1. Youth-Initiated Mentoring-A promising strategy for YouthBuild
Jean Rhodes, PhD
Sarah Schwartz, PhD

2. A New Model of Mentoring
Natural Mentoring
Formal Mentoring
Youth Initiated Mentoring
Youth Initiated Mentoring (YIM) is a relatively new approach to mentoring in which youth identify and recruit caring adults from within their existing communities, embedding youth voice and choice in the recruitment and matching process. 
YIM is well aligned with YouthBuild USA’s mission to unleash the intelligence and positive energy of low-income youth to rebuild their communities and their lives. It also honors the value YouthBuild places on the community as a source of strength and wisdom in the lives of youth, and respects young people as solution-providers for themselves and the communities in which they live.

3. Theoretical Rationale for YIM
Builds on strengths of natural mentoring
AND provides structure to support relationships
Autonomy in selecting mentors may increase investment, esp. for vulnerable adolescents
Redresses shortage of volunteer mentors
Acquisition of “help-recruiting skills” (Balcazar & Keys, 1995)
There are many reasons to believe this could be an effective model of mentoring, but no data on the model
The YouthBuild study will provide a set of data to explore the model and better understand its effectiveness

4. Background of YIM Research: National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program
Intensive intervention program targeting youth ages who dropped out of or were expelled from high school
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program (NGYCP) started using this strategy over ten years ago. A recent third-party evaluation of NGYCP conducted by MDRC provided an opportunity for University of Massachusetts researchers to look at the impact of YIM among youth who participated in the program.

5. Mentoring Relationships and Outcomes
Youth Outcomes at 38 Months by Match Length
Premature Termination
(N = 153)
Through Full Program (1.5 yrs)
(N = 138)
Beyond Program
(3 yrs)
(N = 359)
GED/HS Diploma - ✔
College Credit
Months Employed
Months Idle
Earnings
Convicted
Marijuana Use
Binge Drinking
Comparing youth in different length relationships to control group, that is, youth on the waitlist who never participated in Challenge.

6. Reentry and Retention of Effects
“Some experts have raised the question of whether it is more appropriate to think of time-limited programs for dropouts as inoculations, whose effects last forever, or as vitamins, whose effects wear off if they are not taken consistently.”
-Bloom, 2010
Dan Bloom quote: Reason for including mentoring component, to extend the impacts of the intervention
As indicated by results of overall NGYCP intervention, those youth in mentoring relationships that lasted longer had better outcomes.

7. National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program
Intervention:
Residential Phase (5 months)
Highly structured programming includes GED, life skills, job skills, health, and leadership classes and activities
Frequently takes place on a military base; quasi-military model (no military requirement)
Post-Residential Phase (12 months)
Transition back into communities
Supported by a mentor (YIM model)
Some important similarities with YouthBuild programs, including age served, multiple components, and mentoring and a transitional strategy.

8. YouthBuild Study Components & Timeline
July – September 2014: Mentor nomination form at YouthBuild Intake (or after Mental toughness)
Sep/Oct ‘14: Baseline survey data collected
Dec 14/Jan 15: In-depth individual qualitative interviews, point 1 (subset, only 3 programs involved)
May/Jun ’15: 2nd survey data collected (at program graduation)
Dec ‘15/Jan ‘16: Final survey (at 15 months, end of YB mentoring commitment)
Dec 15/Jan 16: In-depth qualitative interviews, point 2
All data collected and surveys implemented through MentorCore.
Qualitative interviews conducted in-person or by phone, with three programs only. If your program is involved in the interviews, you have already been contacted about it and will know.

9. Issues
Do you foresee any difficulties with implementing YIM component during intake?
Can youth be assured that the information that they provide will not affect their eligibility for YB and will not be used against them in any way?
If you anticipate any specific challenges for your program in implementing YIM, or need any clarification about process, please YouthBuild USA mentoring staff explaining the nature of the difficulties or questions.
It is important that YouthBuild program staff honor the confidential nature of information youth may share through surveys administered for this research through MentorCore. If you are unable to comply with this confidentiality agreement, i.e. not able to assure youth that information they provide will not be used against them in any way, please contact YouthBuild USA mentoring staff right away

10. Other FAQ
Will youth identify and nominate adults that would make appropriate mentors?
What if they are inappropriate?
Several points on this:
In the case of youth-initiated mentors in the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, mentoring relationships that were youth initiated were much more likely to last well past the required 12-month mentoring period than those that were not youth-initiated. This indicates a likelihood that youth, given some good guidelines and with appropriate selection processes in place within the programs, are quite capable of identifying adults who would make appropriate mentors.
The YouthBuild mentoring model already encourages youth voice and choice in the selection process. YouthBuild programs encourage active youth engagement and ownership in any decisions that will impact their lives. This “new” process is simply adding a new tool to empower youth in the same way.
It is important that YouthBuild program staff, at the point of asking the youth to fill out the mentor nomination form, prepare youth for the possibility of a nominee not working out for a variety of reasons. For example, the nominated adult might not be available to make the mentoring commitment, they might not pass the background check, or the mentoring coordinator may have other reservations based on match fit. Because of this, it is good to ask youth to nominate more than one potential mentor.
Familiarize students with methods for identifying good mentors through the resource “Finding Mentors, Finding Success” available on the YouthBuild National Mentoring Alliance Community of Practice: (with facilitator notes available here:
If youth nominate adults who are not selected, the mentoring coordinator should be prepared to handle that in the same way that they already must be prepared to turn down (or redirect) volunteers who are not suitable to mentoring for whatever reason. Additional planning should include being prepared to discuss it with the young person who’s nominee didn’t work out.
Make sure the youth and adult know that not passing a background check or not being selected is not a judgment on that other person’s value or potential as a positive influence in the life of that young person. The YouthBuild mentoring model has specific requirements for those serving as mentors that limit the pool of candidates. Those requirements do not reflect either negatively or positively on the intrinsic value of the potential volunteer. For example, YouthBuild requires mentors for this initiative to be over 21. We know that many young adults under the age of 21 can be of positive influence, and potential informal mentors, for students like those in YouthBuild. They just can’t serve in this capacity for this particular initiative.
Let youth know that they are free to have multiple mentors outside of YouthBuild, even as they are matched with a specific mentor at the end of the group mentoring period. YouthBuild is supportive of the concept of multiple lifelong mentors.

11. Important Links Announcement YouthBuild Mentor Nomination Form
Finding Mentors, Finding Success
Facilitator Notes