CWLA Peer Mentoring

Fostering Healthy Connections Through Peer Mentoring is a program initiated by the Child Welfare League of America and piloted in Louisville, Kentucky. This program trains former foster youth to mentor current foster youth. This common experiences opens the door to a level of trust and openness that often takes years to attain by mentors who have not had first-hand experience with foster care. This program has been endorsed by FosterClub.

In My Shoes

In My Shoes is a non-profit, peer-mentoring organization in Tuscon, Arizona that matches adults who have previously been in foster care with teenagers who are currently in the foster care system.

Partnerships
This program was established in July 2003. It represents collaboration between Tuscon foster care alumni, juvenile court, caseworkers, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Aviva Children Services and Casey.

Focus
The primary focus is on one-on-one matches between foster care youth and alumni:

- Mentees are young people currently in the foster care system, either in a group home or foster home. They must be between the ages of 16 - 17 years old.

- Mentors must be former foster children with a positive outlook on their experience. They must be at least 18 years old and have successfully demonstrated life skills for at least six months.

The match is a two-year commitment, facilitated by bi-monthly trainings and quarterly outings. The bi-monthly trainings are coordinated by Aviva Children Services.

In My Shoes staff members spend 20-40 hours each month working with mentors and mentees.They provide technical support on their website, in a format similar to FaceBook. For the quarterly trainings, they facilitate:

- Recreational activities such as baseball games and miniature golf
- Holiday activities such as Thanksgiving Dinner and Christmas Angel with white elephant gifts

Since the number of youth outnumber alumni mentors, In My Shoes supports 'waiting mentees' and youth development through youth advisory boards, clubs, socials, informal get-togethers and trainings.

Funding
In My Shoes receives grants through the Department of Behavioral Health. They contract through the Division of Economic Services. Mentoring is a billable expense through Behavioral Health, and they generally have more funding than the state.

In My Shoes maintains community partnerships in order to receive affordable bids for advertising.

Matching Process
- Youth are referred by their caseworker, which means that, at first, most of what is known about the young person is just paperwork. Youth are empowered to look over what their caseworker has written and add to it.

- Mentors come to the office in order to fill out their paperwork. This method has proven to work better in terms of ensuring follow-up on the mentor's part. The next steps are a phone interview and a screening interview.

During the first match meeting, the mentor and mentee look over their mentoring contract and decide if any changes need to be made. They have one goal per month, and the first goal is to get to know each other.

Mentors are encouraged to attend their mentee's S.A.R. (Staff Annual Review) in order to discover additional ways to support their growth and progress.

Later on in the relationship, they will have opportunities to revise the mentoring contract in response to youth needs. For example, if a young person gets involved in school activities.

Outcomes
In My Shoes administers 'satisfaction surveys' to everyone involved in the program.

Because this program was established by Christa Drake, an alumna of foster care, it is focused on basing the measurement of success on what youth want, and not other people's definitions.

Christa's concerns about measuring other outcomes are that:

- Not every foster care alumni has mastered school, home life, etc.
- Alumni of foster care offer a unique perspective and should be valued for that
- Other organizations are paid to provide Independent Living Classes
- She doesn't want to alienate her partners by competing with them

As a former foster child myself, I respect and understand Christa's concerns. However, I believe that this model could and should be replicated across the nation. And without concrete outcome measurements, that is less likely to happen.

How ASTI evolved into the Transitioning Teens program

The Transitioning Teens Program is a collaborative effort among the Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, California CASA and local independent living programs to promote the development of hands-on life skills development through positive mentor-like relationships.

It was established in 2003, as a way of building upon the pre-existing Advocates for Successful Transition for Independence program, which had been conducted in two phases over the past two years. The ASTI program focused on pairing emancipating youth between the ages of 16 - 18 with an advocate to help prepare them for adulthood.

Participants
The dependency court refers youth to the program. The young people can be anywhere from birth to 18 years old. Unfortunately, since the number of youth in dependency court outnumber the number of volunteers, there are never enough mentors to match every child.

The mentors in this program are advocates. Their screening process is in accordance with CASA requirements. They have their first interview, and then attend a 30-hour training where they learn more about child development and the characteristics of youth at each age level.

During their second interview, the supervisor pulls 3-5 files, based upon the age range that the advocate is most comfortable with, and the advocate picks the child.

Purpose
In the Transitioning Teens Program, the advocate works one-on-one with a teenager to help them develop critical life skills. The volunteer makes sure that the teenager's health, education, employment and housing issues are fully addressed, and writes notes to the court focusing on a youth's unique needs.

Group activities include sexual education, violence prevention, gang awareness, cooking courses and recreational activities like bowling. Particular attention is paid to the development of life skills, employment and housing.

Karen Scussel and her colleagues are in the process of developing a curriculum for teens, and will be happy to share it with others once it has been developed.

Financial Sustainability
An initial grant was used to 'kick start' the program, and to establish a network of connections. It is maintained through generous donations from foundations, corporations and individual donors.

Outcomes
1.) After twelve months of participation in ASTI, foster care youth exhibited improved social skills, a higher level of trust in adults, and self-esteem enhancement.

2.) Teens who participate in the Transitioning Teen Program are asked about their experience during their exit interview by their social workers. Advocates try to maintain lifelong supportive relationships with youth if possible,

3.) According to a November 2003 survey of 311 Advocates, 95% reported that they found their experience to be satisfying, and 94% felt that they had made a positive difference in a child's life.

4.) Youth testimonials: “My Advocate helped me get into a transitional house for female youth who have been emancipated... She’s also helping me get a driver’s license and a bank account. She is like family, like an auntie... I really recommend that you find an Advocate if you’re a youth about to come out of foster care.”

Orphan Foundation of America v-mentoring program

The Orphan Foundation of America's vMentor Program uses technology to match volunteer mentors with current and former foster youth ages 16-23 who are in the process of transitioning from foster care to adulthood. Mentors must be 25 years of age or older, and established in their profession or career.

Matching Process
Mentors and mentees each fill out a profile, and answer a series of questions. The computer sorts through both to measure the compatibility of their answers.

The Orphan Foundation of America's Matching Coordinator looks at the top 10 mentor matches for each mentee, considering race, religion and sexual orientation if the mentee has indicated that these particular characteristics are important in their mentor.

The top 3 choices of mentors are given to the mentee, and the young person gets to choose. The mentee also has the option to refuse all three, and get three more mentor choices. OFA is lucky to have a pool of mentors, although they could always use more male mentors.

Resources for Mentors
The Orphan Foundation of America's v-mentoring program offers monthly support calls and trainings once a quarter. Mentors can participate by phone. There are also frequent newsletters with helpful tips and timely information.

The mentoring portal has a wealth of resources for both mentors and mentees, including a continually-growing resource library and modules written by Jane O'Leary, so that if a young person mentions having a certain issue, the mentor has resources and can make a timely intervention.

At first, it was hoped that mentors and mentees could go through the mentoring modules in a sequential manner, as a way to structure their contact. However, life is unpredictable, and the top priority is connecting with that young person exactly where they are, and building the mentor-mentee relationship.

Funding
This project was initially funded through a grant from the Northrop Grumman Foundation. OFA continues to sustain the program financialls through:

- OFA scholarship funds, funded by Casey and private individuals
- Nine states (including NC) allow OFA to manage all their ETV funds
- North Carolina contracts with OFA to manage their Chafee funding as well

They also rely on grants that focus on bridging the gap between high school and post-secondary school for foster care alumni.

Outcomes
This year, the Orphan Foundation of America will be hiring an outside evaluator to do hard data regarding outcome measurement.

In the meantime, mentors and mentees are frequently invited to fill out online surveys. The vmentoring portal measures the frequency of contact between mentor and mentee. OFA has information about the mentees with which they can generate spreadsheets regarding academic and personal milestones.

Future Plans
The vmentoring portal was designed by Rich Webb, who continues to update it frequently. It is an ever-evolving resource, with fabulous features. In the future, the goal is utilize Genesis webinar in order to:

- Expand trainings with polls, powerpoint presentations and surveys
- Record and post trainings, and migrate them to create a "Mentor Training Library"
- Incorporate cognitive coaching techniques, such as 'planning maps' and 'problem-solving maps'

OFA is grateful for the insights of Colorado Center for Cognitive Coaching, a supervisory peer-coaching model dedicated to facilitate the development of 'self-directed youth,' and empower them to recognize and utilize all of their available resources.

Mentoring USA

The New York State mentoring program was chaired by Matilda Raffa Cuomo, who has been described as being the most active First Lady in New York State's history. It was the first mentoring program in the United States to specifically address the needs of young people in foster care.

In 1995, when state funding was no longer available, Cuomo founded Mentoring USA.

Mentoring USA has national consultants, who work with mentoring programs all over the country to implement a one-on-one, site-based mentoring model. The demographics of each site can vary.

Mentoring USA chooses which sites throughout the country that they are going to work with, and how many new sites they can take on each year. They now offer more technical assistance, such as modules to train staff, mentors and mentees.

Agencies or organizations pay Mentoring USA to provide technical assistance and/or to tailor the program. They can pay for more or less, depending upon their needs. Sometimes, their budget is smaller, and they just want to invest in a screening/training tool.

1. First, Mentoring USA decides if the agency or organization has the capacity to house a mentoring program.

2. Then, they work with staff members to define what that mentoring program should look like, and what/if any special focus areas exist (e.g. financial literacy).

3. They outline the requirements and strategy to establish the program.

Qualifications
Mentors must be over 18, and undergo an initial interview and a background check. During mentor training, there are two trainers. One trainer leads the session, while the other observes would-be mentors to see if there's a need for additional interviews.

Mentees can be youth in foster care, ages 7-21 (or even up to 23 years old). As long as a young person is connected to the agency and willing to partipate, they can be part of the program.

Requirements
The mentor and mentee must meet for 4 hours/month minimum, in accordance with research regarding mentoring effectiveness. This could mean meeting twice a month for two hours each, or four times a month for one hour. Certainly, they are both welcome to invest extra time.

There are various activities to build rapport. Group activities are good, because that way the mentee still gets something out of it, even if their mentor does show up or they don't get along with their mentor very well.

Group activities can include: yoga, goal-setting, career days, strategic planning, healthy lifestyle, self-defense or a guest speaker (e.g. Victoria Rowell). It's important that these activities be fun for everyone involved, and not feel like school.

Mentoring USA has developed a yearly calendar, but can customize their curriculum for the intended audience.

Matching Process
The process of matching mentors and mentees differs according to site, but what Keith Howard recommends is a combination of two methods:

1. List of questions for both mentors and mentees, based upon predetermined compatibility factors. Having an idea of participants' personalities can help (e.g. extrovert/introvert, interests, goals)

2. "Speed Matching;" a process similar to speed dating. Mentees sit in chairs in a circle, while mentors alternate chairs on the outside and ask pre-set questions. Meanwhile, the trainer pays attention to the interaction, guages the level of comfort and compatibility, and marks his/her observations on a scorecard.

It's important to note that Foster Care Initiatives Program Manager Keith Howard says that in his experience, matching is not the most important part. Rather, the most important part is facilitating that mentor-mentee relationship.

Match Breakdown
At the very first training, mentors and mentees are told what to expect in case of a mismatch of personalities:

- If a match breaks down, staff will try to support and maintain that relationship
- If they cannot salvage the match, they will end it and seek closure
- Because their model is 1:1 mentoring, either they will try to bring in two more people, or those two people might be out of the program

Outcome Measurement
Because Mentoring USA was founded by a former First Lady of New York, and supported by her Attorney General son, Andrew Cuomo, they are able to receive grants and funding without having to prove themselves by strenous outcome measurements.

Outcomes that they strive for are:
- Social skills (e.g. healthy levels of disclosure)
- Healthy life choices (qualitative measures)
- Conflict resolution (modules)

Grades are also a good indicator of success, although their mentoring model is social, not academic.

Mentoring and Foster Care

January is National Mentoring Month, and my top priority in 2008 is linking teenagers in foster care with mentors.

Resiliency research consistently identifies the presence of a supportive and caring adult in the lives of children and youth who succeed despite adversity and hardship (Osterling and Hines, 2006).

Yet, for the 520,000 children in the United States foster care system, one key challenge they face is the lack of a consistent, caring adult in their lives. For children in foster care, grown-ups move in and out of their lives as they transition from home to home.

Every year, 20,000 teenagers “age out” of the foster care system and are left to fend for themselves. During this transition period, they are at risk for homelessness, unplanned pregnancy, substance abuse, unemployment and criminal behavior.

A mentor can play a crucial role in preparing a young person for this jarring transition. Research indicates that mentoring programs for teenagers in the foster care system represent a preventative strategy to prevent negative outcomes as they emancipate from the foster care system and transition into young adulthood.

Mentors buffer foster care youth from negative outcomes by providing a supportive and trusting relationship, serving as a role model and assisting foster care youth in acquiring independent living skills (Osterling and Hines, 2006).

Mentoring programs are also cost-effective, because they address a fundamental need for many foster youth and do not depend on extensive resources. Therefore, they represent a practical approach to prevention and intervention with this population.

Successful Models of Mentoring Foster Care Children:

1. Advocates to Successful Transition to Independence program (ASTI) was a program run by a community-based nonprofit agency, conducted in two phases over two years. The study found that mentoring helps prevent negative outcomes as young people emancipate from the foster care system and transition into young adulthood. After twelve months of participation in a mentoring program, foster care youth exhibited improved social skills, a higher level of trust in adults, and self-esteem enhancement (Rhodes, 1999).

2. Mentoring USA was the first mentoring program in the United States to specifically address the needs of young people in foster care.

3. AFC (Adoption and Foster Care) Mentoring is a program in Boston, Massachusetts that provides both one-on-one and group mentoring for young people in foster care. Some of their mentors are alumni of the foster care system.

4. In My Shoes is a non-profit, peer-mentoring organization in Arizona that pairs foster care alumni with foster care youth. It was founded by my friend Christa Drake in July 2003, with the purpose of assisting 16 and 17-year-olds in the foster care system as they prepare for their transition to adulthood.

5. Fostering Healthy Connections Through Peer Mentoring was initiated by Child Welfare League of America, supported by FosterClub and piloted in Louisville, Kentucky. The program trains former foster youth to mentor current foster youth.

It is currently being implemented in Franklin County, Ohio by PCSAO, with the support of the Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America.

6. The Orphan Foundation of America moderates an e-mentoring group, which is funded by a three-year grant that they received from the Northrop Grumman Foundation.

References
Britner, Preston A., Fabrico E. Balcazar, Elaine A. Blechman, Lynn Blinn-Pike, and Simon Larose.(2006). "Mentoring Special Populations." Journal of Community Psychology 34:6, p. 747-763.

Clayden Jasmine and Mike Stein (2005). Mentoring Young People Leaving Care: ‘Someone for Me.’ Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

“Peer-to-peer shows success in Louisville pilot.” (2007). Children’s Voice 16:3, p. 35.

Osterling, Kathy L. and Alice M. Hines. (2006). “Mentoring Adolescent Foster Youth: Promoting Resilience During Developmental Transitions.” Child and Family Social Work 11:2, p. 42-253.

Rhodes, Jean E., Wendy L. Haight and Ernestine Briggs. (1991). “The Influence of Mentoring on the Peer Relationships of Foster Youth in Relative and Nonrelative Care. Journal of Research on Adolescence 9:2,185-201.

Have you ever considered becoming a vMentor?

Do you care about the plight of young people in and from the foster care system? Maybe you would like to help in some way, but don't know where to start? Perhaps you lead such a busy life, that you worry about taking on a new commitment that you might not be able to juggle?

Why not consider becoming a vMentor to a high school student in foster care or young person who has just aged out of the foster care system and is now navigating his or her way through college?

I became a virtual mentor through the Orphan Foundation of America last year, and over the past 13 months, it has been an absolute joy getting to know my mentee. At first, it took time to get the conversation going! But, after we built a base of trust, my mentee began to share more about her goals and insights - and the experience has been invaluable.

Requirements:
Virtual mentors must be 25 years or older. Mentors are screened through an initial process, including a background check, before being matched with a mentee by OFA staff. A two-year commitment is requested.

Ensuring A Safe Atmosphere:
All emails between you and your mentee must take place on the vMentor portal, in order to maintain a secure and safe setting.

Providing Support and Resources:
Through the vMentor portal, you can not only correspond with your mentee, but if you need assistance, you can contact one of the two mentee support personnel. There are content experts available to provide their expertise on legal issues, counseling, parenting and practical skills. Every month, training for vMentors is provided via a conference call, and the notes from these trainings are available via the vMentor portal.

Need for Male Mentors:
Due to the success of the virtual mentoring program, during 2006, there were average of 250 active mentor-mentee matches at a time. However, there is a great need for male mentors. OFA is currently trying to match 26 male youth who are new to the program, and have only 13 male mentors who aren't already matched.

For more information, please visit: http://www.vmentor.com/

In My Shoes: Assisting Teenagers in Foster Care

Another participant in the FCAA Summit was Christa Drake. She has been part of the alumni movement since 1999, when she was the first former foster child to participate in the Casey Family Programs' community resource council.

In My Shoes
In July 2003, Christa assisted in launching "In My Shoes," the first foster care alumni project in Arizona. This nonprofit organization was created to help foster teenagers (16 and17 years old) successfully transition to adulthood.

Youth in care are matched with foster alumni, who assist them in attaining the skills and information that they need in order to live independently. Participants are empowered to advocate and become leaders within their communities.

To find out more about "In My Shoes," please visit:
http://www.inmyshoesinc.org/

Stones in the Road
Christa Drake is very passionate about her work. From talking with her on a personal level, I was able to ascertain that she has faced concerns and obstacles along the way...

Some of these challenges have included:
-Liability for foster youth behavior when she is transporting them from one location to another. Teenagers in general are prone to risktaking behavior, and foster teens no less so. Christa is very conscientious about this, since one error in judgement could jeopardize the program.

-Feeling that her presence as a foster alumni is desired at meetings, but that her voice is not always welcome.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the credo of foster alumni is "Nothing About Us, Without Us." Including foster alumni in discussions means more than just having them present when decisions are made.

Foster alumni are not "mascots" to represent the existence of foster children. Rather, we are insightful individuals, whose experiences and knowledge can be valuable to social workers, judges, attorneys, educators and behavioral health clinicians.

Talking with Christa affirmed some of the challenges that I have been facing in my state. When I meet with social services representatives, too often I hear the sunshine story:

-"We have no problems finding homes for foster children. Most of our children end up in kinship care."
-"Our foster teenagers are equipped with independent living skills before leaving care."
-"Our social workers are doing a wonderful job."

Yet, when I meet with actual foster parents and communicate with youth-in-care, I hear a different story:

-"My foster son has had five different social workers within the past five months. When the last social worker came to talk with us, he freaked out - because he thought this new stranger was coming to take him away."

-"Our neice was sent to a foster home out of state, rather than allowing her to be adopted by family."

-"We have over 30 teenagers in our school who are getting ready to age out of foster care, and they are unprepared - and scared."

I work at a job myself. I know what it means to "toe the party line." However, because the lives of children are at stake, I am going to have to insist upon hearing more honesty.