Online Mentoring in Bakersfield and Kern County

Families and young adults in Bakersfield, Oildale, Shafter, Delano, Tehachapi and across Kern County can work with a Blackburn mentor by video. Each person is matched with one dedicated mentor, meets weekly or several times a week, and stays in touch by text and phone between sessions. Our team is based in Los Angeles, a drive over the Grapevine from you, and all Kern County sessions happen online on the same Pacific clock.

A big county with a working economy

Bakersfield sits at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley, where oil fields, orchards and packing houses ring a growing city. The economy runs on energy, agriculture and food processing, logistics along Highway 99 and I-5, health care and government. Families here tend to be practical about work, and many young people start earning early.

That practicality is a strength. It can also mean a teen gets a job at sixteen, stops thinking about what comes after, and is still in the same role at twenty-four without a plan to grow. A mentor helps a young person keep the job and keep the bigger picture in view.

Bakersfield by the numbers

Kern County is the Bakersfield metro, so these county figures describe the whole area (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, via Census Reporter, unless noted).

• 927,068 people live in the Bakersfield metro, about the 62nd largest in the country (metro; Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate for July 2025, as tabulated by StatRanker). It is a big place with a small-town feel in many neighborhoods, and families often assume that options are limited when they are not.
• 19.3 percent of adults 25 and over hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (county level). Many teens here will be the first in their family to finish college, and they are often doing the applications, aid forms and deadlines on their own. That is exactly where a weekly mentor helps.
• A median age of 33.3 (county level). The county is young, with many households raising teenagers and many people in their early twenties working out a first career.
• A median household income of $71,596, with 18.9 percent of residents below the poverty line (county level). Many young adults are helping support a household while they work or study, so a plan has to be honest about money and time.
• A mean commute of 24.8 minutes (county level). Distances between Delano, Shafter, Arvin and central Bakersfield add up, and a video session at home saves one more drive.

First in the family to go to college

For a student whose parents did not go to college, every step is new: which classes count, how financial aid works, when to apply, and what to do when the first semester goes badly. A mentor is not an admissions counselor, but helps the student stay organized, meet deadlines, ask the right offices for help and keep going when it gets hard. Parents can stay involved through updates even if they have never been through the process. See a guide for parents of first-generation students.

Work, trades or college: making the choice on purpose

Young people in Kern County often weigh several real paths at once: community college close to home, a four-year school farther away, a trade apprenticeship, energy or agriculture work, or the military. A mentor helps compare them with facts instead of guesses:

• What a normal week in the job looks like, and what it pays over time.
• How long the training takes, and whether it can happen while working.
• Who they can talk to who is doing it now.
• One small test this month, such as a shadow day, a class or an application.

See trade school vs college and how to get an apprenticeship.

Session times from Bakersfield

Bakersfield is on Pacific time, the same as our mentors, so the time on your phone is the time on theirs.

• After school: 4:00, 5:00 or 6:00 pm in Bakersfield, the same hour for the mentor.
• After work: 7:00 or 8:00 pm Pacific, popular with young adults who work days in the fields, warehouses or clinics.
• Early morning: 6:30 or 7:00 am sessions can be arranged for someone starting a late shift or class.
• Weekends: Saturday and Sunday slots are available, which helps during harvest season and summer jobs.

Heat, fog and the school year

Kern County districts usually start in early to mid August and finish in late May or early June, so summer is short and very hot. Triple-digit afternoons push sports, jobs and errands into early mornings and evenings. Winter brings dense valley fog that can delay school buses and make early drives slow. Harvest and packing seasons shape many family schedules, and teens often pick up summer and weekend work tied to them.

Families most often ask us three things: how a teen can be the first in the family to finish college, whether a mentor can help a young adult choose between work, trades and college, and whether sessions can run in the evening after work.

Situations that come up often in Bakersfield

• A senior is filling out financial aid forms alone because nobody at home has done it before.
• A young adult has worked in a warehouse since graduation and wants a path to a better role.
• A teen in Delano or Wasco spends long drives getting to a job and has little time left for school.
• A student wants to stay close to family for community college and needs a plan to transfer later.
• A young adult in an energy or agriculture job wants to know which certificate leads to steadier work.

Where a mentor helps

A mentor is one steady adult outside the family who helps turn goals into weekly steps and checks that they happen. Mentors are not tutors, therapists or admissions counselors. First-generation students usually start with mentoring for first-generation college students, and young adults looking for steadier work with job search coaching for young adults. In a crisis, call or text 988. How video sessions work is on our online mentoring page.

Related

• Online Mentoring and Coaching in California
• Online mentoring in Fresno
• Online mentoring in Stockton
• Mentoring in Santa Barbara and Montecito

Common questions

Do you serve Bakersfield families by video?

Yes. Families anywhere in Kern County, from Delano to Tehachapi, work with their mentor by video, with text and phone check-ins between sessions. In-person meetings happen only in Los Angeles.

Can a mentor help a first-generation college student from Bakersfield?

Yes. A mentor helps the student keep track of deadlines, plan each term and know which campus office to ask for what. Parents can receive updates even if they have not been through college themselves.

Do you help young adults in Kern County find steady work?

Yes. A mentor helps a young adult choose a direction, build a weekly job search routine and plan any training needed. The mentor follows up between sessions so the search does not stall.

What times work for a family in Bakersfield?

Bakersfield shares Pacific time with our mentors, so a 5 pm session is 5 pm for both. After-school, evening, early-morning and weekend times are available.

Is this only for students?

No. We work with high school students from age 13 with a parent involved, college students, young adults and adults. Each person gets one dedicated mentor.

Get started

Want to talk about a student or young adult in Kern County? Call (888) 305-5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.

Last updated October 28, 2026.