U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Family and Youth Services Bureau
THE EXCHANGE
News from FYSB and the Youth Services Field
March 2005
FYSB's Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program
Who Are the Grantees?
What Are the Key Components of a Successful Mentoring Program?
What Makes a Successful Match?
Rate Your Mentoring Program
What is Positive Youth Development?
FYSB's Head Start Youth Initiative
Acknowledgements, Sources, and Resources
MENTORING AS A TOOL FOR POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
What does Deborah, a 40-something accounting professor in Missoula, Montana, have in common with John, a teenage student at North Clackamas High School in Clackamas County, Oregon?
They're both mentors. Deborah mentors Stephanie, a rather serious child whose father has been incarcerated all 7 years of her life. John mentors Ricky, a preschooler who always says "moo"
when they read a book about a cow. Both relationships are thriving with the help of grants from the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), within the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) Administration for Children and Families (ACF). And both relationships exemplify how mentoring can be used to nurture a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging, and empowerment-key elements of Positive Youth Development-not just in the mentee, but in the mentor as well.
With the growing evidence of mentoring's effectiveness as a Positive Youth Development tool, mentoring programs have been gaining momentum all around the country over the past decade. FYSB has been one of the leaders in this push. In particular, two recent FYSB initiatives are setting the stage for mentoring programs to continue expanding within a culture of Positive Youth Development: These two FYSB mentoring initiatives-even though they target different populations and draw from different volunteer pools-have a lot in common. As Rev. Alfonso Wyatt in his presentation at an MCP grantee meeting stated, "mentoring takes a lot of forms, but it works if we connect." A closer look shows the two programs have similar goals, similar approaches, similar issues, similar outcomes. This issue of The Exchange takes that closer look.
What exactly is a mentor?
Here's how Merriam-Webster defines it:
The mythical Odysseus recognized what modern research continues to prove: A
mentor can exert a powerful, life-changing influence on a child or youth. The latest thinking extends that classic definition of mentoring to "any adult-youth relationship that includes a combination of teaching, advising, and caring over an extended period of time" (The Youth
Development Handbook, 2004). The John-Ricky relationship stretches that definition even more, since John is not technically an adult. Yet, as FYSB recognizes through its collaborative initiative with Head Start, even a highschooler can be a mentor: he or she can be a positive
role model for a younger child, help that child academically and socially, set an example of what it means to give of oneself, and-at the same time-grow from the experience.
A mentor-just like a parent, caregiver, teacher, coach, youth worker, neighbor, or any other person in a child or youth's daily life-can broaden that young person's horizons and boost his
or her self-confidence. Research also shows that a caring mentor can increase the likelihood that a young
person will attend school regularly,
perform well academically, and make
healthy life choices rather than engage
in self-destructive, risk-taking, or violent
behavior. And a sustained mentoring
relationship, through which a young
person experiences support, guidance,
and connectedness, can also help that
young person improve relationships
with his or her peers, caregivers, and
other members of the community.
Take the story of Michael, for example...
men.tor: 1 capitalized : a friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education
of Odysseus' son Telemachus; 2 a : a trusted counselor or guide b : TUTOR, COACH
Michael's Report Card
Michael, a fifth grader in South Philadelphia, proudly handed the report card to his grandmother: 4 A's, 2 B's, and 99 percent attendance. Could this be the same child who, less than a year earlier, had been matched with a mentor at the U.S. Dream Academy's learning center? The same child who'd been at risk of being retained in fourth grade? Back then, Michael's academic performance had been low, his number of disciplinary incidents had been high, and his attendance had been an abysmal 70 percent. It's even harder to believe Michael's progress considering all the cards stacked against him from the moment he was born-a 3-pound baby of an incarcerated, crack-addicted mother. He's never really known his father, who's been incarcerated most of Michael's life. And his mother continues to drift in and out of prison, chemical dependency treatment facilities, and-sadly-Michael's life. But Michael also has something valuable going for him: he lives with a grandmother who doesn't want him stigmatized by his parents' behavior. She heard about the U.S. Dream Academy through her church. Within 12 weeks of being matched with a mentor, Michael made up all his unfinished homework. Within 10 months of being matched, his disciplinary incidents decreased dramatically. That's when he brought home that most impressive report card.
A seminal study on mentoring that included about 1,000 young people, aged
10-16, who were on the waiting list for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in
1992-93, showed how much mentoring can help. One group was assigned mentors,
and another group remained on the waiting list. Eighteen months later, the
children with mentors: |
Making a Difference, 2000 |
THE MCP PROGRAM: MEETING THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF A HIDDEN POPULATION
When the Pima Prevention Partnership's
MCP program in Tucson was forming,
one of its program partners, the local
Big Brothers Big Sisters organization,
reviewed its existing caseload. They
asked a question no one had asked
before: How many children already
in their program could benefit from
mentoring geared specifically toward
children of prisoners? To their surprise,
they discovered that about 20 percent
of the children had an incarcerated
parent or parents. They'd been working
with this population all along, and
they never knew it!
According to recent statistics, approximately
2 million children and youth
in the United States have at least one
The Exchange: March 2005
parent in a Federal or State correctional
facility. The impact of this incarceration
can be devastating to these young
people in many ways: Octavia Edinburg, Executive Director
of the New Orleans-based Community
Service Center, Inc. (CSC), talks about
the gaping hole in the lives of these
children-the absence of a parent or
parents. "It's not like they're away just
because they're hospitalized or something,"
she notes. "In many cases, the
parents' behavior caused the separation
from their families. Many of these kids
may have been with grandparents for a
long time before the incarceration. A lot
of them have shaky relationships with
their parents. A lot of them had no
relationship with their dads before the
incarceration. A lot of them live with a
caregiver who may also be quite angry
with the actual parent." And on top of
that pain, many also live with economic,
social, and emotional burdens caused by
their parent's incarceration.
Edinburg believes that the unique
circumstances in these children's lives
make mentoring particularly essential.
And so does the Federal Government. WHO ARE THE GRANTEES?
FYSB launched its MCP Program in
October 2003, awarding $9 million
in grants to 52 public agencies and
nongovernmental organizations across
the country. They awarded another $50
million for fiscal year (FY) 2004 to 169
additional grantees.
The 221 programs that received grants for
FY 2004 fall into four broad categories: The individuals from four of the
original grantee programs who spoke
to us in 2004 represent the full range of
typical grantees. They are situated in
diverse areas across the country. They
deal with a wide range of populations.
They vary in size. Some have been
operating for years, while others are
just getting started. Each encompasses
a diverse group of local partners, as
shown in the table below:
FOUR MODEL PROGRAMS, FOUR GOALS, FOUR TYPES OF PARTNERSHIPS | ||
---|---|---|
Program and Location | Goal | Partners* |
U.S. Dream Academy, Inc. Columbia, MD (8 centers in 7 cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Newark New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC) |
To mentor 3,000 children of incarcerated parents, aged 7-12, over a 3-year period |
The Four "C's":
Howard University, Johns Hopkins, and Temple College Points of Light Foundation, National Volunteer Service Centers Partnership, and community campaigns or events, such as Strive for 5 Friend and Family Campaign, January Jamboree, Building Bridges Community Outreach Campaign, and Dreamfest |
Pima Prevention Partnership Tucson, AZ |
To mentor 100 children of incarcerated parents by end of the first year, increasing to 334 by the third year |
|
Missoula County, Office of Planning and Grants Missoula, MT |
To mentor 40 children of incarcerated parents, aged 4-15 |
|
Community Service Center, Inc. (CSC) New Orleans, LA |
To mentor 25 children of incarcerated parents |
|
*Partnerships are not necessarily contractual or funded with FYSB dollars. |
Executive and clinical staff from these
four programs shared their experiences
in setting up and sustaining their operations.
They discussed some of the
unique challenges they face. They
described some of the strategies they
use to meet these challenges. And they
told some compelling stories about the
lives of specific children, their families,
and their mentors.
WHAT ARE THE KEY COMPONENTS TO SETTING UP AND
SUSTAINING A SUCCESSFUL
MENTORING PROGRAM?
"Know what you want to accomplish:
Figure out your mission, and hold true
to it." DeAnn Sarah Brady, National
Program Director of the U.S. Dream
Academy, the largest and most established
of the four highlighted MCP
grantee programs, offers those words
of advice to anyone trying to set up or
sustain a successful mentoring program.
Maggie Allen of Pima Prevention
Partnership's midsized MCP program
in Tucson agrees, adding, "Stay at it,
just doing what you do. Focus on the
end result-otherwise it can get overwhelming."
Edinburg takes this advice
one step further. As Executive Director
of CSC, which has the smallest of the
four highlighted MCP programs, she
similarly urges staff to stay focused on
their program's mission and goals and,
even more important, to "be passionate
about it. If it's just a passing phase, or
if you think there's money in it, it
won't work."
FOCUS. GOALS. PASSION. Those
are the heart of a successful program.
But what about its skeletal structure?
Allen stresses the importance of collaborating
with other community agencies
as well as garnering support from the
community. And Edinburg agrees: "Get
affiliates, get good partners," she advises.
"You'll have a lot of pieces to fill in as
you go. There are things you don't
realize when you start out, and those
partners and affiliates will help fill in
the gaps." Her program (CSC) is a
perfect example of how each partner
contributes its piece and how all the
pieces fit together to form a solid framework
for a well-functioning operation.
Here's how it works:
The organizational "bones" of a
PROFILE:
|
So focus, goals, and passion provide the heart. A solid community base can provide the structure. Now how does a program reach out, beyond itself, to find the fuel to keep it going? How does it find the children of prisoners who need mentoring? How does it recruit mentors?
HOW DO THE PROGRAMS FIND AND RECRUIT MENTORS?
Partnership's MCP program in Tucson, Arizona, recruit mentors? They use several strategies, such as the
following: |
Finding the children does not seem to
be a problem. There are so many of
them out there, some programs already
have waiting lists. Initially, some programs
work through churches, community
organizations, and family court
systems. Some work through schools.
Once those initial connections are
established, "the names start to roll in,"
comments Loraine Bond, a match support
specialist with Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Missoula, Montana.
Finding and recruiting mentors, on the
other hand, requires more creative and
varied strategies. Take Pima's MCP
program in Tucson. Like so many
programs across the country, they want
to tap into the faith community. So
they arranged a luncheon for 53 people,
including 33 local clergymen, to get
them to commit to the recruitment
process. The program featured a
recruitment workshop by Rev. Dr. W.
Wilson Goode, Sr., pioneer of the
Amachi mentoring model-a model
that partners secular and faith-based
organizations to provide mentoring to
children of incarcerated parents.
In addition to the faith community,
potential recruitment sources could
include businesses, retiree organizations,
senior centers, human service
agencies, civic clubs and lodges, service-
oriented fraternities and sororities,
and colleges and universities. But what
works for one program doesn't necessarily
work for another. For example,
many programs avoid using college
students, opting for more seasoned volunteers
who are more likely to stay in
the area. Not so for the MCP program
in Missoula County, Montana. It's a
program in a university town, so they
go into university sociology classes and
talk to the students. "Students make
good mentors," says Bond, "assuming
they pass our thorough screening
process." She looks for students who
are "adults with good decisionmaking
skills and commitment." She particularly
favors college juniors: they are
more mature than younger students,
and they are more likely than seniors to
go beyond their 1-year basic commitment.
Her program also recruits from
the local law school, particularly firstyear
students. "Even though they're
busy," says Bond, "many are looking
for a 2- to 3-hour activity a week to
give them a good break from their
studies. They can go out and play with
the kids. It's refreshing for them."
As in many mentoring programs, the
program is particularly successful in
recruiting female volunteers. "Girls,"
says Bond, "have more experience
babysitting. And they know you can
have a close relationship with a child
without being a parent. Males tend to
be less sure of what they'd do with the
child. A lot of guys have never interacted
with kids." That's why the program
uses another recruitment strategy: they
ask an already established male mentor
to speak about the program. "Males
respond well," says Bond, "when they
see another male having fun."
The much larger U.S. Dream Academy,
with its many learning centers in
various cities, prefers a partner-based
approach. They call it looking for "4
C's partnerships": Colleges/universities,
Churches, Corporations, and
Community organizations. Their
volunteers tend to come in groups,
and they bring with them an already
established support system.
WHO MAKES A GOOD MENTOR?
Naturally, all the highlighted MCP
programs do careful background
checks, including fingerprinting, on
potential mentors. But beyond that,
program staff provide a wide-ranging
wish list of what they look for when
screening and selecting mentors. Their
ideal mentor is someone with the following
characteristics: Bond, in Missoula, particularly favors
volunteers with life experiences similar
to those of their mentees. Erica and
Jessica's story provides the perfect
example.
Erica and Jessica: A Mentor Who Can Relate
Erica, a 20-year-old public relations
major at American University, says she
always knew her biological father was a
"bad guy." He has been in and out of jail
all her life. Erica never really knew he
was incarcerated until she was older and
could understand what that meant.
Fortunately, she had a stepfather who
filled the void. When she was 18, her biological
father attempted a reunion.
Although Erica was anxious to make it
happen, she wasn't able to develop a
meaningful relationship with him
because he was still living a difficult and
dangerous life. To this day, he is still in
and out of prison. For more than a year,
Erica has been a mentor with the U.S.
Dream Academy, where she has been
matched with Jessica. She and Jessica
have a lot in common.
A 12-year-old student in the DC area,
Jessica also has a father who has been in
and out of jail her whole life. She spent
the first 7 years of her life in Philadelphia,
but her family left when her father exhibited
violent behavior toward them.
Fortunately, like Erica, Jessica has a
stepdad who has tried to fill the gap left
by her absent father. Jessica is a special
education student and has struggled with
school for many years. She has been coming
to the Dream Academy for over a
year. In the past year, her mom reports
that she has made tremendous academic
progress. In fact, the school has promoted
her from the third to the sixth grade. Her
mom says that Jessica always talks about
her mentor and loves to bring home the
arts-and-crafts projects they do together at
the Dream Academy. Jessica has not been
informed directly about her father's
incarceration, although she is aware that
her father is not around because he has
done some "bad things."
Another important quality in mentors,
says Edinburg (CSC), is "fun people."
"These kids have to grow up early," she
says, "so they need people who can
give balance." She also values the
"visionary" quality in people: she looks
for "someone who sees that 'this child
can be a doctor, a lawyer,' someone
who asks, 'what can I do to bring all
those wonderful qualities out?'"
Stephanie and Deborah: A Mentor Who Is Fun
"When you first came into the program,
did you have a picture in your head of
what your match would be like?" "Yes,"
responded a serious looking 7-year-old
Stephanie to her case manager at the
MCP in Missoula, Montana, during their
first followup meeting. "Is your match
like what the picture was in your head?"
Again, a very serious response-this time,
"No." Stephanie paused, while the case
manager took a worried breath-"I
didn't think it would be this much fun."
The case manager exhaled in relief. For
that one moment, she had remembered
the concerns voiced by Deborah,
Stephanie's Big Sister. An accounting
professor in her early forties, Deborah
fretted that she might be too old to
mentor Stephanie, whose father had been
incarcerated since she was a baby. "Maybe
a 7 year old would prefer someone 21,"
she speculated. But as the mother of two
sons, who wanted some "girl energy," she
decided to give it a try anyhow. And in
the end, it wasn't her age, but rather her
fun-loving attitude that made a difference
in Stephanie's life.
Finally, Brady (U.S. Dream Academy)
stresses that there is no one kind of
mentor. "They might be someone who
never had siblings and always wanted
one. Or they might be someone with
nine brothers and sisters."
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN MAKING A SUCCESSFUL MATCH?
Making a perfect mentor-mentee
match is never an easy task. It is particularly
challenging given the special
circumstances in the lives of prisoners'
children. Many volunteers, normally
eager to help, are reluctant to take on
special cases. For example, these children
are more transient than other
populations. Bond points out that she
can't guarantee to a potential mentor
that the child will be in place for more
than 3 or 4 months, let alone a full
year. If the incarcerated parent gets
transferred-as is often the case-the
child might very well end up moving
to be closer to the new prison.
Another challenge to matching potential
mentors is the transitional nature
of these children's day-to-day living
situations. According to Brady, many
children don't have a real home. They
tend to move from relative to relative.
Simply finding them often takes extra
time and effort.
Some programs have children with
particularly serious problems. For
example, many children at the
Missoula program have mothers who
used methamphetamine while pregnant.
As a result, these children often
have severe behavioral problems,
extremely short attention spans, and
they are often in classes for students
with special needs.
Despite these challenges, our four
highlighted MCP grantee programs-
along with so many others-make
successful matches all the time. Why?
Because they know what to look for. WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL
MATCH?
What are the key things to consider
during the matching process? "The
personality piece," declares Allen
(Pima). She believes in spending
considerable time with each party
individually to ensure the two are
compatible. Edinburg (CSC) also
looks for compatible personalities. She
does so by setting up social group
events, such as a holiday party, where
she can observe how potential mentors
interact with kids who need matches.
The Exchange: March 2005
The U.S. Dream Academy takes the
"personality piece" a step further. Not
only do they listen to the individuals
and observe potential matches in group settings, they also use a barrage of
quantitative tools, such as Dr. Robert
Rohm's DISC Classic Profile learning
instrument, to classify and match up
personality traits. "We get as much
information as we can to make the best
match we can," states Brady.
"Look at their activity levels," advises
Missoula's Bond. "You can put two
people together who may look fine
personality-wise, but they also need to
enjoy the same level of activity." For
example, because the program is located
in "outdoorsy" Montana, she always
asks potential mentors and mentees
whether they are indoor or outdoor
people. "I would never," she explains,
"match a skier or hiker with a kid who
likes to watch video games."
Bond also looks for compatible
interests. One of her most successful
matches involves a mentor whose
favorite activity is getting together with
her mentee to cook dinner, bake
brownies, and color. "Sometimes they
even do each other's hair. They're a
great match!"
Brady offers another piece of advice:
"Look at their goals. Find out what
they want out of the match." And she's
not only talking about the mentor's goals
and the child's goals. She also stresses the
importance of determining the goals of
the parents and any caregivers.
A MATCH COORDINATOR LOOKS FOR THE FOLLOWING ... ... and a match coordinator must
|
WHAT SUSTAINS A MENTORING MATCH?
"Lots of case management," according
to Pima's Allen, who believes in calling
the children, the mentors, and the
family as often as two or three times
a week early in the match "just to keep
things going." Bond of Missoula agrees.
She believes that constant monitoring,
communication, and support-in the
form of aggressive case management-
is the key to sustaining a program. "We
can get the kids. We can get the volunteers. We can make the match. But
afterwards, we have to make sure the
case manager knows what's going on
in the match." By regularly talking to
all people involved in a match, a case
manager can find out what's working,
what's NOT working, what's the most
fun, and what's going on in their lives
- thereby heading off any problems.
Bond gives some examples. During
one of her regular calls, she might
learn that a boy is about to visit his
father in prison. So she encourages the
mentor to lend an extra degree of support
to the child, to the parent, and to
the caregiver. She gives another example
of how important it is to "know
what's going on": One child told her
that his mentor "wasn't in a good
mood" during one of their visits. When
she called the mentor, she learned that
he had broken up with his girlfriend.
She then helped him understand that a
child needs to know that the mentor
has things going on in his or her
own life, that the mentor also has to
struggle and deal with conflicts on a
day-to-day basis.
Bond adds that the FYSB grant allows
her to have plenty of contact with the
families, children, and mentors with
whom she works. She finds it gratifying
to have adequate resources to
ensure she can spend the time required
to "help these matches stay afloat."
During her ongoing communication,
support, and training, Bond also helps
mentors develop and reinforce their
skills. For example, she advises them
that "You have to be able to talk to a
child. Then wait as long as it takes for
the child to give you the answers you
want to hear. People [mentors] want
these kids to tell them everything, but
these kids have learned to keep these
things bottled up. They need time to
relax enough to talk about personal stuff."
These examples substantiate what
researchers have been telling us about
the three mainstays of successful programs:
careful screening, orientation
and training, and strong support and
supervision of mentors.
HELP MENTORS DEVELOP? With training and support from the
program, a mentor is more likely to
do the following:
|
WHO ELSE-BESIDES THE PROGRAM, MENTOR, AND MENTEE-CAN ENHANCE A HIGH-QUALITY MENTORING RELATIONSHIP?
It's not just the program. It's not just the mentor. For a child to get the maximum benefit from a mentoring relationship, everyone has to "buy in." That includes the incarcerated parent, and it includes the caregiver. And there's a side benefit to those parties: the more they invest in encouraging the mentoring relationship, the more they get out of it themselves. Take the case of Elsa's children .
Elsa's Children: Everyone Contributes, Everyone Benefits
Elsa had been out of prison for 3 months
when, during an interview with a case
manager, she thanked the Pima
Prevention Partnership's mentoring program.
She was grateful that her three
children had been matched with three
mentors while she was incarcerated. And
she was grateful that they would continue
their relationships even though she was
"out." Those mentors, she felt, were helping
her stabilize her parenting. She recognized
that she was "not the best parent in
the world." And she recognized that the
mentors were helping her children
through yet another tough adjustment-
her own return into their lives.
Elsa's three children-Sarah (age 14),
Seth (age 10), and Bonnie (age 7)-had
gone through a major transition several
months earlier, when their mother was
incarcerated and they went to live with
Grandma. Grandma tried her best, but
she didn't have enough energy to help
with all the school activities and sports.
She also had to deal with many financial
issues. Before long, the children began
having a rough time in school. Grandma
recognized that even though the children
had a good home and a loving caregiver,
and even though they did have contact
with Elsa while she was incarcerated,
each child still needed an adult with
whom to do activities.
Grandma had heard about Pima's MCP
program through her church, so she
called. A case manager sat down with her
and the three children, talked with them,
and listened to what each wanted from a
mentoring partnership. The program then
looked for mentors whose interests and
backgrounds were similar to theirs. They
looked for people interested in working
with children at those specific ages. They
looked for people whose temperaments
were compatible with the children's temperaments.
And they looked for mentors
who wouldn't alienate any member of
the family, people who would respect the
family's current living situation. After
each child was matched with a mentor,
the pairs started incorporating informal
one-to-one activities into their regular
schedules. Sometimes they would simply
"hang out" at the mall. Sometimes they
would go somewhere new and exciting,
like a play or musical at the University of
Arizona campus. Also, whenever a pair
felt so inclined, they took part in group
activities organized by the program: once
they attended a bowling party, and once
they all went up into the mountains
to play in the snow. Sometimes, at
Grandma's request, the case manager
would coordinate simultaneous activities
for all three pairs so that Grandma could
have an afternoon all to herself. And so
the mentoring continued, even after
Elsa's release. A noticeable turnaround
was evident in their situation about 6 or
7 months after the initial matches. And
the family is expected to stay in the
program for years to come.
In the case of Elsa's three children,
Pima's MCP program attributes the
positive results to three factors. First,
the caregiver-in this case, Grandma-
wanted the relationships to succeed,
actively encouraging the children to
spend time with their mentors. Second,
the mother, Elsa, remained supportive
of the relationships, even after her
release. The program also gives itself
some of the credit: by arranging
activities not normally available to the
children, like the performing arts
excursions, they helped broaden the
children's horizons. Rate your mentoring program. Does your program do the following? PREPARE MENTORS AND MENTEES: SUPPORT MENTOR-MENTEE MATCHES: BUILD MENTOR-MENTEE "COMMUNITIES": RECOGNIZE SUCCESS: WHAT IS POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT?
When the Pima Prevention Partnership's
MCP program arranged for
Elsa's children and their mentors to
attend cultural arts events at the
University of Arizona, as described in
the previous case history, they added a
new element to the growing bond
between each pair: by exposing the
children to an environment in which
the children could envision their lives
developing in a positive direction, they
were incorporating the strategy of
Positive Youth Development. But
Positive Youth Development is more
than just an occasional interesting
excursion. It's an attitude. It's a focus
that permeates every activity, every
discussion, every interaction.
The Positive Youth Development
approach, endorsed by FYSB, builds
on young people's strengths and places
importance on their feelings of hope
for their futures. The approach recognizes
four main ingredients as necessary
for youth to develop in a positive way: HOW DO PROGRAMS
INCORPORATE POSITIVE
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGIES? Mentoring creates a sense of
belonging. According to Edinburg, fostering
belonging means "showing kids that if
you reach out, there are people who
reach back. If you give them a safe
place where they can be heard, they
can learn to deal with whatever life
throws them. If you give them the
chance to have kinder interactions with
people, they develop a softer heart.
When they see how people give of
themselves, expecting nothing in
return, they realize you [they] can just
be better people."
What's more, as young people go
through this process, they provide
support for peers entering the program.
"They show other kids that it's okay to
be angry, but life is not all anger." Mentoring creates a sense of
usefulness.
To encourage a sense of usefulness the
U.S. Dream Academy adds a community
service component to their mentoring
program. Together, children and
their mentors at the program's various
sites engage in a range of projects. In
Houston, for example, they helped
beautify the center that houses their
program, even planting bushes around
it. The Philadelphia mentees learned
about meal planning by working with
a church shelter: not only did they
develop a meal plan, they also made
placemats and served the food. A coat
drive in Baltimore reinforced the children's
sense of usefulness, as well as
competence and of belonging to the
larger community.
Mentoring creates a sense of competence
For Bond at the Missoula County
MCP program, kids come in with their
own type of competence. "These kids
have incredible survival skills," she
explains. Her program builds on those
survival and other developmental
assets to help kids become successful in
life. "Street smarts," she adds, "are very
valuable."
Mentoring creates a sense of
power.
The CSC's MCP program turns to
storytelling and writing to give children
a sense of power. In a group
setting, the kids participate in creative
activities to express their feelings about
their lives and experiences. Writing
about subjects that seem out of their
control, such as being in a new home
or being with relatives who didn't
expect them, makes them feel more in
control and empowered.
WHO BENEFITS FROM
MENTORING CHILDREN OF
PRISONERS?
It's a win-win situation all around.
The children, obviously, are the primary
beneficiaries of mentoring. But a
successful match can also benefit the
other parties involved. Take the case of
Lottie, the caregiver:
Aunt Lottie the Caregiver
Lottie has been in and out of sickle cell
crises for years. But she's feeling a lot better
now-at least emotionally-because
three of the five nieces and nephews in
her care have been matched with mentors
at CSC's MCP program. It's a comfort to
her, knowing there is someone for them to
talk to when she's too sick or stressed.
Her five lively wards-aged 10, 11, 12,
14, and 15-have a mother who is incarcerated,
and not for the first time. They
were living with Aunt Lottie for 3 years
-after living with their stepfather and
then a great grandmother-when Lottie
made that crisis call to the program. It
wasn't just her health, she said. "It's too
much. They're teens now. They need
someone in their lives. Someone who can
give them balance, help them see something
besides sickness." The first thing
CSC did was enlist the help of a local
organization to help the family at
Christmastime. Then they started the
process of matching them with mentors.
So far they have made three successful
matches.
Once all five children get matched
with mentors, Lottie will have peace of
mind and a respite to take care of her
own health. The children will get to
interact with people whose ages, interests,
and activity levels are closer to
their own. Their incarcerated mother
will feel less worried about her children's
well-being. And five mentors
will have the satisfaction of knowing
they're making a real difference in the
lives of an entire family.
That double-win concept of mentor
and mentee is at the core of FYSB's
other mentoring initiative, which pairs
youth mentors with young children:
The Head Start Youth Initiative.
FYSB'S HEAD START YOUTH INITIATIVE "My partner's name is Ricky. He's really
fun and hilarious and likes to do just
about everything. When we read a book
about a cow, he always says 'moo.' When
I'm with him he smiles and plays, and I
feel like he's my little brother and like
I'm his role model. On a scale of 1 to 10,
a 10 is how much I like going to Head
Start to see my little buddy Ricky." -John, Youth Mentor at the Oregon
City Head Start Center
In 2002, the Family and Youth Services
Bureau (FYSB) collaborated with the
Head Start Bureau of the Administration
on Children, Youth and Families
(ACYF), Administration for Children
and Families (ACF), Department of
Heath and Human Services (HHS)
to establish the Head Start Youth
Initiative. While many mentoring
programs focus on adults mentoring
youth, this initiative provides grants
to programs throughout the country
to engage youth as literacy mentors to
young children. The initiative serves
the purposes and goals of both the
Head Start Bureau-to focus on age appropriate
developmental activities
for 3-5-year-olds-and FYSB-to
provide positive alternatives for youth,
ensure their safety, and maximize their
potential to take advantage of available
opportunities.
In FY 2004/5, the Head Start Bureau
awarded $8,000,000 in Head Start
Youth Initiative grants. These grants, at
a maximum of $50,000 each, were
awarded to 196 Head Start programs
for a 12-month period.
The Head Start Youth Initiative
requested proposals designed to
"improve services to Head Start children
and families through the funding
of projects that will promise youth
participation in local Head Start programs"
(Head Start Youth Mentoring
Initiative program announcement).
Proposed Head Start Youth Initiative
programs were required to demonstrate
that they established or enhanced partnerships
between Head Start programs,
community- or faith-based organizations,
and local middle and/or high
schools. Head Start programs from all
Federal regions, including the Migrant
Programs Branch and American Indian
Branch, responded with application
proposals to meaningfully integrate
youth into their programs.
The Head Start Youth Initiative introduces
the Positive Youth Development
approach into Head Start programs as
youth participate as positive role models
and mentors in children and family
literacy activities, attend family night
events and home visits, and design and
implement new classroom projects. WHO BENEFITS FROM THIS
INITIATIVE?
The Head Start Youth Initiative not
only provides services to the young
children in Head Start classes and
programs and their youth mentors, it
also benefits the families and communities
in which Head Start operates.
Head Start Children: The initiative
provides Head Start children with
meaningful relationships with youth
role models. Youth mentors bring
additional energy and resources to the
Head Start environment. The extra
time and attention help Head Start
children develop important language
skills, enhance gross motor skills, and
promote social development, all of
which promote school readiness.
Youth Mentors: The initiative provides
an opportunity for youth to invest in
their communities. They affirm their
worth by serving as role models to
young children. They learn on-the-job
responsibility and, through activities
with the children, participate in healthy
lifestyles. They become familiar with
career and job opportunities in Head
Start programs and the field of child
development. They also get to explore
their creative expression.
Head Start Programs: The initiative
provides Head Start programs with
additional "staff " to work individually
with children in the classrooms, attend
Head Start family and community
events, and sometimes translate for
many non-English-speaking Head
Start children and parents.
Communities: The initiative helps
develop and expand partnerships
among Head Start programs, youth
organizations and agencies, school
administrators, teachers, and school
counselors. It also helps establish
agreements with local colleges for
tuition credits for youth mentors. WHAT ARE THE INITIATIVE'S RESULTS?
The various Head Start programs
designed a range of youth involvement
activities including one-on-one reading
and story writing, family literacy
outreach, bookmobiles, library visits,
curriculum preparation, and child
development training.
As a result of the programs, youth
became civically engaged, often grew
more interested in their other schoolwork,
and realized they had a lot to
contribute to others and were valued
members of the Head Start teams.
Perhaps most importantly, they felt the
unconditional affection and delight of
the Head Start children. SPOTLIGHT ON HEAD START
YOUTH INITIATIVE PARTNERSHIPS:
A MODEL PROGRAM
This successful FYSB/Head Start
collaboration, which began in January
2003, involved high school students
from North Clackamas High School
and preschoolers participating in the
Jennings Lodge Head Start program
located in Clackamas County, Oregon.
More than 100 highschoolers attending
early childhood development classes
volunteered to visit 80 preschoolers at
the Head Start center twice a week to
spend up to 1½ hours as literacy mentors.
(Their action plan is described in the shaded box below).
The outcomes of the Head Start Youth
Initiative in Clackamas County, as well
as other funded partnerships, prove its
success: "It really gave me an opportunity
to understand what we've been
discussing in our early childhood
development class." "It's much better to work with kids in
order to learn about them than just to
read about them in a textbook."
-Matt, Youth Mentor
"I learned as much from the preschoolers
as they learned from me. This even
helped me practice my Spanish!"
"This experience makes me really think
I'd like to be a teacher."
"The highschoolers wore bright red
T-shirts with the motto 'Give reading a
hand' printed on the fronts. On days
14
when the highschoolers were to arrive
at the Head Start center, the delighted
preschoolers would ask excitedly, 'Is
this the day that the 'red shirts' are
coming?'"
"My little buddy, Maria, is great fun. She
speaks only Spanish and no English. The
first time I saw all the kids, I knew she
was the one for me....She loves painting.
She remembers my name now, and she
always has plans for activities to do when
we come. I thought I'd be teaching her,
but really it's she who teaches me. When
I arrive, she always looks for me and runs
over to me with a hug and smile. I wish
I could spend even more time with her
and hope we can return to Head Start
[next year]."
With determined partners, this project
can be easily replicated. It provides
win-win outcomes for all involved-student mentors, preschoolers and their
families, the organizations involved,
and the community at large-through
incorporating components of the
Positive Youth Development approach.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
c Define clear ground rules
c Set a positive tone from the start
c Explain the program's mission and goals to mentors
c Train, support, and supervise mentors
c Identify what mentors and mentees have in common
c Encourage mentors and mentees to see themselves as equal partners
c Facilitate ongoing communication among mentors, mentees, families, and caregivers
c Consider and respect the parents and caregivers
c Intervene and mediate if problems arise
c Host group activities for mentors/mentees
c Connect with community groups for activities
c Give mentors opportunities to get to know one another
c Make mentors feel they are part of a team
c Help mentors see the value of their work
c Recognize mentor-mentee matches that work
c Tell mentors and mentees how they're doing, highlighting positive accomplishments
c Get participants excited about milestones and anniversaries
REINFORCING THE PYD MESSAGE OF THEIR FYSB-FUNDED SERVICES
-Monica, Youth Mentor
13
-Abby, Youth Mentor
-Kevin, Youth Mentor
-Linda Dorzweiler, Codirector of the
Head Start Youth Initiative at the
Clackamas County Head Start
-Hannah, Youth Mentor at the Oregon
City Head Start Center
Key components to a successful program | Key components in action: North Clackamas High School and Jennings Lodge Head Start partnership |
Establish open and continuing communication between the project leaders (high school teachers and Head Start coordinators). | The ability of the staff to work together was crucial. Communication between project coordinators was ongoing, with formal and informal meetings and discussions. |
Prepare and train the student mentors. | Before starting their volunteer activities, the highschoolers prepared for their roles as literacy mentors or "reading buddies." They studied reading techniques and theories, practiced interacting with children, and used role modeling techniques with partners. Before mentoring started, the Head Start kids took a field trip to the high school site where mentors set up a mock classroom complete with appropriate interest centers that incorporated art, large motor skill activities, and drama. |
Incorporate a variety of learning activities during mentoring sessions. | While visiting the Head Start center, the highschoolers alternately interacted with the preschoolers and observed their peers interacting with the preschoolers. Mentoring activities included various language skill-building activities, such as reading books to the children, playing telephone games, leading children in art projects and puppetry based on the readings, and escorting the preschoolers on field trips. The Head Start center was equipped with interest centers such as puppets, blocks, table activities, a science table, and a mock grocery store. |
Provide ongoing support to the mentors. | Students followed up the biweekly visits by discussing challenges and observations and recording written journal entries of their experience, for which they received high school credit. High school teachers also integrated their students' Head Start interactions with classroom-based assignments related to child development. |
Be sure that mentors and preschoolers interact on a regular and consistent basis. | The highschoolers visited the Head Start preschoolers twice per week for 45 minutes to 1 hour (plus ½ hour travel time) for 8 months. |
Have fun! | No problem! |
We thank the following individuals for their discussion and review time:
DeAnn Sarah Brady, U.S. Dream Academy; Columbia, Maryland Loraine Bond, Missoula County, Office of Planning and Grants, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Missoula, Montana Linda Dorzweiler, Head Start Youth Initiative, Clackamas County Head Start (Jennings Lodge Head Start Center) Octavia Edinburg, Community Service Center, Inc.'s (CSC) Someone To Watch Over Me; New Orleans, Louisiana Susan Spagnuolo, Mid-Atlantic Network of Youth & Family Services; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania FYSB Youth Services Program Specialists: Jackie Baker, Rayanne Darensbourg, Victoria Marquez, and Kelli Matson-Geist |
In addition to discussions with grantee program staff, we referred to the following sources in developing this issue of The Exchange:
Incarcerated Parents and Their Children (report). Author: C. Mumola. 2000. Available from Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 Seventh Street NW, Washington, DC 20531; (202) 307-0765; www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/iptc.htm.
Locked Up Families: Desperately Seeking Liberation (presentation at "Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program Grantee Meeting" on April 29, 2004). Presenter: A.Wyatt.
Making a Difference: An Impact Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters (report). Authors: J. Tierney, J. Grossman, and N. Resch. 2000. Available from Public/Private Ventures, One Commerce Square, 2005 Market Street, Suite 900, Philadelphia, PA 19103; (215) 557-4400; www.ppv.org.
Mentoring Adolescents: What Have We Learned. Author: C. Sipe. In Contemporary Issues in Mentoring. Editor: B. Grossman. 1989. Available from Public/Private Ventures, One Commerce Square, 2005 Market Street, Suite 900, Philadelphia, PA 19103; (215) 557-4400; www.ppv.org.
Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program: Responding to the 2004 Program Announcement (presentation at "Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program Grantee Meeting" on November 19, 2003). Author: S. Spagnuolo.
An Overview of Statistics (fact sheet). Author: Child Welfare League of America, Federal Resource Center for Children of Prisoners. No date. Available from 440 First Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, DC 20001; (202) 638-2952; www.fcnetwork.org.
Promoting High-Quality Mentoring Relationships (presentation at "Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program Grantee Meeting" on November 19, 2003). Authors: J. Rhodes and R. Spencer.
Recruiting Mentors: A Guide To Finding Volunteers To Work With Youth (technical assistance packet number 3). Author: L. Jucovy. 2001. Available from the National Mentoring Center, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 101 SW Main Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97204; (800) 547-6339 x-135; www.nwrel.org/mentoring.
Stand By Me: The Risks and Rewards of Mentoring Today's Youth. Author: J. Rhodes. 2002. Available from Harvard University Press, 79 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; (800) 405-1619; www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/RHOSTA.html.
The Youth Development Handbook: Coming of Age in American Communities. Editors: S. Hamilton and M. Hamilton. 2004. Available from SAGE Publications, Inc., 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320; (800) 818-7243; www.sagepub.com.
Family and Youth Services Bureau | www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb |
National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth | ncfy.acf.hhs.gov |
Mid-Atlantic Network of Youth & Family Services (MANY) | www.manynet.org |
Federal Resource Center for Children of Prisoners | www.fcnetwork.org |
Friends for Youth: Mentoring Institute and Mentoring Services |
www.mentoringinstitute.org |
Public/Private Ventures and information about the Amachi model | www.ppv.org |
National Mentoring Center | www.nwrel.org/mentoring |
National Mentoring Partnership | www.mentoring.org |
Child Trends | www.childtrends.org |
National Service Resource Center | www.etr.org/nsrc/library.html |
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America | www.bbbsa.org |
Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents | www.e-ccip.org |
U.S. Dream Academy, Inc. | www.usdreamacademy.org |
The Exchange is developed for the Family and Youth Services Bureau by Johnson, Bassin & Shaw (JBS), Inc., under Contract # GS10F0205K from the Administration on Children, Youth and Families; Administration for Children and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to manage the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth.
Staff writers: Marcia Meth and Rebecca Chalmers
Design/Layout: Claire Speights