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Mentoring Youth at High Risk: The Perspectives of Professional Mentors

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Abstract

Background

Youth mentoring programs rely largely on volunteers, but youth facing significant risks may be poor candidates for volunteer-based interventions. Full-time “professional” mentors in highly structured programs may be better suited to partner effectively with such youth and their families, but few studies examine professional mentoring interventions. Because of mentoring’s inherent flexibility, mentors’ role conceptualizations can profoundly influence the nature of their work. Serving as a professional mentor may have important implications for how mentors conceptualize and perform their role.

Objective

This qualitative study examined the role conceptions of professional mentors serving at-risk youth.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews with mentors were transcribed, coded, and subjected to thematic analysis.

Results

Mentors described the importance of “professionalism” in prioritizing mentoring, expending considerable effort, and performing difficult or unpleasant tasks. They reported that serving multiple children full-time enabled them to rapidly build expertise, that credibility and authority granted them because of their professional status facilitated their work across multiple key contexts, and that their expertise and long-term commitment facilitated the development of deep relationships. Mentors perceived their role as highly challenging but reported high self-efficacy. They described high multifaceted organizational support, a community for youth, and an individualized child focus.

Conclusions

A mentoring model delivered by experienced professional mentors may hold promise for working with youth at high risk. The role conceptualizations of mentors and the organizational culture within which mentors work may be important in helping youth succeed.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported in part by grants R01 HD054880 from Social and Affective Development/Child Maltreatment and Violence, NICHD, NIH, U.S. PHS; grant # EMCF11015 from Edna McConnell Clark Foundation; and grant #68500 from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 W. Harrison Street, MC 285, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA

    Davielle Lakind

  2. University of Washington School of Social Work, Seattle, WA, USA

    J. Mark Eddy

  3. Impactivism, Portland, OR, USA

    Adrienne Zell

Authors
  1. Davielle Lakind
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  2. J. Mark Eddy
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  3. Adrienne Zell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Davielle Lakind.

Appendix: Interview Protocol for Mentor Structured Interview

Appendix: Interview Protocol for Mentor Structured Interview

Introduction

Thank you for meeting with me today.

There are many mentoring organizations in the US, but almost all are volunteer programs where a mentor works with only one child at a time. As a mentor “Friend” with the Friends of the Children (FOTC) program you are thus in a very unique position.

In this interview, I’m going to ask you a series of questions about being a full-time, “professional” mentor to children. You are welcome to say as much or as little as you like about each question. If you think of something relevant to a prior question and would like to talk about that during a later question, you are welcome to do so.

Questions

  1. 1.

    Growing up, did you have a mentor?

    1. a.

      Was this through a mentoring program like Big Brothers Big Sisters or was this person a “natural” mentor—someone who was part of your life through your family, school, neighborhood or some other part of your regular life?

    2. b.

      How long did you have this mentor?

    3. c.

      Was this mentor an important person in your life? In what ways?

  2. 2.

    Before you worked at FOTC, had you ever been a mentor to a child?

    1. a.

      Was this through a mentoring program or were you a “natural” mentor?

    2. b.

      If you were a “natural” mentor, was it a relationship formed through another job you had working with children, or outside of work?

    3. c.

      How long did you serve as a mentor?

    4. d.

      Do you think you were an important person in the life of the child or children you mentored? In what ways?

  3. 3.

    When and how did you first hear about the FOTC program?

    1. a.

      What were your first thoughts about the program?

    2. b.

      Why did you decide to become a Friend?

    3. c.

      How long have you been a Friend?

    4. d.

      How long do you think you’ll continue to work as a Friend?

  4. 4.

    How many children do you work with and for how long have you worked with each?

    1. a.

      What are the challenges they face?

    2. b.

      What are their strengths?

    3. c.

      Are you the only mentor in the lives of the children you work with? Do you think you are an important person in the life of the child or children you are mentoring? In what ways?

  5. 5.

    Besides mentoring children through FOTC, do you mentor any other children?

    1. a.

      Are you serving as a mentor through a program or are you a “natural” mentor?

    2. b.

      How long have you served as a mentor in this way?

    3. c.

      Do you think you are an important person in the life of the child or children you are mentoring? In what ways?

  6. 6.

    If you mentored a child as a volunteer, what is different about mentoring as a paid professional? What is similar?

    1. a.

      What are the advantages of being a professional mentoring versus a volunteer? What are the disadvantages?

    2. b.

      Which do you prefer? Why?

  7. 7.

    If you have mentored a child as a volunteer, and presumably mentored only one child at a time, what is different about mentoring eight (or fourteen) children instead of just one? What is similar?

    1. a.

      What are the advantages of mentoring many children versus one? What are the disadvantages?

    2. b.

      Which do you prefer? Why?

*If you have not mentored a child as a volunteer, feel free to speculate.

  1. 8.

    Have you worked professionally with children in other contexts? If so, what is different about working for FOTC as a professional mentor? What is similar?

    1. a.

      How many children did you work with in your other job/jobs?

    2. b.

      Were they of a similar demographic to the children you work with as a professional mentor?

    3. c.

      What are the advantages of working as a Friend versus working with children in other capacities? What are the disadvantages?

    4. d.

      Which do you prefer? Why?

  2. 9.

    A typical volunteer mentor is asked to make a 1-year commitment to mentoring, and many other child work jobs ask for no durational commitment at all. In contrast, when you began working as a Friend, you were asked to make a 3-year commitment. How did that inform your thinking about the work you were about to begin?

    1. a.

      How has the idea of the 3-year commitment influenced your concept of your work since that time?

  3. 10.

    Do you think it is important that FOTC employs professional mentors instead of utilizing volunteer mentors? Why or why not?

    1. a.

      What difference does it make in light of the idea that FOTC serves “the most highly at-risk children, those deemed at a young age most likely to fail or slip through the cracks?”

  4. 11.

    What are the most important qualities for a professional mentor to have?

    1. a.

      What are the biggest challenges they face?

    2. b.

      What opportunities do professional mentors have that volunteer mentors do not in terms of being able to make a difference for youth?

    3. c.

      What opportunities do professional mentors have that people employed in other child work capacities do not in terms of being able to make a difference for youth?

  5. 12.

    What type of education, training, support, and supervision do you think is absolutely essential for professional mentors to serve at-risk youth effectively?

    1. a.

      Do you think these differ from what volunteer mentors need?

  6. 13.

    What other types of organizational structure, opportunities, and services for children and families do you think are absolutely needed as a backdrop for professional mentors to be successful with at-risk youth?

  7. 14.

    What are the best things about being a professional mentor?

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Lakind, D., Eddy, J.M. & Zell, A. Mentoring Youth at High Risk: The Perspectives of Professional Mentors. Child Youth Care Forum 43, 705–727 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-014-9261-2

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