Results indicate that mentoring did not reduce the rate of post-release offending at a statistically significant level. Reasons for the lack of significant results and policy implications are discussed.

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