‘MY MENTOR HELPS ME
SORT OUT THINGS IN MY
HEAD AND MY HEART’:
Mentoring for
Looked after
Children and
Young People
Susan Elsley
Consultant
and Chair,
LACSIG
Mentoring Hub
WHAT IS MENTORING?
 ‘ Mentoring is the support of one individual by
another within a relationship developed
through regular contact over a period of time,
in order to achieve a stated objective’.
Ref: Yeowart, Copps and Sandford ( 2007) Lean on Me:
Mentoring for young people at risk, The Pear Foundation
WHY MENTORING?
Where children and young people don’t have a trusted, constant
relationship in their lives, mentoring can have a place.
Can provide additional positive relationships where children
and young people don’t have them
Can be the primary focus of a programme or can be used along
with other approaches
Lawner, Beltz and Moore (2013)
http://www.policypointers.org/Page/View/15337
MENTORING
Big Brothers and Big Sisters Programme in US
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcnCXl7fpSs&list=SPE087
51EE32C822FE
 http://www.youtube.com/user/BBBSofAmerica?feature=watch
WHY MENTORING FOR CHILDREN
LOOKED AFTER AT HOME?
Can help to tackle thorny issues
Support educational outcomes
Provide positive, trusted relationships
Help to avoid risky behaviours
Promote resilience
Provide aspiration and confidence
Others?
LACSIG MENTORING HUB
Our starting points…
Acknowledge the need for a constant relationship for looked
after children and young people
 Presence of a constant person in the child’s life; an individual
who takes an active interest, provides encouragement and
support, and can challenge services and systems so that they
meet the child’s needs
Recognise the value of relationships and roles of other people
 Family members and peers
 Named person and lead professionals, teachers, social
workers, care workers and health professionals, Hearing panel
members and advocates
LACSIG MENTORING HUB
Our aims
 To explore the potential benefits of mentoring for looked after
children and young people
 To consider how a national mentoring scheme for looked after
children and young people could be developed and
implemented
What we have been doing
 Examining evidence
 Engaging with experts
 Engaging with young people
 Exploring positive attributes and challenges
 And now developing proposals …
WHAT EVIDENCE SAYS
 Mentoring focused on helping children with their education,
social skills and relationships more frequently ef fective than
those focused on behavior problems such as bullying or
programs aimed at reducing teen pregnancy
Lawner, Beltz, Moore (2013)
 Mentoring highly valued by young people in helping them with
relationship problems , building their confidence and
improving their emotional well -being.
Clayden and Stein (2005)
 Benefits of mentoring are apparent from early childhood to
adolescence
Dubois, Por tillo, Rhodes, Silver thorn and Valentine (2011)
ENGAGING WITH EXPERTS
What we learned
 Expertise out there: mentoring programmes run by local
authorities and the voluntary sector
 Wide target range: age groups, needs, approaches to referrals
 Dif ferent models and approaches: e.g. use of volunteers, part time sessional staf f and professional co -ordinators
 Experience in ensuring quality and standards: approaches to
evaluating and measuring outcomes
 Intervene early
WHAT EXPERTS FOUND
Evaluations do show benefits and positive outcomes for young
people
 YMCA Plusone mentoring found that 85% young people had
significant changed behaviour after 6 months
 Msupport (Renfrewshire Council) found positive impact on
self-esteem of young people and their capacity to engage in
preparing for employment, education and training
WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE SAID
 YES to a mentor
 YES to someone they trust, respect them and listens
 YES to be able to choose someone
 YES to peer mentors with similar experiences and mentors
with range of backgrounds
 YES to getting involved in recruitment and training
 YES to mentors at RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE and RIGHT
INTERVENTION
WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE SAID
 ‘take you out. be friends with you. have a laugh. stick up for
you.speak on the phone.’
 ‘Take part in activities. come to sports days and parents days.
Go out and about with the young person. Take an interest in
how the young person is getting on. Be in touch with parents’.
 ‘Be part of a young person's life. Not just when times are
hard. You need to build trust and the mentor would need to
support you even when you are in dif ficulty.’
ATTRIBUTES AND CHALLENGES (1)
Challenges
 Another adult in a crowded space
 Need training and support for mentors to deal safely
with children’s complex experiences
 Effective link with others supporting children
 Not undermine positive relationships at home or in
care
 Ensure that mentoring supports transitions
 Available to those who need it when they need it
ATTRIBUTES AND CHALLENGES (2)
Attributes
 Trusted and positive relationships are freely entered
into: not prescriptive
 Active choice by young person
 Young person matched well with mentor
 Families support mentoring relationships
 Procedures and policies help quality mentoring
 Access to mentoring is consistent and longer term
 Outcomes explored and shared
CHALLENGES AND ATTRIBUTES (3)
Plan for ‘mentor-rich environments…*
…which are supported by YMCA’s idea of
‘anchor community organisations’
*Freedom, M (1999)
WORK IN PROGRESS!
All ideas, thoughts and comments welcome
 Susan Elsley, Mentoring Hub
susan@susanelsley.com
 Carolyn Younie, Scottish Government
Carolyn.Younie@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
 Ben Farrugia, CELCIS
ben.farrugia@strath.ac.uk
REFERENCES
 Bishop, J (2008) The Mentoring Suppor t Project: Final Evaluation,
Renfrewshire Council & Paisley Par tner ship
 Blazek ,Brown,Smith,and Van Blerk (2011) Plusone Mentoring: Evaluation,
Univer sity of Dundee
 Freedom, M (1999) The Kindness of Stranger s of Stranger s: Adult Mentor s,
Urban Youth and the New Voluntarism
 Lawner,Beltz, and Moore(201 3) What works for Mentoring Programs:
Lessons from experimental evaluations of programmes and evidence:
Research Brief Child Trends
http://www.policypointer s.org/Page/View/15337
 Clayden and Stein (2005 ) Mentoring young people leaving care‘Someone
for me’, York: JRF
http://php.york .ac.uk/inst/spru/pubs/102/
 Dubois,Por till o,Rhodes , Silver thorn and Valentine (2011 ) How ef fective are
mentoring programs for youth? A systematic assessment of the evidence,
Psychol ogi cal Science in the Public Interest
 Yeowar t, Copps and Sandford (2007) Lean on Me: Mentoring for young
people at risk , The Pear Foundation