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 includes the steps of determining an at-risk mentee's prospects in the absence of mentoring, and then tracking behavior and progress in a period of time, determining the mentee's achievement of important milestones, avoidance of costs to society, and/or 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, achievement of important milestones, avoidance of costs to society, and/or income tax payments 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 personal profile concerning an at-risk subject, wherein the personal profile comprises personal data, a risk profile comprises a plurality of risk factors and a plurality of mentee matching tags;   assigning, via the 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, wherein the risk point matrix is determined by evaluating a large scale database reflecting risks of other subjects compared to their later successes or failures, and estimated lifetime costs to society;   determining, via the one or more computer processors, a total risk point value of the at-risk subject via the one or more computer processors;   accepting the at-risk subject as a mentee candidate, if the total risk point value satisfies a pre-determined threshold value;   searching, via the one or more computer processors, a mentor candidate database comprising a plurality of mentor profiles, wherein each mentor profile comprises personal data, mentoring experience and a plurality of mentor matching tags;   assigning, via the one or more computer processors, at least one mentor candidate to the mentee candidate, wherein the at least one mentor candidate is selected based on a match between the mentee matching tags and the mentor matching tags, where in the match is performed using a matching algorithm;   submitting the at least one assigned mentor candidate to an oversight board for approval;   receiving, via the user interface of the application, the at-risk subject's progress report after the establishment of a mentor-mentee relationship;   comparing, via the one or more computer processors, the at-risk subject's progress to at-risk individual success odds or ex-convict success odds stored on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors;   obtaining, via the one or more computer processors, the at-risk subject's income tax records from relevant governmental agencies;   determining, via the one or more computer processors, a financial incentive to the mentor based on result of the comparing step and the at-risk subject's income tax records and expected lifetime costs to society;   obtaining approval for the amount of financial incentive from the oversight board; and   transmitting a notice to the relevant governmental agency about the approved amount.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the financial incentive is provided in the form of a cash payment to the mentor, wherein amount of the cash payment is calculated as a percentage of the at-risk subject's income tax payment and wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to issue a payment for the approved amount. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the notice is subject to review and approval by the relevant governmental agency and wherein the relevant governmental agency issues a payment for the amount approved by the relevant governmental agency. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to electronically deposit the approved amount into a bank account designated by the mentor. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the at-risk subject's income tax payment is the at-risk subject's federal income tax payment for the last year. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the at-risk subject's income tax payment is the at-risk subject's federal and state income tax payment for the last year. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the at-risk subject's income tax payment is the at-risk subject's family's federal income tax payment for the last year. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the at-risk subject's income tax payment is the at-risk subject's family's federal and state income tax payment for the last year. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the financial incentive is provided in the form of an income tax credit for the mentor, and wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to issue a notification to the mentor of an income tax credit for the approved amount and electronically enter the income tax credit on the mentor's tax record. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the notice is subject to review and approval by the relevant governmental agency and/or oversight board. 
     
     
         11 . 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, and   electronically delivering, via the one or more computer processors, the information to the oversight board and/or a mentor approved by the oversight board.   
     
     
         12 . 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, and   electronically delivering, via the one or more computer processors, an alert to the mentor over a wireless communication channel to a wireless device associated with the mentor, wherein the alert activates an application on the wireless device that causes the wireless device to connect, via Internet, to the one or more computer processors and download said information.   
     
     
         13 . 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, appropriateness of behavior at school, extra-curricular activities, gang involvement, personality assessment, assessment of siblings and/or parents and/or guardians, probability of dropping out of school, probability of becoming pregnant, probability of committing a crime, probability of using illegal drugs, job history, probability of becoming habitually unemployed, and probability of returning to prison. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the progress report is received every 1, 2, 3 or more months and wherein the progress report includes the at-risk subject's personal information. 
     
     
         15 . 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 the one or more computer processors, a risk profile concerning an at-risk subject, wherein the risk profile comprises a plurality of risk factors and their expected lifetime costs to society;   assigning, via the 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 their expected lifetime cost to society and a risk point matrix stored on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors, 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 and expected lifetime costs to society;   determining, via the one or more computer processors, a total risk point value of the at-risk subject via the one or more computer processors;   accepting the at-risk subject as a mentee candidate, if the total risk point value satisfies a pre-determined threshold value;   searching, via the one or more computer processors, a mentor candidate database comprising a plurality of mentor profiles, wherein each mentor profile comprises personal data, mentoring experience and a plurality of mentor matching tags;   assigning, via the one or more computer processors, at least one mentor candidate to the mentee candidate, wherein the at least one mentor candidate is selected based on a match between the mentee matching tags and the mentor matching tags, where in the match is performed using a matching algorithm;   submitting the at least one assigned mentor candidate to an oversight board for approval;   receiving, via the user interface of the application, the at-risk subject's progress report after the establishment of a mentor-mentee relationship;   comparing, via the one or more computer processors, the at-risk subject's progress to the progress achieved by other at-risk individuals and their success odds or ex-convict progress and success odds stored on a memory device accessible by the one or more computer processors;   obtaining, via the one or more computer processors, the at-risk subject's income tax records from relevant governmental agencies;   determining, via the one or more computer processors, a financial incentive to the mentor based on result of the comparing step and the at-risk subject's income tax records and estimated lifetime costs to society;   obtaining approval for the amount of financial incentive from the oversight board; and   transmitting a notice to the relevant governmental agency about the approved amount.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the financial incentive is provided in the form of a cash payment to the mentor, wherein amount of the cash payment is calculated as a percentage of the at-risk subject's income tax payment and/or represents bonuses tied to mentee achievements or avoidance of negative outcomes and events that results in costs to society and wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to issue a payment for the approved amount. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the notice is subject to review and approval by the relevant governmental agency and wherein the relevant governmental agency issues a payment for the amount approved by the relevant governmental agency. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to electronically deposit the approved amount into a bank account designated by the mentor. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the financial incentive is provided in the form of an income tax credit for the mentor, and wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to issue a notification to the mentor of an income tax credit for the approved amount and electronically enter the income tax credit on the mentor's tax record. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , 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 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, and   electronically delivering, via the one or more computer processors, the information to the oversight board and/or a mentor approved by the oversight board and/or the mentee's parents or guardians.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the information is delivered over a wireless communication channel to a wireless device associated with the mentor. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 16 , 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 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, and   electronically delivering, via the one or more computer processors, an alert to the mentor over a wireless communication channel to a wireless device associated with the mentor, wherein the alert activates an application on the wireless device that causes the wireless device to connect, via Internet, to the one or more computer processors and download said information.   
     
     
         23 . A tangible computer readable medium, comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer processor, cause the processor to perform:
 receiving, via a user interface on a computer, a risk profile concerning an at-risk subject, wherein the risk profile comprises a plurality of risk factors;   assigning, via a computer processor, 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 computer processor, 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 and estimated lifetime cost to society;   determining, via the computer processor, a total risk point value of the at-risk subject via the one or more computer processors;   accepting the at-risk subject as a mentee candidate, if the total risk point value satisfies a pre-determined threshold value;   searching, via the computer processor, a mentor candidate database comprising a plurality of mentor profiles, wherein each mentor profile comprises personal data, mentoring experience and a plurality of mentor matching tags;   assigning, via the computer processor, at least one mentor candidate to the mentee candidate, wherein the at least one mentor candidate is selected based on a match between the mentee matching tags and the mentor matching tags, where in the match is performed using a matching algorithm;   submitting the at least one assigned mentor candidate to an oversight board for approval;   receiving, via the user interface of the application, the at-risk subject's progress report after the establishment of a mentor-mentee relationship;   comparing, via the computer processor, the at-risk subject's progress to at-risk individual success odds or ex-convict success odds stored on a memory device accessible by the computer processor;   obtaining, via the computer processor, the at-risk subject's income tax records from relevant governmental agencies;   determining, via the computer processor, a financial incentive to the mentor based on result of the comparing step and the at-risk subject's income tax records and estimated lifetime costs to society;   obtaining approval for the amount of financial incentive from the oversight board; and   transmitting a notice to the relevant governmental agencies about the approved amount.   
     
     
         24 . The tangible computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the financial incentive is provided in the form of a cash payment to the mentor, wherein amount of the cash payment is calculated as a percentage of the at-risk subject's income tax payment each year or reflects payment based on the mentee's achievement of one or more milestones or avoidance of events that results in costs to society and wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to issue a payment for the approved amount. 
     
     
         25 . The tangible computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the notice is subject to review and approval by the relevant governmental agency and wherein the relevant governmental agency issues a payment for the amount approved by the relevant governmental agency. 
     
     
         26 . The tangible computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to electronically deposit the approved amount into a bank account designated by the mentor. 
     
     
         27 . The tangible computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the financial incentive is provided in the form of an income tax credit for the mentor, and wherein said notice causes the relevant governmental agency to issue a notification to the mentor of an income tax credit for the approved amount and electronically enter the income tax credit on the mentor's tax record. 
     
     
         28 . The tangible computer readable medium of  claim 23 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the computer processor to perform 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, and   electronically delivering, via the one or more computer processors, the information to the oversight board and/or a mentor approved by the oversight board and/or parents or guardians of the mentee.   
     
     
         29 . The tangible computer readable medium of  claim 28 , wherein the information is delivered over a wireless communication channel to a wireless device associated with the mentor. 
     
     
         30 . The tangible computer readable medium of  claim 23 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the computer processor to perform the step of
 retrieving, via the 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, and   electronically delivering, via the computer processor, an alert to the mentor over a wireless communication channel to a wireless device associated with the mentor, wherein the alert activates an application on the wireless device that causes the wireless device to connect, via Internet, to the computer processor and download said information.