Youth mentorship program guidelines

It also provides advice for mentoring relationships in school settings, including tips for building trust, setting goals, and improving academic and personal competencies for participants. Going the Distance: A Guide to Building Lasting Relationships in Mentoring Programs Mentoring research has consistently shown that longer-lasting matches are a key to successful outcomes for youth and for programs as a whole.

If you want to create long-lasting mentoring relationships in your program, this guide can help. Strengthening Mentoring Opportunities for At-Risk Youth Policy Brief Five of the most prominent researchers in the youth mentoring field have teamed up to produce a new policy brief that explores what we know about youth mentoring and the issues the field must address moving forward.

Research and Practice: The Role of Evidence-Based Program Practices in the Youth Mentoring Field Fact Sheet This fact sheet examines the growing trend in youth mentoring and the broader education and youth development fields of evidence-based practice, which, in theory, bases programmatic and policy decisions on rigorous science.

This shift in public policy formation has produced both positive and negative consequences for the youth mentoring field. The fact sheet examines these issues and highlights discussion of the topic that took place at the Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring. Building an Effective Advisory Committee Fact Sheet A mentoring program is often only as good as the leadership provided by a board or advisory committee, and this fact sheet examines strategies for recruiting advisory team members and assigning roles.

Making the Most of Higher Education Partnerships Fact Sheet Mentoring programs can substantially benefit, in terms of volunteers, space, and access to a variety of resources, from partnerships with higher education institutions, and this fact sheet explores ways of building those long-term partnerships.

Webinar - Building a Mentoring Resource Collection This webinar focused on how mentoring programs can build a small in-house "library" of publications, resources, research, evaluation tools and other items that can help inform staff, help with program decisions, and enhance mentoring relationships. For mentors it is important that they have a realistic expectation of the benefits and challenges associated with mentoring.

It is also important that the needs of the youth recruited for the program match the services that the program can provide. Eliminating mismatches between mentor and mentee expectations can help diminish the chance that the mentoring relationship ends prematurely, and ensure that it is a positive experience for both the mentor and the mentee.

Conduct reasonably intensive screening of potential mentors. MENTOR suggests that the screening process include an application, time commitment of at least one year and one face-to-face meeting per week, a face-to-face interview, a reference check, and a criminal background check. This includes parents or guardians filling out an application, providing consent, and committing to participate in the program for at least a year through the schedule designed by the program.

Provide at minimum two hours of training prior to the match. At a minimum, trainings should include the following topics:. Research on mentors participating in BBBS showed that mentors receiving less training prior to being matched with their mentee, specifically less than two hours, had less positive mentoring relationships.

These mentors reported that they did not feel as close with their mentees, spent less time with them, and were less likely to continue the relationship the following year compared to mentors who had received two or more hours of training prior to beginning the mentorship. Make matches based to encourage sustained relationships. MENTOR suggests that characteristics of the mentor-mentee should be considered during the matching process.

Learn more about adults who mentor and the key attributes associated with successful mentoring. Offer continuous support and training to mentors that extends post-match. While initial training can be helpful for mentors, continuous ongoing support is also essential. MENTOR suggests that programs contact mentors and mentees at least twice a month during the initial month of the relationship and at least monthly after that.

Programs should also provide mentors with resources such as experts, publications, connections with experienced mentors, and social service referrals to help address challenges that they may face during the mentoring relationship, and at least one or more opportunities for training following the initial training. Though practice and research suggest some best practices for mentoring programs, it is important to recognize that the needs children and youth face are unique to their circumstances.

Programs designed for them are most effective when the needs of the mentees are taken into account and factor into the structure of the program and the pairing of mentors and mentees.

Cavell, T. Strengthening mentoring opportunities for at-risk youth. Deutsch, N. Capturing the magic: Assessing the quality of youth mentoring relationships. New Directions for Youth Development, , DuBois, D. Research methodology and youth mentoring. Establish a case management protocol to ensure communication with mentors and mentees. Plan how the program will be managed e. Identify a management team.

Ensure clear roles. Establish policies and procedures. Implement ongoing training. Develop a financial plan e. Implement the program.

Resource: Mentoring as a Component of Reentry. Resource: NCFY. Resource: The Mentoring Toolkit 2. Review: Mentoring for Children of Incarcerated Parents. Share with Youth: Power of Youth Challenge. Girls Mentoring and Education Service. Just Launched! Redesigned YE4C. Neighborhood Networks. Reintegration of ExOffenders Program. Seniorcorps - Foster Grandparent Program. Publications Adventures in Parenting.

Juvenile Mentoring Program: Report to Congress. Make a Friend-Be a Peer Mentor.