Preparing mentors to work with older foster youth
Abstract
Foster youth may have significant needs and issues that can inhibit the successful development of mentoring relationships. Many have experienced separation and loss in their lives, making it difficult for them to form positive relationships with an adult. Mentoring foster youth who are preparing for independence requires long-term commitment from mentors. And mentoring programs serving these youth must provide intensive training and support for mentors to help them develop the lasting relationships foster youth need. This effective practice highlights strategies used by the Powerhouse Mentoring Program — a community-based mentoring program that provides one-on-one mentoring for youth ages 13–21 in the foster care system in Multnomah County, Oregon. The mission of Powerhouse is to provide community-based mentoring to youth in foster care to enhance their successful transitions from adolescence to adulthood.
Issue
Children and adolescents living in foster care are a vulnerable population. Most have emotional, behavioral, developmental, and health problems that have their roots in the difficult family and environmental circumstances they came from before entering the foster care system. Once in foster care, they must deal with an array of different caregivers, caseworkers, and other adults who come in and out of their lives. Many come to distrust adults and hesitate to form close relationships with them, fearing they may soon leave.
Though foster care is intended to be a temporary placement, some youth end up remaining in the foster care system for many years, eventually “aging out” when they reach the age of maturity. Research suggests that without the extended support most families provide young people in the transition to adulthood, youth leaving foster care face enormous challenges in building successful lives. (Wertheimer, 2002).
Mentoring is increasing in popularity as a strategy to help foster youth overcome the many obstacles to success that they face. Mentors can provide caring support and friendship that foster youth need — because mentors are volunteers who are usually outside the formal foster care system, youth may be more willing to form relationships with them. However, mentoring older foster youth is not easy. Some mentoring programs focusing on this high risk population find it hard to recruit and retain mentors. Without adequate training and support, mentors can become discouraged as relationships fail to develop and thrive.
Action
Providing comprehensive initial training and regular opportunities for ongoing training and support can help mentors overcome the challenges of mentoring foster youth and allow them to develop deep and lasting relationships with their mentees. Recognizing this need for a strong training program, Powerhouse Mentoring Program uses a multi-phase approach to training that begins during the screening process and continues throughout mentors’ service. Program staff know that making a lasting match is especially important because foster youth have had so many failed relationships in the past. The community-based nature of the program requires that mentors be especially well trained, prepared, and supported.
Stage One: During Screening
Maria Hein, Powerhouse Program Coordinator, says that mentors begin to learn right away that mentoring foster youth is challenging but can reap many rewards for both mentor and mentee. During the screening process, program staff are careful not to “sugar-coat” the experience, and potential mentors receive initial information early on about:
- Characteristics of the youth they will mentor
- Goals of the mentoring program and some success stories
- How youth are involved in planning match activities
- An overview of the foster care system
- Importance of making a long term commitment (minimum of one year)
- Requirements to attend trainings and keep program coordinators informed
Powerhouse wants to be sure all matches are successful, so the program takes extra care in the selection process and provide lots of information up front to mentors. This helps mentors decide early in the process if mentoring foster youth is really a good fit for them and helps remove some of their anxieties about mentoring foster youth.
Stage Two: Group Orientation and Initial Training
Once mentors are through the initial screening process and provisionally accepted into the program, they attend two separate training events, each held in the evening. The first training covers general information that all mentoring programs should provide their mentors:
- Staff introductions and roles of all staff
- Mission, goals, and other information about the program
- Basic information about how and why mentoring works
- Program policies, procedures, and expectations of mentors
- Safety and liability
- How the program supports mentors and mentees
The second training describes in greater detail the population of youth served, explains the foster care system, and provides guidelines and tips for handling special issues that may come up. The agenda includes the following topics:
The Culture of Foster Care
- Understanding the Foster care system
- The dependency court process
- Youth culture
- Exploring and valuing diversity
Successful Mentoring of Foster Youth
- Qualities of successful mentors
- Stages of the mentoring relationship
- Focusing on strengths
- Giving youth a voice
- Setting boundaries
- Dealing with traumatic issues
Powerhouse provides each mentor with a comprehensive training manual that covers all information provided during training as well as information on community resources, articles on foster youth, and online links for further reading.
Stage Three: Individual Meetings
The personal interview required for all potential mentors lasts about 90 minutes and is conducted after all other screening materials have been returned. Information about mandatory reporting and confidentiality is provided at the end of the interview.
After mentors are formally accepted to the program, the program works with Department of Human Services (DHS) caseworkers to identify a young person who would be a good fit for each mentor. The DHS caseworker, mentor, and the Powerhouse mentor supervisor then meet to discuss the youth’s history, strengths, and challenges. The caseworker provides an overview at this time of the services and support available for the youth and the foster family. Mentors learn how they fit into the system of care for that particular child. This individualized training time also allows mentors to ask questions and express any remaining concerns.
Stage Four: Ongoing training opportunities and individual support
Powerhouse staff hold regular group training and support activities throughout the year, approximately every other month. These alternate between formal training events that usually feature guest speakers, and more informal get-togethers that allow mentors to share stories and ideas with staff present to lead conversations. Guest speakers have included experts on communication skills, human services staff, foster family members, and youth panels.
Formal training content is driven to some extent by the interests and concerns of mentors. Examples of training topics include:
- Using positive youth development approaches with mentees
- Resources available to youth as they age out of foster care
- Mandatory reporting issues and answers
- Foster families: how they are selected and trained
- Conquering conflict: effective communication in times of conflict
- Planning and implementing match activities
Attendance is not mandatory, but mentors are encouraged to be present at as many events as possible. Staff also keep in touch personally with each mentor at least monthly. They provide ongoing support as issues arise, and refer mentors to additional reading or other resources to help them build skills. Mentors know who to call when they experience a crisis with their mentee, and staff are ready to help them develop a plan of action and to offer tips, resources, and follow-up support.
Context
The Powerhouse Mentoring Program is located in Multnomah County, Oregon, which includes the city of Portland, and has a population of over 1 million people. In 2007, 3,635 children in the county were in foster care at least once during the previous year, and approximately 24 percent of those were between the ages of 13 and 21(Children First for Oregon, 2007).
Powerhouse is a program of The Inn, Inc., a nonprofit agency incorporated in Oregon in 1969. The Inn operates a residential group home and an Independent Living Program (ILP) for current and former foster youth, helping them develop skills that allow them to be successful adults. Powerhouse was established in 2000 to provide community-based mentoring to older youth in foster care to support their successful transitions from adolescence to adulthood. The program serves between 25 and 30 youth annually, some of whom are also involved in the ILP.
The Inn Home has a well-established relationship with the Oregon State Department of Human Services (DHS), and Powerhouse receives primary funding for its mentoring program from that agency. Mentees are referred directly to the mentoring program by DHS case workers. The program maintains positive working relationships with case workers throughout the life of each match, sending regular updates on mentee progress and keeping communication channels open if problems arise.
Outcome
In annual program reviews, mentors report that training helps them feel more prepared and supported in their work. Learning how the foster care system works helps them empathize with youth and understand their behavior. They recognize the need to give youth a voice in decision making and to build on their strengths, encouraging their positive traits and abilities. Mentors especially appreciate training on planning and implementing activities and how to talk to a teenager.
Evidence
The average length of matches in Powerhouse is 28 months, and a number of matches have lasted nearly five years. Program staff attribute this high level of match retention in part to the care they take in training and supporting mentors. Mentors report that they feel more able to connect as a result of the training and feel more comfortable with their mentee. In turn, youth feel respected and valued by their mentor, gain self-confidence, and begin to see options for the future.
For More Information
Resources
Relevant Websites
New York City Children’s Services. Best practice guidelines for foster care youth mentoring. http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/html/become_mentor/best_practices_addition.shtml
The National Mentoring Center has an extensive list of links to online resources about working with youth in foster care: http://www.nwrel.org/mentoring/links_foster.php
Other Resources
Mentoring Children in Foster care: Considerations and Partnership Strategies for Senior Corps Directors. Created by LEARNS, a partnership of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the Bank Street College of Education, this guide includes sections on the needs of foster youth and how to set up a mentoring program to meet those needs. http://nationalserviceresources.org/files/legacy/filemanager/download/learns/Mentoring_Children_in_Foster_Care_Final_Revised.pdf
North, Dustianne. Foster youth mentorship training for program managers. Mentoring Plus Workshop Series 5. Produced by The EMT Group for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. http://www.emt.org/userfiles/FosterYouthSeries5.pdf
Mentoring Resource Center fact sheets: “Putting youth development principles to work in mentoring programs.” http://www.edmentoring.org/pubs/factsheet14.pdf
“A Mentor’s Guide to Youth Development.” http://www.edmentoring.org/pubs/factsheet15.pdf
References
Wertheimer, R. “Youth who ‘Age Out’ of Foster Care: Troubled Lives, Troubling Prospects.” Child Trends Research Brief, December 2002.
Children First for Oregon. The Oregon County Data Book 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2008 from: http://www.cffo.org/pdfs/datapubs/databooks/08/2007%20DB%20Multnomah%20County%20Data%20Sheet.pdf.