Case study · Platform data

From six sites to 21, with 5,064 cadets registered and 3,800 of them using messaging.

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe21 academies nationwide

By the numbers

5,064

Cadets registered across 21 ChalleNGe and Job ChalleNGe sites

PLATFORM DATA MentorPRO platform data, full pilot, December 2023 to December 2025. 3,800 (75 percent) actively used messaging and 3,646 (72 percent) used the wellbeing check-in.

26,931

Wellbeing check-ins completed by cadets

PLATFORM DATA MentorPRO platform data, full pilot. 20,751 of these in 2025 alone, a 3.4 times increase on the prior period.

89%

Of staff said the platform saved them time communicating with cadets

PROGRAM REPORTED Anonymous staff survey across all 21 academies, December 2025 to January 2026. 18 respondents to this item. 78 percent reported reduced concerns about safety and liability.

ChalleNGe academies use MentorPRO to stay in contact with cadets through the post-residential year, when contact usually fades. The pilot began with six programs in December 2023 and reached 21 Youth ChalleNGe and Job ChalleNGe sites by the end of 2025. RAND's 2026 report on the program found that staff at all six original pilot sites favored staying with the new model. RAND notes it is too early to measure graduate outcomes From January 2027 every academy must track contacts, placements and case management activity for each graduate for 24 months.

Program facts

Organization: National Guard Youth ChalleNGe and Job ChalleNGe
Segment: Youth programs, quasi-military residential education
Population: Teenagers aged 16 to 18 at risk of not completing a high school credential
Program size: 21 sites, 5,064 cadets and 387 staff and mentors
Model: A 22-week residential phase followed by a post-residential year in which staff and mentors stay in contact with cadets
Program goals: Help cadets reach a post-residential placement: a high school credential, a job, trade school, further education or military entry
Live since: December 2023
Measurement window: December 2023 to December 2025
Comparison group: None. Growth compared against the program's own prior period.
Analysis: MentorPRO platform data and an anonymous staff survey of program staff at all 21 participating academies. Independent evaluation by the RAND Corporation (Wenger, Wrabel and Cottrell, 2026), based on staff conversations at the six original pilot sites.

Independent evaluation (RAND)

What RAND found

In 2026, the RAND Corporation published its tenth annual report on Youth ChalleNGe, sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The report examined the post-residential mentoring pilot at the six original pilot sites, based on conversations with program staff in 2024 and 2025.

RAND also reported that staff no longer needed to process mentor applications, train mentors or track down mentors to learn what graduates were doing, and that sites saw more communication with families during and after the residential phase. RAND said it expects the pilot to produce more positive outcomes among graduates than the traditional mentor model, but that it is too early to measure the difference.

What RAND flagged

Staff asked for more training on the pilot approach, on expectations and indicators of success, and on the MentorPRO app itself. RAND noted that the pilot was rolled out soon after development, with no off-the-shelf training available, and recommended a stronger training curriculum before wider adoption. Several sites worried about phone use among cadets and graduates and whether graduates would use the app, and one site said many of its cadets come from areas with connectivity problems. Some sites said that tracking placements for 24 months may require more staff or risk burnout.

RAND’s findings come from conversations with staff at six sites. They describe staff experience and expectations. RAND said it was too early to measure differences in cadet outcomes.

Read the report: National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2024-2025 (RAND, 2026)

MentorPRO is like a box that we've all been wanting to see into so we can see how genuine relationships, mentorships, connections, and social capital are built and maintained in real time.
Kyle Mann, Post Residential Coordinator, Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy

I love the surveys. It really helps open up a conversation with a cadet that maybe I don’t know or don’t know very well. And shows them that we care, we’re listening, we’re here, we’re here to offer support.
Angela Jones,, Washington Youth ChalleNGe Academy

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From six sites to 21, with 5,064 cadets registered and 3,800 of them using messaging.

Independent evaluation (RAND)

What RAND found

What RAND flagged

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