Building strong relationships in mentoring programs
Abstract
With the increased expansion of mentoring programs, careful attention must be paid to the development and quality of the mentor-mentee relationship, as this bond is crucial for attaining desired youth outcomes. This study by Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) for the National Mentoring Partnership identifies common practices of mentoring programs that foster close and supportive relationships. Program decisions from how activities are chosen, to training and support offered to mentors, impact the relationship between mentors and youth. From the report, Mentoring School-Age Children: Relationship Development in Community-Based and School-Based Programs (April 2000).Issue
Allowing a mentor and youth to spend time together does not guarantee a strong relationship will be built. The P/PV mentoring study identifies programmatic benchmarks for developing strong mentor-youth relationships in both school-based and community-based programs. These benchmarks are based on mentor-youth interactions, program practices, and youth characteristics. Benchmarks include engaging in social and academic activities, the amount of time spent together, deciding how to spend time together, similarity in mentor and youth interests, pre-match and post-match training and support, and the age of the youth. In community-based programs, pre-match screening is consistently associated with mentors developing a strong relationship with youth.Action
The P/PV study identifies four essential program practices that contribute to the development of close and supportive relationships between a mentor and youth. Staff can facilitate strong mentor-youth relationships by implementing these specific practices in school-based and community-based programs:- Provide at least six hours of pre-match training and post-match support to mentors. Mentors who receive more than six hours of pre-match training and orientation tend to spend more time with their match and report having the closest, most supportive relationships. Mentors who report having at least monthly contact with program staff also tended to develop closer and more supportive relationships.
- Match mentors with youth based on common interests. The study finds that mentors and youth that share similar interests develop close, supportive relationships. While many programs match mentors and youth based on gender or ethnicity (whether based on program philosophy, liability concerns, or parental preference), this can have the adverse effect of limiting the pool of male and minority mentors. Consequently, boys and minority youth may remain underserved. Matching mentors and youth based on similarity of interests can significantly expand the pool of possible mentors and meet the growing demand. Some ways to determine compatibility and similar interests include:
- Ask youth and/or volunteers to complete personality inventories or interest surveys
- Provide mentors with interest surveys to complete with youth
- Allow groups of mentors and youth to meet, then give them the opportunity to note first, second, and third choices for a match
- In school-based programs, take advantage of the school staff who knows the child well to learn more about the child's needs and interests
If matching based on interest is not feasible, then train mentors so that they can identify and draw upon shared interests with a youth. - Encourage mentors to spend time engaging in social as well as academic activities. According to the study findings, the extent to which youth and mentors engage in social activities (such as going to events together, having lunch, just talking) is the critical factor in developing positive relationships. Engaging in academic activities also has a positive effect on forming strong relationships. Giving youth a voice in deciding activities, and then making these decisions together, fosters a stronger relationship.
- Focus more attention on training and supporting mentors who are working with older youth. In the study, mentors matched with middle or high school students experienced less close and less supportive relationships and this finding has implications for expanding program activities. According to the study, mentors paired with older youth tend to spend less time on academic activities (which is strongly related to supportiveness), may not be matched based on shared interests, may question their self-efficacy, and face more challenges. Greater training and support is needed for mentors to compensate for differences that emerge in mentoring younger and older youth.
Context
Key differences between school-based and community-based mentoring programs that emerged during the study include:- Program Focus
- School-Based
- Engage in more academic activities
- Have more contact with youth's teacher
- Feel more effective in affecting school outcomes
- Serve more youth who are having problems in school, and are more likely to serve youth who have been held back in school
- Community-Based
- Engage in more social activities
- Have more contact with youth's parent
- Feel more effective in affecting social outcomes
- Are more likely to serve delinquent youth
- Mentor Characteristics
- School-Based
- Attract and/or target more older adult and youth mentors
- Attract and/or target more minority mentors
- Community-Based
- Attract and/or target more 22- to 49-year old mentors
- Attract more Caucasian mentors
- Cost and Staffing
- School-Based
- Cost less per match
- Use fewer full-time staff
- Community-Based
- Cost more per match
- Use more full-time staff
Citation
Herrera, Carla, Cynthia Sipe, and Wendy McClanahan.Mentoring School-Age Children: Relationship Development in Community-Based and School-Based Programs. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures, April 2000.Outcome
Mentors who were given ample training and support from program staff, engaged in social as well as academic activities with their youth, and were matched with a youth with common interests reported having closer, more supportive relationships with youth than mentors who were not.
The study is based on telephone interviews with 1,101 mentors in 98 mentoring programs (drawn from a sample of 722 mentoring programs previously surveyed for a descriptive study entitled "Mentoring School-Age Children: A Classification of Programs," Spring 1999). Among those, the research focused on the 669 volunteers in one-on-one matches in community-and school-based mentoring programs. The surveys were supplemented with interviews and focus groups with youth, school, and agency staff from eight exemplary programs. The report focuses on relationship development, not program impacts, from the mentors' point of view.
Posted On
January 2, 2001For More Information
Public/Private Ventures
Website: http://www.ppv.org/