Effectiveness of mentorship program among underprivileged children in Hong Kong

Mentorship program has been widely used to reach out to disadvantaged children. Its impact was not only shown to have a preventive value as in the lowering of anti-social behavior, but also seen in the promotion of cognitive and psychosocial outcomes. Nevertheless, empirical study of the effectiveness of mentorship programs in the Chinese population is still underexplored. A quasi-experimental study, comparing 75 underprivileged children (aged from 7 to 12) participating in one-year community-based mentorship program with a comparison group, demonstrate that the program brings significant impact to the children's academic pursuit (hope in learning English, English competence, academic and English result). While the study appears to suggest that merely participating in the program is not adequate to enhance hope, self-esteem and self-efficacy, quality mentoring relationship is shown to be predictive of these psychosocial outcome and building up extended adult-adolescent relationship between the pairs. The importance of quality mentoring relationship in mentoring research is further supported.     

Mentoring Improves Acceptance of a Community Intervention For Court-Referred Male Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS)

Despite excellent community-based interventions for court-referred adolescent boys, low rates of retention in the initial phase of treatment often lower overall effectiveness. This study assessed the contribution of mentoring towards improving compliance with a community-based intervention for court-referred adolescent male Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS). Charts on 79 court-referred adolescent boys (mean age=14.28; SD=1.37) admitted to a community based intervention in a large metropolitan area were systematically reviewed for patterns of service utilization (mentoring and group treatment), familial history, and substance use and psychopathology. Male adolescent PINS who utilized mentoring were ten times more likely to remain in the community-based intervention during the initial 6 months. Following the initial 6 months period, utilization of group treatment, but not mentoring, was associated with retention in the community-based intervention and positive outcome. Community-based intervention for court-referred adolescents might include mentoring during the initial 6 months of treatment to improve compliance.     

Why Trust Matters: How Confidence in Leaders Transforms What Adolescents Gain From Youth Programs

Youth's trust in program leaders is considered a key to the positive impact of youth programs. We sought to understand how trust influences youth's program experiences from their perspective. We interviewed 108 ethnically diverse youth (ages 12–19) participating in 13 arts, leadership, and technology programs. Analysis of these accounts suggested five ways in which youth's trust in leaders amplified program benefits. Trust increased youth's (1) confidence in leaders' guidance in program activities, (2) motivation in the program, (3) use of leaders for mentoring, (4) use of leaders as a model of a well‐functioning relationship, and (5) experience of program cohesiveness. Across benefits, trust allowed youth to draw on leaders' expertise, opened them to new experiences, and helped increase youth's agency.     

How an intervention project contributes to social inclusion of adolescents and young people of foreign origin

This article presents the results of the impact study of the Nightingale Project, a social mentoring project, whose aim is to support the welcoming and social inclusion processes of adolescent students of foreign origin who recently arrived in Catalonia and who are currently enrolled in the country's schools. The more than one hundred mentoring pairs (mentor and mentee) that took part in the intervention project were administered a questionnaire (N = 58). This same questionnaire was also given to a group of adolescents with the same profile but who did not participate in the project (N = 128) and who were treated as a control group.After six months of intervention (which corresponds to the duration of the Nightingale Project), results show that students who participate in mentoring learn the language faster, create broader and more diverse networks of friends in school, develop higher educational aspirations and expectations, are better acquainted with the reception context (municipality they live in), and improve standards of self-confidence and self-esteem, among other characteristics. The research also demonstrates that mentoring aimed at adolescents, as is the case of the Nightingale Project, plays a key role in avoiding development of an oppositional identity and, conversely, helps facilitate a process of resilience in adolescents in the new context of reception.     

Youth mentoring relationships in context: Mentor perceptions of youth,environment, and the mentor role

Youth mentoring is primarily understood as a relationship between mentor and mentee, yet mentors often enter into home, school, and other community settings associated with youth they serve, and interact regularly with other people in mentees' lives. Understanding how and why mentors negotiate their role as they do remains underexplored, especially in relation to these environmental elements. This qualitative study drew on structured interviews conducted with professional mentors (N = 9) serving youth at risk for adjustment problems to examine how mentors' perceptions of their mentees and mentee environments informed their sense of how they fulfilled the mentoring role. Mentors commonly characterized problems youth displayed as byproducts of adverse environments, and individual-level strengths as existing “in spite of” environmental inputs. Perceptions of mentees and their environments informed mentors' role conceptualizations, with some mentors seeing themselves as antidotes to environmental adversity. Mentors described putting significant time and effort into working closely with other key individuals as well as one-on-one with mentees because they identified considerable environmental need; however, extra-dyadic facets of their roles were far less clearly defined or supported. They described challenges associated with role overload and opaque role boundaries, feeling unsupported by other adults in mentees' lives, and frustrated by the prevalence of risks. Community-based mentoring represents a unique opportunity to connect with families, but mentors must be supported around the elements of their roles that extend beyond mentor–mentee relationships in order to capitalize more fully on the promise of the intervention.     

A parent's place: Parents', mentors' and program staff members' expectations for and experiences of parental involvement in community-based youth mentoring relationships

Youth mentoring has been conceptualized largely as a dyadic relationship between a mentor and mentee, with less attention paid to the role of parents. This study contributes to an emerging body of research on parent involvement by examining expectations for parents' roles in the mentoring process held by program staff, mentors, and parents themselves. In-depth interviews with mentoring program staff (n = 12), mentors (n = 30), and a parent or guardian of the youth being mentored (n = 30) were analyzed to identify these participants' views on the role of parents. Findings indicate that mentors and program staff were more aligned in their views and tended to be more focused on the ways that parents could potentially interfere with or otherwise disrupt the mentor–youth relationship. Parents' views were more varied and rooted in differences in both their individual values and beliefs about the role of a mentor in their child's life, their parenting styles and ways they expected adults outside of the family who were interacting with their child to engage with them. Implications for future research on parent involvement and for mentoring program practices are discussed.     

Positively Impacting Maternal Stress and Parental Adjustment through Community-Based Relationship Education (RE)

Relationship education (RE) is a brief, strength-based psychoeducational intervention for couples that demonstrates strong outcomes to decrease individual and couple stress. The current study examined changes in relationship and family adjustment for expectant mothers following RE intervention. Participants included 91 pregnant women (64.8% racial or ethnic minorities) who participated in a community-based RE program. In examination of pre and post-intervention relationship assessment scale and parental stress and coping inventory results, RE intervention contributed to increased relationship satisfaction, and reduced parental distress, as well as to improved social support and family-based support scores among participants. In addition, relationship stress is a major contributor to stress during pregnancy that adds vulnerability for the health of low-income and ethnic minority expectant mothers and their children. Findings indicate the effectiveness of RE to significantly reduce stress for expectant mothers. Therefore, the use of RE as a low-cost and accessible intervention to combat stress provides positive implications for this vulnerable population.     

It's good to know that you got somebody that's not going anywhere: Attitudes and beliefs of older youth in foster care about child welfare-based natural mentoring

This exploratory study is the first to investigate the attitudes and beliefs of older adolescents in foster care toward the implementation of a child welfare-based natural mentoring intervention designed to promote enduring, growth-fostering relationships between youth at risk of emancipation and caring, supportive nonparental adults from within the youth's existing social network. Six focus groups were conducted with 17 older youth in foster care attending a specialized charter high school for young people in out-of-home care in a large, urban city in the Northeast United States. Focus group data were transcribed and analyzed using a conventional content analysis approach. The following significant themes emerged related to natural mentoring for older foster youth emancipating from care: (1) need for permanent relationships with caring adults, (2) youth conceptions of natural mentoring, (3) unique challenges related to natural mentoring for youth in foster care, (4) role of a natural mentoring intervention in child welfare, and (5) challenges for implementing a child welfare-based natural mentoring intervention. Overall, our findings suggest that these young people are cautiously optimistic about the potential of a child welfare-based natural mentoring intervention to promote their social and emotional wellbeing. Future studies are needed to better understand the experiences of older foster youth with an actual natural mentoring intervention, including challenges, opportunities, and outcomes.     

Mentoring in the social context: Mentors' experiences with mentees' peers in a site-based program

The primary mechanism by which mentoring promotes positive outcomes is typically considered to be the one-to-one relationship between mentor and youth. However, many mentoring relationships, particularly those in site-based programs, unfold within and are influenced by the larger contexts in which mentoring takes place. In the present study, we examined 161 first-person accounts written by college students serving as Lunch Buddy mentors in an elementary school-based mentoring program. This examination aims to glean insights into mentors' experiences of and responses to their mentees' peers as they carried out the mentoring relationship in a school cafeteria setting, and the ways that mentors' engagement of mentees' peer networks might have influenced the mentoring process. Our analyses delineate the different approaches taken by mentors to engage mentees' peers, and the challenge of focusing on the mentoring relationship while also managing interactions involving mentees' peers. Findings shed light on how the contexts in which mentoring relationships occur shape the course and function of mentoring, and expand our understanding of the processes through which mentoring relationships can promote positive change for mentees.     

Predictors of natural mentoring relationships among former foster youth

Based on a panel survey of 683 foster youth, the current study examined the respective relationships between the characteristics of former foster youth and various attributes of natural mentoring relationships, including the (1) likelihood that youth have a natural mentor, (2) relationship role (e.g., family member, non-family acquaintance) of mentors vis-à-vis youth, (3) frequency of contact between youth and natural mentors, and (4) emotional closeness of the youth-mentor relationship. Study results suggest that a combination of factors, including youths' social-emotional competencies and participation in social institutions (e.g., religious or service organizations) play very different roles in the development and maintenance of positive natural mentoring relationships. Collectively, the findings suggest several potentially important implications for foster youth and natural mentoring policy, practice, and research.     

Mentoring for Educational Success: Advancing Foster Care Youth Incorporating the Core Competencies

A collaborative relationship among three organizations developed a mentoring project using social work students (mentors) and independent living program (ILP) foster youths (mentees). The goal was to increase the mentees' awareness of educational possibilities beyond high school graduation while analyzing the mentors' learning as defined by the Council on Social Work Education core competencies. This pilot project paired mentors with ILP youths in this experiential opportunity conducted on a university campus. The students, acting as positive role models applying social work skills, engaged in an effort to improve the mentees' educational outcome, which would ultimately lead to self-sufficiency.     

Parenting While Incarcerated: Tailoring the Strengthening Families Program for use with jailed mothers

Most incarcerated women are mothers. Parenting programs may benefit women, children and families, yet effectively intervening in correctional settings is a challenges. An evidence-based parenting intervention (the Strengthening Families Program) was tailored and implemented with women in a jail setting. Goals were to assess mothers' needs and interests regarding parenting while they were incarcerated, adapt the program to address those needs, and establish intervention delivery and evaluation methods in collaboration with a community-based agency. Women reported wanting to know more about effective communication; how children manage stress; finances; drug and alcohol use; self-care; and stress reduction. They reported high program satisfaction and reported reduced endorsement of corporal punishment after the intervention. Barriers to implementation included unpredictable attendance from session to session due to changing release dates, transfer to other facilities, and jail policies (e.g., lock-down; commissary hours). Implications for sustainable implementation of parenting programs in jail settings are discussed.     

Parent-provider relationship in home visiting interventions

Home visiting, while a very popular method of early childhood intervention, is not effective for all eligible at-risk families. The relationship between the home visitor and the family is central to the success of this type of intervention. This study aims to investigate, through 1024 home visit case notes from a French home visiting program, the ways in which the home visitor-family relationship develops, and identify the obstacles to and facilitators of a good quality relationship from the provider's point of vue. Results from a qualitative analysis suggest that the factors associated to the quality of relationship are present within the very first moments of the intervention. Poor relationship quality was found to be significantly associated with the family's mistrust towards the home visitor and with poor social conditions that make the supporting relationship difficult to develop. Good relationship quality was found to be facilitated by the parents' high involvement in the intervention and associated with a feeling of isolation and an ability to form social bonds. The necessitation for home visitor training is discussed, together with a reflection on the risk of home visiting programs to increase social inequalities, when they are not flexible enough to meet families' needs.     

Letter to the Editor

In a telephone survey 18 new social work educators responded to questions about their perceptions of mentoring in their first years as faculty members. Results indicate that new social work faculty believe mentoring relationships provide them with multiple benefits, including improved teaching and research performance. Data also suggest that programs must be carefully developed and supported if protégés, mentors, and their organizations are to fully realize these benefits. Factors such as mentor-protégé matching, mentor characteristics, the roles of mentors, organizational support, and the mentoring process must be considered if a successful mentoring program is to be implemented.     

Predictors of early versus late match relationship beginnings in Big Brothers Big Sisters community programs

This study examined patterns and predictors of early versus late match relationship beginnings involving youth and adult volunteer mentors participating in Canadian Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) community mentoring programs. Survival and multinomial logistic regression models were estimated on a sample of 845 youth approved for service from 20 mentoring agencies. Results showed that just over half of the youth (53%) had been paired with a mentor 6 months from the completion of their baseline assessment. At 12 months, 70% had been paired. Compared to never-mentored youth, predictors associated with a reduced chance of an early match beginning (< 6 months) included youth gender (boys) and a rural or small town place of residence. Youth perceptions of emotional support from parents/caregivers and parents' expressed need for another adult in their child's life were associated with an increased chance of both early (< 6 months) and late match beginnings (6 or more months). Implications for agency services are discussed.     

Mentoring as a Bridge to Positive Outcomes for Teen Mothers and Their Children

This paper compares historical and psychosocial realities of teenage parenting to prevailing contemporary myths. The authors explore the negative consequences of current remedies based on these myths. Community volunteer mentoring programs are suggested as a cost-effective intervention that can benefit communities and promote positive outcomes for at-risk pregnant teenagers. The authors suggest strategies for implementation of a community volunteer mentoring program based on an existing program in an urban community health center. Detailed information for social workers in community agencies is provided with regard to community education, recruitment, training, and ongoing support and supervision of mentors; funding requirements; and program evaluation.     

Group Process in a Women's Career Intervention

This study explored women's experiences of group process in a career planning intervention, and the relationship of those experiences to vocational maturity. We used goal instability as the dependent variable to describe the psychological states and needs of career-undecided women (n = 99), and we used Yalom's model of group process to identify group process factors and their influence on levels of goal instability at posttest and follow-up interviews 2 months later. Results indicated that women clients, similar to other counseling clients, highly valued both cognitive and affective components of group process in career counseling groups.     

Strengthening child and youth programs: A look at inter-organizational mentoring strategies

Community-based non-profit organizations rarely have access to research or evaluation evidence to inform their programs and often lack the capacity to gather or use this information independently. In 2016, Wisdom2Action—a network of knowledge mobilization (KMb) experts, policy makers and service providers across Canada—launched an inter-organizational mentorship program to facilitate the implementation and sharing of best and promising practices within community-based programs for young people. This article outlines the findings from a developmental evaluation of eight mentoring relationships. Drawing on the Promoting Action on Research in Health Sciences (PARiHS) model of KMb, we look at mentoring as a type of facilitation that supports the increased use of evidence and evaluation information by non-profit organizations and identify key themes that support effective organizational mentorship in this sector. Findings reinforce the importance of establishing connected relationships and understanding context in mentoring relationships, creating adaptive and responsive work plans, ensuring consistent communication, and maintaining a focus on capacity-building if knowledge mobilization is to occur.     

Child Protection Social Workers' Engagement in Continuing Professional Development: An Exploratory Study

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study into the nature of child protection social workers' engagement in, and understanding of, continuing professional development (CPD) in Ireland. Qualitative methods were used given the exploratory nature of the research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight child protection social workers from a community-based child protection department in Ireland. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. A review of the literature is provided and key findings are outlined and discussed. These findings relate to the nature and frequency of participation in CPD, perceived motivators and barriers to participation in CPD, and social workers' views on the potential impact of statutory registration of Irish social workers (which was implemented in the months after this study was carried out) on CPD participation. Research limitations and suggestions for future research are considered, along with the implications of this study for social work practice.     

Initial motives and organizational context enabling female mentors' engagement in formal mentoring – A qualitative study from the mentors' perspective

Mentoring aimed at supporting young people and their development shows promising results, but its delivery is threatened by the difficulty of recruiting sufficient numbers of mentors and keeping them engaged over time. The aim of this study was to help overcome this problem by examining female mentors' motives for engaging in formal voluntary mentoring of young women, and exploring how organizations can facilitate these mentors' satisfaction in staying engaged over time. Based on qualitative interviews with 12 mentors in a Swedish non-governmental organization, the Girls Zone, we show six categories of mentor motives related to initial motivation for engagement: self-interested reasons, empowering women, being a responsible citizen, sense of compassion, self-awareness, and longing for meaningfulness. In addition, we show five categories related to the organizational work of satisfying mentors: a win-win relationship, a feeling of ambivalence despite clear responsibilities and contributions, customized support and guidance, a caring organizational identity, and a commitment to pursue with feelings of duty and emotional connection. Using self-determination theory as the framework to guide our understanding of the findings, we conclude that mentors' motivations for engaging as mentors are linked to the fulfillment of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Practical recommendations are offered in light of the findings.