Mentoring methods and practice

Result of DFSS* youth mentoring
seminar on April 26, 2013
*Department of Family and Support Services

 Professor of Community Health Sciences at
UIC
 Specializes in self-esteem and mentoring
relationships in relation to resilience and
holistic positive development
 Received grants from National Institute of
Health, DHHS Office of Minority Health and
Institute of Education services

 Mutuality
 Trust
 Empathy

 Both sides must work and advance the
relationship
 Emphasizes that the mentor must not be
putting in all of the effort
 60/40 or 70/30 ratio of mentor/mentee effort
advised
 Too much is too authoritarian, too little is
perceived as disinterest

 Mentor should place initial effort into
developing a genuine relationship with the
mentee
 Trust must be gained organically
 These actions can be perceived as overbearing
or even overstepping boundaries
 Buying gifts
 Acting as if their savior

 Sympathy feel natural, can actually hurt
mentee
 Mentors have to truly understand mentees
 Successful empathy from the mentor can lead
to long-term emotional stability

 Have a strong, explicit focus on promoting
positive youth development
 Conduct regular reviews of youth progress,
including intensive case conferences
 Encourage collective mentoring
 Use training sessions as a means of promoting
reflective dialogue among staff

 Have Staff observe other good after-school
programs to learn more about best practices
 Form youth councils to make sure youth voice
is heard
 Schedule regular external review and site visits
 Require leadership to engage in regular
supervision and coaching

 Social and Emotional development
 Cognitive development
 Identity development
 Child’s Interpersonal Development

 Integrative strategy designed around the goal
of promoting positive youth development
 Guide organizations through regular
communication, collective mentoring and
thoughtful discussion.
 Inspire ongoing reflection and improvement of
practice

Complete details
can be found at
http://www.mentori
ng.org/downloads/
mentoring_413.pdf

 Program Design and Planning
 Program Management
 Program Operations
 Program Evaluation

 First – and the key – step to building a program
 Design = blueprint for all other aspects of
program
 Number of decisions with have been made at
the conclusion of this step

 Decisions are based on:
 Youth populations that will be served
 Types of mentors (senior citizens, college students)
 Program goals
 Setting of program
 How to promote program

 A well managed program is crucial to health of
mentoring program
 Well-managed program promotes accuracy
and efficiency, establishes credibility and
identifies areas that need improvement

 Elements are necessary for a well-managed,
well-run program:
 Advisory group
 System to monitor program
 Effective public relations
 Communication efforts

 Efficient, consistent everyday operations are
important to mentoring program success.
 Fulfillment of responsibilities can be the
difference between chaos and stability.

 Strategic options for ensuring smooth
operation of the program:
 Consistently evaluating/recruiting mentors
 Supervising relationships
 Helping mentors and mentees reach closure

 Ongoing quality improvement is an indictor of
effective mentoring programs.
 Identifying areas that need improvement
improves how well the program serves young
people.

 To adequately evaluate program effectiveness,
a program must have:
 A plan to measure success
 A process for measuring expected outcomes
 A process that reflects on evaluation findings and
disseminates them to appropriate parties

 5 primary types that have proven to be
effective
 Traditional one-on-one
 Group Mentoring: 1 adult, 4 children
 Team Mentoring: group of adults and children
 Ratio not to exceed 1:4
 Peer Mentoring: older youth w/ younger youth
 Age gap no less than 5 years
 E-mentoring: only electronic correspondence
 A ratio of 1 mentor to 4 mentees is necessary to
adequately serve the needs of the youth

 Conducting reasonably intensive screening of
potential mentors
 Making matches based on interests that both
the mentor and the mentee share
 Providing more than six hours of training for
mentors
 Offering post-match training and support.

Complete details can be found at:
http://raikesfoundation.org/Docu
ments/Lessons%20for%20Youth%2
0Program%20Quality%20Improve
ment%20Initiatives%20(January%2
02012).pdf

 Building the capacity of youth-serving
organizations to deliver the best possible
programs
 Increasing the use of research-based quality
assessment too
 Continually improve practice
 Improve quality at the point of service (where
youth, adults and resources come together)

 Initiative begins with a 15 month process
 Program quality assessment, data-driven
improvement planning, peer learning, and intensive
professional development
 Organizations receive cash grants to participate
in initiative
 Upon Completion, organizations are eligible to
receive continued funding and quality
improvement resources for an addition 2 years

 Key Component of the YPQI
 Derived from Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs
 Comes in 4 stages, with most emphasis
needing to be placed at the bottom
 Safe Environment
 Supportive environment
 Interaction
 Engagement

 Psychological and Emotional safety
 Program space and furniture
 Emergency procedures
 Healthy food and drinks
 Physically safe environment

 Encouraging
 Reframing conflict
 Skill building
 Session flow
 Active engagement
 Welcoming atmosphere

 Lead and mentor
 Be in small groups
 Partner with adults
 Experience belonging

 Plan
 Reflect
 Make Choices

Full Details can be found
here (pages 64 and 65):
http://www.cityofchicago.
org/content/dam/city/depts
/obm/supp_info/CDBG/C
DGA2014Final-
CDGAPosting.pdf

 21st century skills assessment
 Formerly know at the Employability
Assessment
 Targets skill building clocks comprised of
college, career and life readiness skills
 Examples include personal mindset, social
awareness, verbal communication, collaboration &
problem solving
 Gives youth feedback on progress concerning
these skills

Mentoring methods and practice

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