# Presentation: 037391

## Youth Mentoring:		The State of the Field

**National Job Corps Leadership Summit**
- Jean Rhodes
- Professor
- University of Massachusetts, Boston
- November 6, 2006

## Overview 

- Overview Research and Scholarship
- Current Challenges
- Recommendations

## Recent Developments in Scholarship on Mentoring

- Authored Books
*Stand By Me: The Risks and Rewards of Mentoring Today’s Youth* *(Rhodes, 2002)*
*Other People’s Kids* *(Scales, 2003)*
*A Place to Call Home: After-school Programs for Urban Youth (Hirsch, 2005)*
- Edited Volumes
*A Critical View of Youth Mentoring (Rhodes, 2002)*
*Handbook of Youth Mentoring (DuBois & Karcher, 2005)*
- Special Journal Issues
*American Journal of Community Psychology (2002), Journal of Primary Prevention (2005), Journal of Community Psychology (2006), Journal of Vocational Behavior (in progress)*
*National Research Summit on Mentoring (2003)*
*National Research Agenda for Youth Mentoring*

## Evidence of benefits of both formal and informal mentoring relationships for youth 
One recent study used large, nationally representative sample of adolescents (ages 18-26), longitudinal design, and wide range of outcome measures (DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005) 

- One recent study used large, nationally representative sample of adolescents (ages 18-26), longitudinal design, and wide range of outcome measures ***(DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005) ***

- Relationships

## Recent research points to several features of effective mentoring relationships---”7 Cs”
Compatibility of Youth & Mentor
personalities & interests
closeness in age and similarity in ethnicity do not appear critical
Capability of Mentor
skills for working with youth
prior experience in helping roles or occupations
sensitivity to socioeconomic & cultural influences in youth’s life
sense of efficacy for mentoring young people  

- Compatibility of Youth & Mentor
- personalities & interests
- closeness in age and similarity in ethnicity do _not_ appear critical
- Capability of Mentor
- skills for working with youth
- prior experience in helping roles or occupations
- sensitivity to socioeconomic & cultural influences in youth’s life
- sense of efficacy for mentoring young people

## 
Consistency
Allows desirable processes to take root
Enhances feelings of security & attachment
Continuity
Greatest benefits for relationships lasting one year or longer 
Negative impact for relationships that end prematurely, expectations for relationship length are established and met

- Consistency
- Allows desirable processes to take root
- Enhances feelings of security & attachment
- Continuity
- Greatest benefits for relationships lasting one year or longer
- Negative impact for relationships that end prematurely, expectations for relationship length are established and met

## Closeness: 
“common factors” of effective therapeutic relationships
Empathy, authenticity, trust, collaboration
But also simply having fun and enjoying a mutual friendship
Mentoring relationships not immune to conflict and other negative emotions (e.g., disappointment) that can undermine their potential benefits for youth

- “common factors” of effective therapeutic relationships
- Empathy, authenticity, trust, collaboration
*But also simply having fun and enjoying a mutual friendship*
- Mentoring relationships not immune to conflict and other negative emotions (e.g., disappointment) that can undermine their potential benefits for youth

## Centered on Youth’s Developmental Needs
Value of youth-centered (developmental, rather than prescriptive or laissez-faire) approach
Balanced attention to needs of youth for ownership/autonomy/input and structure/scaffolding/guidance

- Value of youth-centered (developmental, rather than prescriptive or laissez-faire) approach
- Balanced attention to needs of youth for ownership/autonomy/input *and* structure/scaffolding/guidance

## Contextualized
Benefits of group & collective forms of mentoring
Positive effects of mentoring accrue, in part, through improvements in parent & peer relationships 
Benefits of strong mentor-parent linkages

- Benefits of group & collective forms of mentoring
- Positive effects of mentoring accrue, in part, through improvements in parent & peer relationships*** ***
- Benefits of strong mentor-parent linkages

## Moderators
Greater benefits for youth with backgrounds of environmental risk (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage)
Weaker and sometimes negative effects when youth identified to participate in programs solely by markers of individual vulnerability (e.g., academic failure, juvenile offending)
Need for caution in generalizations given evolving nature of programs and research

- Greater benefits for youth with backgrounds of environmental risk (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage)
- Weaker and sometimes negative effects when youth identified to participate in programs *solely* by markers of individual vulnerability (e.g., academic failure, juvenile offending)
- Need for caution in generalizations given evolving nature of programs and research

##  Limitations
Inability to fully compensate for cumulative effects of risk
Potential for problematic mentoring relationships to do harm

- Inability to fully compensate for cumulative effects of risk
- Potential for problematic mentoring relationships to do harm

## The role of duration

**The role of duration**

- Grossman & Rhodes (2001). _American Journal of Community Psychology_

## Length of Relationship

## Formal Programs
Wide-ranging effects on youth outcomes: emotional/psychological, problem behavior, social competence, academic, career/employment 
But...

- Wide-ranging effects on youth outcomes: emotional/psychological, problem behavior, social competence, academic, career/employment*** ***
- But...

- Programs & Organizations

## 
Size of effects small (d = .18) and preliminary cost-benefit ratios are not compelling "small, d = .20," "medium, d = .50," and "large, d = .80” (Cohen, 1988)
Significant variability in quality of mentoring relationships established in programs
Effect sizes vary significantly across programs

- Size of effects small (d = .18) and preliminary cost-benefit ratios are not compelling* *"small, *d* = .20," "medium, *d* = .50," and "large, *d* = .80” (Cohen, 1988)
- Significant variability in quality of mentoring relationships established in programs
- Effect sizes vary significantly across programs

## Slide 16

## Effect sizes increase with greater use of theory- and empirically-based practices

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**Number of Practices**

**Size of Effect on Youth Outcomes**

- Empirically-

- Based

- Practices

- Theory-Based

- Practices

- Small

- Effect

- Medium

- Effect

## 
		Theory-			Empirically-
Practice	Based					Based	
____________________________________________________________
Monitoring of Program Implementation		X									X
Setting for Mentoring Activities (Community-based)												X
Screening of Prospective Mentors		X
Mentor Background: Helping Role or Profession													X
Mentor/Youth Matching		X
Mentor Pre-Match Training		X
Expectations: Frequency of Contact		X									X
Expectations: Length of Relationship		X
Supervision		X
Ongoing Training		X									X
Mentor Support Group		X
Structured Activities for Mentors and Youth		X									X
Parent Support/Involvement		X									X

- 		**Theory-****	****	****	****Empirically-**
**Practice****	****Based****	****	****	****	****	****Based**
- ____________________________________________________________
- Monitoring of Program Implementation		**X****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****X**
- Setting for Mentoring Activities (Community-based)												**X**
- Screening of Prospective Mentors		**X**
- Mentor Background: Helping Role or Profession												**	****X**
- Mentor/Youth Matching	**	****X**
- Mentor Pre-Match Training		**X**
- Expectations: Frequency of Contact		**X****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****X**
- Expectations: Length of Relationship		**X**
- Supervision		**X**
- Ongoing Training		**X****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****X**
- Mentor Support Group		**X**
- Structured Activities for Mentors and Youth		**X****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****X**
- Parent Support/Involvement		**X****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****X**

## 
New Generation of Programs
Rapid growth in alternatives to traditional community-based, one-on-one, in-person model
Group mentoring
Peer mentoring
E-mentoring
Site-based models at schools, after-school programs, etc.
Very few reliable data exist on their effectiveness

- New Generation of Programs
- Rapid growth in alternatives to traditional community-based, one-on-one, in-person model
- Group mentoring
- Peer mentoring
- E-mentoring
- Site-based models at schools, after-school programs, etc.
- Very few reliable data exist on their effectiveness

## Youth-Serving Programs, Organizations, and Institutions
Evidence for value of adults mentoring youth in multiple settings other than formal programs 
School
After-school programs
Sports programs
Service-learning and workplace training programs
Comprehensive positive youth development programs

- Evidence for value of adults mentoring youth in multiple settings other than formal programs
- School
- After-school programs
- Sports programs
- Service-learning and workplace training programs
- Comprehensive positive youth development programs

## The State of the Field

**Policy**

**Research**

## Tipping Point

*“**After 18 months, Little Brothers and Sisters were:*
*46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs*
*27% less likely to begin using alcohol*
*52% less likely to skip school*
*37% less likely to skip a class*
*more confident of their performance in schoolwork*
*one-third less likely to hit someone*
*getting along better with their families”*
*www.bbbsa.org*

## Patterns of Change 

## On second glance

- Average pre-post and post-program difference effect size estimates in the Big Brothers Big Sisters outcome study were small (.02 and .05 respectively) *(DuBois et al., 2002)*

## On Second Glance

- Impatience with scale
- Volunteer as customer
- New approaches

## Conclusions

- Modest findings
- Helped galvanize movement
- Stimulated aggressive growth goals
- Goals necessitated
- Improved efficiency
- reduced fidelity

## Promising Developments

- Expansion of infastructure
- Attention to quality/duration
- Exemplary programs and models
- Growing interest among scholars
- Attention to evaluation
- Several large-scale random assignment of mentoring are currently underway
- School-based evaluations (P/PV, Abt, Karcher)
- Youth ChalleNGe (MDRC)

## Recommendations for Policy

- Promote
- evidence-based innovation
-  rigorous evaluation
-  measured replication and dissemination
- Reward sustainability and quality over growth
- Accreditation?
- Export best practices to youth settings

## Slide 29