System and methods for the selection, monitoring and compensation of mentors for at-risk people

Abstract

A method for providing incentive to mentors of at-risk mentees is described. The method comprises the steps of determining an at-risk mentee's behavior and progress in a period of time, determining the mentee's income and income tax payments during the same period of time, and calculating a financial incentive to the mentee's mentor, wherein the amount of the financial incentive is calculated based on the mentee's behavior and/or income tax payment during the period of time.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for providing mentoring service to at-risk people, comprising the steps of:
 receiving, via a user interface of an application executing on one or more computer processors, a risk profile concerning an at-risk subject, wherein the risk profile comprises a plurality of risk factors;   assigning, via one or more computer processors, a risk point value to each of the plurality of risk factors based on severity level of the subject's risk factors and a risk point matrix stored on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors;   determining, via the one or more computer processors, a total risk point value of the subject via the one or more computer processors; and   when the total risk point value equals to or exceeds a predetermined threshold value, accepting the at-risk subject as a mentee;   assigning, via the one or more computer processors, a mentor to the mentee, wherein the mentor is selected from a mentor qualification database on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors;   approving the assigned mentor by an oversight board;   receiving, via a user interface of the application, the mentee's progress report after the establishment of a mentor-mentee relationship;   comparing, via one or more computer processors, the mentee's progress to at-risk population success odds or ex-convict success odds stored on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors; and   providing, via the one or more computer processors, a financial incentive to the mentor based on result of the comparing step;   wherein the financial incentive is provided in the form of an income tax credit or a cash payment to the mentor,   wherein the amount of the financial incentive is calculated based on the mentee's behavior and the mentee's income tax payment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 maintaining, via the one or more computer processors, a mentor incentive database, wherein the mentor incentive database is stored on a tangible medium accessible by the one or more computer processors.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 retrieving, via the one or more computer processors, information about how to reduce risks associated with one or more of the plurality of risk factors from a database stored on a memory device.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising the step of:
 electronically delivering, via the one or more computer processors, the information to the oversight board and/or a mentor approved by the oversight board.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of risk factors comprise one or more of the factors selected from the group consisting of age, gender, weight, height, job history, history of traffic violations, alcohol consumption, drug use history, personal medical history, academic performance in school, attendance history at school, extra-curricular activities, gang involvement, personality assessment, probability of dropping out of school, probability of becoming pregnant, probability of committing a crime, probability of using illegal drugs, probability of becoming habitually unemployed, and probability of returning to prison. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of the financial incentive is based on a share of the at-risk subject's income tax payment, wherein the size of the share is determined by the severity of the mentee's risk factors and potential costs of crime, prison and/or welfare to the society. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the risk point matrix is determined by evaluating a large scale data base reflecting risks of other subjects compared to their later successes or failures based on various relevant metrics. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mentee's behavior includes the time period the mentee has avoided criminal behavior. 
     
     
         9 . A system for providing mentoring service to at-risk people, comprising:
 one or more computer processors; and   one or more tangible computer readable media accessible by the one or more computer processors, wherein the one or more tangible computer readable media comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:   receiving, via a user interface of an application executing on one or more computer processors, a risk profile concerning an at-risk subject, wherein the risk profile comprises a plurality of risk factors;   assigning, via one or more computer processors, a risk point value to each of the plurality of risk factors based on severity level of the subject's risk factors and a risk point matrix stored on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors,   determining, via the one or more computer processors, a total risk point value of the subject via the one or more computer processors; and   when the total risk point value equals to or exceeds a predetermined threshold value, accepting the at-risk subject as a mentee;   assigning, via the one or more computer processors, a mentor to the mentee, wherein the mentor is selected from a mentor qualification database on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors and is approved by an oversight board;   receiving, via a user interface of the application, the mentee's progress report after the establishment of a mentor-mentee relationship;   comparing, via one or more computer processors, the mentee's progress to at-risk population success odds or ex-convict success odds stored on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors; and   providing, via the one or more computer processors, a financial incentive to the mentor based on result of the comparing step,   wherein the financial incentive is provided in the form of an income tax credit or a cash payment to the mentor, wherein the amount of the financial incentive is calculated based on the mentee's behavior and the mentee's income tax payment.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of risk factors comprise one or more of the factors selected from the group consisting of age, gender, weight, height, job history, history of traffic violations, alcohol consumption, drug use history, personal medical history, academic performance in school, attendance history at school, extra-curricular activities, gang involvement, personality assessment, probability of dropping out of school, probability of becoming pregnant, probability of committing a crime, probability of using illegal drugs, probability of becoming habitually unemployed, and probability of returning to prison. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more tangible computer readable media further comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:
 maintaining, via the one or more computer processors, a mentor incentive database, wherein the mentor incentive database is stored on a tangible medium accessible by the one or more computer processors.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more tangible computer readable media further comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:
 retrieving, via the one or more computer processors, information about how to reduce risks associated with one or more of the plurality of risk factors from a database stored on a memory device.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more tangible computer readable media further comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:
 electronically delivering, via the one or more computer processors, the information to the oversight board and/or a mentor approved by the oversight board.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the risk point matrix is determined by evaluating a large scale data base reflecting risks of other subjects compared to their later successes or failures based on various relevant metrics. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the amount of the financial incentive is based on a share of the mentee's income tax payment, wherein the size of the share is determined by the severity of the mentee's risk factors and potential costs of crime, prison and/or welfare to the society. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the mentee's behavior includes the time period the mentee has avoided criminal behavior. 
     
     
         17 . A computer system for providing incentive to mentors of at-risk mentees, comprising
 a computer processor; and   one or more tangible computer readable media accessible by the computer processor, wherein the one or more tangible computer readable media comprise instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the computer processor to perform:   determining a mentee's behavior and progress in a period of time;   determining the mentee's income and income tax payments during the same period of time or a different period of time; and   calculating a financial incentive for the mentee's mentor, wherein the amount of the financial incentive is calculated based on the mentee's behavior and income tax payment during the period of time using a compensation matrix stored in the one or more tangible computer readable media.   
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more tangible computer readable media comprise instructions that, when executed by the computer processors, cause the computer processors to perform:
 receiving, via a user interface, the mentee's progress reports after the establishment of a mentor-mentee relationship.   
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the mentee's behavior includes the time period the mentee has avoided criminal behavior. 
     
     
         20 . The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the amount of the financial incentive is based on a share of the mentee's income tax payment, wherein the size of the share is determined by the severity of the mentee's risk factors and potential costs of crime, prison and/or welfare to the society.