The Good You All Are Doing: Youth Research & Community Dialogue

The Good You All Are Doing

Youth Action Research Sparks Community Dialogue in Lower Roxbury

By Elizabeth McColloch

Youth who know how to ask the right questions of their community have the power to make a positive difference in the city. With knowledge of their community’s history and some innovative thinking, young people from the Lower Roxbury area of Boston are contributing to the growing conversation and action around Boston’s housing and development crisis. The 2019 Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project connected young people from the Lenox/Camden neighborhood with mentors to foster neighborhood unity in the face of gentrification and its local impacts. 

Video by Malcolm Thomas.

Unlike many nearby neighborhoods, the Lenox/Camden neighborhood of Boston struggles to build cohesive activism. The many housing developments in the area are each run by different management companies. Furthermore, the Lenox/Camden neighborhood has no common space to bring people across housing developments together. There is no neighborhood association for the area, as the housing developments mainly focus on serving their residents.

Thus, collaboration—and even communication—between businesses, individuals, and groups in the neighborhood poses a severe challenge. To face this challenge, the youth of the 2019 YPAR project focused their research on building neighborhood unity by learning from senior citizens about this community’s past.

About Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)

Since 2017, EGC’s Boston Education Collaborative (BEC) has worked with Lenox/Camden area organizations to oversee Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) projects. According to YPAR Hub, the YPAR model is “a cyclical process of learning and action. Research is done not just for the sake of it but to inform solutions to problems that young people themselves care about.” The project model empowers youth to develop “skills in inquiry, evidence, and presentation” to become “agents of positive change.”

The 2019 YPAR project, called “Learning from the Past to Build a Stronger Future” project, the team focused on learning from senior citizens in the community. The project was the brainchild of the late Brent Henry, a beloved community leader who passed away suddenly in April. 

In 2012, Henry co-founded Vibrant Boston, a drop-in after school program intended to provide community and support to children and youth to pursue their unique dreams. Through Vibrant Boston, he served and loved students and families selflessly and wholeheartedly for many years. He was a mentor, father-figure, and positive role model to the children and youth involved with Vibrant Boston.

For the YPAR projects, Henry collaborated with the BEC, who added research support, resources and project oversight, and Crosstown Church, who provided a facilitator and other project needs. Vibrant Boston recruited local youth and community participants for the project.

The local partnering organizations are all connected through the Melnea Cass Network, a collaboration that began in 2016 with the mission of “ending youth poverty and violence one neighborhood at a time.” For the 2018 YPAR project, 11 youth explored neighborhood opinions and experiences about education, poverty, drugs, violence, and employment in the Lenox/Camden community. 

For the 2019 project, the team focused on building neighborhood unity. Melany Arevalo (BEC intern), Malcolm Thomas (CrossTown Church member), and Ruth Wong (BEC director) partnered to train eight local youth in community research methods, facilitate discussions with elderly community members, and inspire community action. Throughout the YPAR experience, dialogue between the young people and seniors in the neighborhood meant fruitful exchanges of reflections, advice, and shared aspirations for the future of the community. 

COMMUNITY PRESENTATION & Dialogue

Eight young people from Lower Roxbury persevered through a six-month research journey filled with challenges and setbacks. In the end, they, along with Ruth Wong and Malcolm Thomas, hosted community meetings to share their research findings. 

The events, held at St. Augustine & St. Martin’s Church on June 26 and Mandela Residents Cooperative Association on June 29, consisted of a formal presentation followed by a question and answer session. The audience included project partners, the seniors interviewed for the project, and other community members. Lengthy question and answer sessions created space for honest dialogue between youth and members of the community. 

The atmosphere was respectful and engaging, with both groups desiring to learn from one another. One participating senior expressed appreciation for the opportunity: “We never hear about the good you all are doing!” 

View Presentation Slides

What the Youth Learned

Students asked seniors a variety of questions about the Lenox/Camden community. Topics included the community’s level of connectedness, positive qualities, challenges, safety, sources of tension among residents, and transitions the neighborhood has experienced. They also asked the seniors for reflections and suggestions for improving neighborhood unity. 

The young researchers learned from their assessment that seniors have mixed feelings toward their community. Some seniors said they felt connected to the Lenox/Camden neighborhood through church and neighborhood groups, while others pointed to gentrification as a catalyst for division and decreasing involvement in the community. While all respondents felt a general sense of safety, they expressed frustration at the tensions that have emerged from rising housing prices, transient college students, and gang violence. 

Community Input

Community members offered suggestions for building neighborhood unity, including: 

• encouraging people to attend community events

• creating meeting spaces for both the youth and seniors

• improving respect for elders

• increasing police engagement with residents.

One senior also proposed the need for a “positive mission.” She explained, 

I have thought about the one thing that this territory could unite around. When people get united, it seems to be about anti-gentrification, which I think is legitimate, but it’s not a winning strategy. It’s a negative strategy. If you go to war with somebody and defeat them, then that’s what you’ve done. You’ve defeated them. But you haven’t done anything for yourself. So I’m hoping that at some point we will figure out how to develop something that we can all get behind that will help us all to thrive.

During the second presentation, discussion arose regarding the significant role a community center could play in bridging divides and addressing loneliness among younger and older generations. A community center is one example of a positive mission—something to fight for, rather than to fight against.

Seniors also offered life advice to youth, such as: 

• Hold onto a “taste of home” wherever you go.

• React with a positive attitude toward others, even in the face of ignorance and prejudice.

When asked what the youth learned throughout the research process, one student responded, “Senior citizens have good advice. They know a lot about the community, and they should get more credit for what they give.” 

Another youth added, 

I thought this community was taking care of its senior citizens, but I guess not. Based on what they were saying, they’re not getting the support they need. And that is kind of odd to me because I thought they would prioritize them because they have certain needs to be met.

Youth Action

Throughout the presentation and in the question and answer session, students also discussed action steps they would take as a result of their findings:

1. They dedicated themselves to honoring Henry’s legacy through their work.

2. They agreed to help coordinate activities at a “Shawmut Avenue Community Day.” One of the seniors proposed the event, and the young people committed to plan it with the support of several churches, Mandela Homes, and neighborhood residents.

3. They planned to organize a Bingo night for seniors, responding to the seniors’ frustration about the isolation their generation feels in the community.

Much work remains to be done in the Lenox/Camden community to build neighborhood unity in the face of deep-rooted city issues. The YPAR project youth took concrete steps in that direction: they created opportunities for constructive community discussion, and they participated in community-led solutions.

About the Author

Elizabeth McColloch is a junior at Boston College, studying Operations Management, with minors in International Studies and Public Health. She interned with EGC’s Applied Research and Consulting division in the summer of 2019, where she loved learning about the Lord’s heart for justice through the work of her and her colleagues.

Making Youth Voices Heard: Teens Work Against Gun Violence in Lower Roxbury

Making Youth Voices Heard: Teens Work Against Gun Violence in Lower Roxbury

By EGC Boston Education Collaborative

Youth from Boston’s Roxbury say gun violence is an ever-present threat in their neighborhood. The eleven teens of the Making Youth Voices Heard initiative are determined to do something about it.

On a freezing February day, eight dauntless youth guided shivering Boston College graduate students on a tour of the Lenox/Camden area. The tour route included their own housing complexes, a shiny new hotel, and other neighborhood gems, including where to get the best pizza.

But they also shared with these future social workers how gun violence has impacted their friends and loved ones. In a later shared listening session, the teens opened up.

“I have to worry about my family walking outside and getting shot in our own neighborhood,” says one student who grew up there. “We don’t feel safe.”

“Violence affects the people I care about,” says another teen. “I have a couple of friends that passed away through gun violence.”

As a group, three boys and eight girls, ages 14-19, now meet together twice a week at CrossTown Church, as part of the Making Youth Voices Heard program. CrossTown Church, located on Lenox Street in the Lenox/Camden area, is part of the Melnea Cass Network, a local collaboration of leaders “dedicated to ending family poverty and violence, one neighborhood at a time.”

Teens of the Making Youth Voices Heard program meeting with students of Boston College School of Social Work at CrossTown Church in Roxbury, MA, February 2018.

The youth began their team effort by sharing insights from their own experience.  “Violence affects the neighborhood as a whole,” said one. “The crime rate keeps increasing and many teens have been dying lately.”

They also discussed poverty—its causes and effects in the neighborhood. “Most of the people in my community [are] suffering from poverty,” shared one teen. Another reasoned, “There is gun violence because youth don’t have money to get what they want.”

But these courageous young people hope to learn more—they want to hear the voices of other youth who live in five housing developments in Lower Roxbury.

They plan to survey students not only about gun violence but also a host of related issues. Their goal is to hear from the community which issues feel most pressing, to help guide the team to action steps that they can take to strengthen the community.

The whole experience is an empowering process for the youth. The graduate students and collaborators are facilitating, but the teens are making all the decisions. The youth will decide what question they’re going to research, and they will present the results of what they learn.

““We just need better ways to protect the youth.””

— Making Youth Voices Heard youth participant

Making Youth Voices Heard

The Making Youth Voices Heard (MYVH) program trains youth in community research for action. It is a collaboration between EGC’s Boston Education Collaborative (BEC), the Vibrant Boston program for youth, St. Stephen’s Youth Programs, CrossTown Church, and Boston College’s Graduate School of Social Work.

A summer 2017 pilot program with three young people provided early results, paving the way for full-year grants from the Church Home Society of the Episcopal Diocese, and the Paul & Edith Babson Foundation. The MYVH initiative does not yet have full funding for their proposal, which includes work stipends for the youth. The BEC is working on securing the remainder of the funding.

Youth Hub Surveys

Vimeo

The students will be replicating Youth Hub Boston's model of Youth-led Participatory Action Research and Innovation (YPARI). Youth Hub Director Rachele Gardner and youth residents of Codman Square, Dorchester, co-created the YPARI model based in part on UC Berkeley's Youth Participatory Action Research Hub.

In YPARI, youth learn how to design, implement, and analyze a survey, and then create action steps out of it. Ms. Gardner is serving as a consultant to the MYVH project, prepping the team every week to know how to structure the program sessions. Youth learn how to design, implement, and analyze a survey, and then create action steps out of it. Ms. Gardner is serving as a consultant to the MYVH project, prepping the team every week to know how to structure the program sessions.

After a welcome pizza party in December, students kicked off the program in January, getting to know one another’s stories. After a time of team bonding, setting expectations, and orientation to the program, they discussed:

• What issues do you care about most for the community?

• What issues have most impacted the neighborhood?

• What issues are you most passionate about?

“The issue I care about is violence because it leads to peer pressure,” responded one teen. “We do certain things to express how we feel, and use violence to fit in with other people, or just for fun.”

“Violence affects me and the people I care about,” said another.  “Violence is killing people who are 16 and 17, or just anyone. We just need better ways to protect the youth.”

After the youth chose to learn more about local gun violence, they started by exploring its causes and impacts. They identified other issues related to the level of gun violence in the area. So they decided to design a survey about five related topics: gun violence, poverty, drugs, employment, and education.

The teens will next be paired off to conduct the surveys. The group is aiming to survey 100 youth who live in five housing developments in Lower Roxbury—Mandela Homes, Roxie Homes, Lenox, Camden, and Camfield Estates.

Eight students from Boston College’s Graduate School of Social Work are committed to helping. They’re doing some added background neighborhood research and will guide the youth in survey design and analysis. They’ve also contributed food and supplies for the youth.

Cherchaela Spellen is the Lead Facilitator of the program. Studying Social Work at Boston College, she is an EGC intern with BEC and a member of CrossTown Church. She works with the assistance of Amber Ko, an EGC intern with BEC and Greater Boston Refugee Ministry.

 

Our Goals for Community Impact

“It’s a learning process,” says Ruth Wong, BEC Director. “This can be a launch pad—that’s the prayer and the desire. Our end goal is a group of youth asking what steps they can take to help strengthen their community. We hope the youth come to see themselves as change agents, where they can impact the community by coming up with the action steps.”

Practically, through their participation in this year-long experience, the teens are developing bankable skills—in community research, critical thinking, team-building, leadership, and general job readiness. When the youth go into the community to conduct the surveys, they’ll be developing their social connection skills.

“I’ve been impressed with the leadership skills among these youth, “ says Wong.

These young people also have access to what would otherwise be a somewhat closed community to the graduate students. Our teens themselves represent three of the five complexes.  

“I went with some of the girls to visit the community in the summer,” explains Wong. “I went into their buildings with them, and they were saying ‘hi’ to people left and right. We were able to enter the homes of people that they knew. They have a lot of connections!”

““This can be a launch pad—that’s the prayer and the desire.””

— Ruth Wong, BEC Director

While they already know some peers, the youth are also creatively thinking of how to connect with more youth. They’ll reach out to property managers and leverage other community connections. That kind of networking will be new for them.

MYVH sees the youth as developing leaders for the health of the community. They plan to host a closing presentation and celebration event to invite the adults in the community to hear the youth present their findings. Such an event can be a catalyst for more cohesion and collaboration within the community.

Ruth Wong (left)   Ruth is the Director of EGC's Boston Education Collaborative and a founding member of the Melnea Cass Network in Lower Roxbury.

Cherchaela Spellen (right)  Cherchaela is the Lead Facilitator of the Making Youth Voices Heard program. Cherchaela is studying Social Work at Boston College and attends CrossTown Church in Lower Roxbury.

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Urban Youth Mentoring

Resources for the urban pastor and community leader published by Emmanuel Gospel Center, Boston

Emmanuel Research Review reprint
Issue No. 41 — September/October 2008

Urban Youth Mentoring

Introduced by Brian Corcoran, Managing Editor, Emmanuel Research Review

The importance of mentoring youth has been identified in numerous studies which collectively establish the fact that the presence of a caring adult in the life of a youth is one of the key factors in influencing a child’s behavior. Therefore, in addition to parenting, mentoring youth in an urban context provides a highly strategic social-spiritual opportunity to shape future generations and address broader societal issues, including youth violence.

In this issue, reprinted from 2008, Rudy Mitchell, Senior Researcher, summarizes his research findings regarding various practical aspects on mentoring youth in an urban context. Rudy’s research draws from both secular and faith-based sources regarding preparation, planning, recruiting, screening, training, matching, support, monitoring, closure, and evaluation of youth mentoring programs. Also included is a selected resource list that provides additional information and examples.

Urban Youth Mentoring

by Rudy Mitchell, Senior Researcher, EGC

Mentoring, in combination with other prevention and intervention strategies, can make a significant contribution to reducing youth violence and delinquency. Research has shown that “the presence of a positive adult role model to supervise and guide a child’s behavior is a key protective factor against violence.”[1]

With careful planning; screening, training, and monitoring of volunteers; and sustained, long-term relationships by the mentors, the lives of at-risk youth can be changed. Christians can be involved by developing faith-based mentoring programs and by serving as mentors in existing programs. In either role they should make good use of the research and resources available in the general field of mentoring.

Preparation and Planning for a New Program

Starting a new mentoring program, even within an established organization, requires careful planning and design. It is important to have the support and active involvement of a board, either existing or newly created.

If you are working in an organization with an existing board, it is still valuable to have a separate advisory committee for the mentoring program.[2] These advisory groups can give guidance on how the initiative will fit in with other programs in the organization and community.

Another early planning step is to assess the needs of youth, survey the services of existing programs, and research the assets of the community. From this research, you can define what type of mentoring services to offer, what specific groups to focus on, and what outcomes may be most needed. One planning tool that can be helpful in defining outcomes is the Logic Model approach.[3]

Other aspects of planning are preparing training materials, developing policies, budgeting/fundraising, and planning record keeping. One must anticipate the need for adequate staffing in addition to recruiting the mentors.

It is important not to underestimate how much support, supervision, and counseling that staff may need to provide. Additional support and resources can be leveraged through collaborative partnerships with other community organizations, with schools, and with businesses.

Recruiting and Screening

When recruiting mentors, it is critical to find individuals who are willing and able to make long-term commitments and who will be dependable and consistent in meeting regularly with the mentee. Research has shown that when relationships break off after a short time, the result may be negative, not just neutral.[4]

During recruitment it is important to clearly present the expected time commitment and frequency of meetings with the mentees, as well as the overall expected duration of the mentoring relationship. Typically mentors are expected to meet with mentees at least four hours a month for one year (or one school year at school-based sites).[5] While the commitments need to be made clear when recruiting participants, the benefits also need to be highlighted.

Mentors should enjoy being with youth, be enthusiastic about life, and be good role models who can inspire youth. Good mentors also should be honest, caring, outgoing, resilient, and empathetic. Mentors will need to be open minded, non-judgmental, and good listeners, not seeking to always direct the agenda and activities.

Of course, mentors need to be carefully screened to be aware of past substance abuse problems, child abuse or molestation problems, criminal convictions, and mental problems. The essential parts of the screening process include a written application, an interview, several references (personal, employer), and criminal background checks (including sex offender and child abuse registries).[6] Some offenses would automatically disqualify a potential mentor, while other past events may raise red flags, but call for good judgment and general guidelines.

For programs not meeting at a fixed site, a home visit is recommended. In the screening process, it is valuable to learn about the motivations of potential mentors to make sure they are not just trying to fill their own unmet needs.

Potential mentors who are long-term members of a congregation and well known by the program staff can move through the approval process somewhat faster, although they still should be evaluated carefully and objectively using the essential and standard process.[7]

Training Mentors

Orientation of mentors can include a presentation of the programs goals, history, and policies. Benefits and hoped for outcomes can be described in ways that don’t generate unrealistic expectations. Orientation can also cover the general nature of the mentoring process.

It is valuable to have good printed literature on the program available at this time. Orientation is often used to recruit and introduce people to a mentoring program before they get involved.

Effective mentoring programs have good mentor training prior to establishing matches and have ongoing training or support. Training can cover communication skills, the stages of a mentoring relationship and how to relate to the mentee’s family. In the first stage of starting a match, the pair may need help in strategies for building trust and rapport, or suggestions for helpful activities.

Young people go through developmental stages which mentors need to be familiar with. Mentoring and other supportive services can be seen as valuable contributors to the overall youth development process. The training can also help mentors with cross-cultural and inter-generational understanding and communication.

Various types of problem situations and needs in the mentee’s life and in the mentoring relationship can be covered in preliminary and ongoing training. Mentors can also become knowledgeable of the social services which are available to help with potential problems.

Training can include ways to guide youth in setting goals, discovering their talents, and making decisions. Growing in these and other life skills, can build self-esteem, especially when appreciated and commended by mentors. It is important for mentors to understand current youth culture and the issues facing youth in the local community.

Some youth may experience emotional problems, and therefore, mentors may need some training in basic counseling skills and knowing when to make suggested referrals. During the training sessions, program policies and responsibilities should be reviewed, including regular reporting and child abuse reporting requirements. Programs with an academic focus may want to include a session on effective tutoring methods.

It is important to have a separate training session for the mentees as well. This will help them understand mentoring, what to expect of their mentor, and give practical suggestions on communication and activities.

Making Matches

The mentoring program needs to develop a weighted list of criteria for matching youth with mentors, criteria that correspond to the program’s priorities. While various criteria can be important, often the general quality of being an understanding listener turns out to make the most difference in developing a relationship.[8]

Basic criteria that can be critical include compatible time schedules and geographic proximity. If the mentoring involves social activities, it can be helpful to have common interests, hobbies, or recreational activities.

In more specialized programs, it may be necessary to match a youth who has certain career interests or academic needs with a mentor from that career field or academic skill set. Other criteria often considered in making matches are gender, language, race, cultural background, and life experiences.

It is also valuable to consider personality and temperament in making a match. Some complex personal qualities may be best sensed by intuition. Depending on the goals and values of the program, some criteria should be weighted more heavily than others.

The parents of the youth are generally given a voice in the process of choosing and approving a mentor. In any case written parental permission for general participation is necessary. Programs can also consider input and preferences from mentees and mentors.

Once the match is decided, the program should arrange a formal meeting for introduction at the organizational site. This meeting can include some icebreakers or activities, and can include a group of newly matched pairs.

Typically the best initial foundation of a good relationship is trust and friendship rather than achieving goals and tasks. “Research has found that mentoring relationships that focus on trying to change the young person too quickly are less appealing to youth and less effective. Relationships focused on developing trust and friendship are almost always more beneficial.”[9] Thus the initial activities and focus should seek to foster communication, trust, and rapport, rather than just accomplish tasks.

Ongoing Support, Training, and Monitoring

Ongoing support is one of the most important elements in a successful mentoring program. Mentors should be contacted within two weeks of the beginning of the relationship.[10] Program staff should then continue to maintain regular, personal communication weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly with the mentors.

In order to give adequate support it is recommended that a 20 to 1 ratio be maintained between mentors and support staff.[11] These personal contacts can help intervene to clear up misunderstandings, provide insights regarding cultural differences, and give encouragement.

In addition to good communication, the program can arrange regular meetings of mentors for discussion of problems, sharing ideas, and giving recognition and appreciation. Some of these mentor meetings can include additional training on issues facing a number of the mentors or youth.

Experienced mentors can help in training newer mentors. Online support groups could also be used to share ideas, ask questions, and discuss issues. Support staff may occasionally need to work out a new match, if the original match has been given plenty of time and effort, but is just not working out.

Closure and Evaluation

The mentoring program needs to have flexible procedures and support services to handle the closure of a match. A mentoring relationship may end naturally as a school year ends, or when one of the pair moves away. However, it may also end because of problems, incompatibility, disinterest, or violation of rules.

Because of the variety of reasons relationships end, the program needs to tailor its approaches to giving closure and support to the youth, mentor, and the family. It is just as important for the match to have a good closure as to have a good beginning.

Exit interviews are often used in closing a relationship. These may involve the mentor and mentee together or separately. Generally there should be a meeting with the family as well. These meetings can be a constructive learning experience, as reasons for the termination are clarified and discussed in a positive way. The youth should be encouraged to share feelings about what went well and what could have been improved.

It is helpful for the mentor and mentee to share what they enjoyed most in the relationship. When the match ends because the mentor is no longer able to continue, it is especially important to reassure the youth that the ending is not due to anything he or she did. Where appropriate, the staff can discuss possible future matches in the current program, or elsewhere (if one participant is moving).

Exit interviews can also play a valuable role in evaluation. Program evaluation can be done by your own staff, using or adapting the many survey tools available,[12] or by an outside evaluator (possibly drawing on an university department or a grad student intern).

One can evaluate the effectiveness of various processes of implementing the overall program, but it is even more important to evaluate the goals and outcomes you have established for and with the youth. These outcomes can guide the choice of measures and data needed for evaluation.

Typically, a baseline of information should be gathered when youth begin, and then progress can be measured after the matches have been going at least six months to a year.[13] If possible, try to also get information on a comparable group which was not mentored. Data sources may include the youth, mentors, family, school records, teachers, and police.

Don’t assume your program was the only cause of any improvement. However, as you follow the guidelines for effective practices and work collaboratively with the youths’ families, other organizations serving youth, and the schools, you can expect to see a positive difference in the lives of young people.

Footnotes

¹ Timothy N. Thornton., Carole A. Craf, Linda L. Dahlberg, Barbara S. Lynch, and Katie Baer, Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action (New York: Novinka Books, 2006), 150.

² Michael Garringer and Pattti McRae, editors. Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring, rev. ed. (Washington, D. C.: Hamilton Fish Institute and the National Mentoring Center, 2007), 8.

³ W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Logic Model Development Guide, http://www.wkkf.org/Pubs/Tools/Evaluation/Pub3669.pdf (14 Nov. 2008).

⁴ D.L. DuBois, B.E. Holloway, J.C. Valentine, and H. Cooper. “Effectiveness of Mentoring Programs for Youth: A Meta-Analytic Review.” American Journal of Community Psychology 30, no. 2 (April 2002):157-197.

⁵ National Mentoring Partnership, How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice (Alexandria, Vir.: National Mentoring Partnership, 2005), 10.

⁶ Garringer and McRae, 29.

⁷ Shawn Bauldry, and Tracey A. Hartmann, The Promise and Challenge of Mentoring High-Risk Youth: Findings from the National Faith-Based Initiative (Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures, n.d.), 14-15.

⁸ Maureen A. Buckley and Sandra Hundley Zimmermann, Mentoring Children and Adolescents: A Guide to the Issues (Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2003), 43.

⁹ Bauldry, and Hartmann, The Promise and Challenge of Mentoring High-Risk Youth, 20.

¹⁰ National Mentoring Partnership, How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice, 105.

¹¹ Timothy N. Thornton., et al, Youth Violence Prevention, 171.

¹² National Mentoring Partnership, How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice, 171-172. 13 Garringer and McRae, 58.

Resources and Links

Buckley, Maureen A., and Sandra Hundley Zimmerman. Mentoring Children and Adolescents: A Guide to the Issues. Contemporary Youth Issues. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2003.

This is a practical and comprehensive handbook which includes sample mentor and mentee applications, a full sample grant proposal/program design, and detailed quality standards for effective programs. The authors provide an annotated list of print and non-print resources, as well as detailed information on state and national organizations and key people. Several chapters give an overview of practical aspects of formal mentoring programs and summarize facts and research studies.

Dortch, Thomas W., Jr., and The 100 Black Men of America, Inc. The Miracles of Mentoring: How to Encourage and Lead Future Generations. New York: Broadway Books, 2001.

Drury, K.W., editor. Successful Youth Mentoring: Twenty-four Practical Sessions to Impact Kid’s Lives. Loveland, Calif.: Group Publishing, 1998.

DuBois, D.L., B.E. Holloway, J.C. Valentine, and H. Cooper. “Effectiveness of Mentoring Programs for Youth: A Meta-Analytic Review.” American Journal of Community Psychology 30, no. 2 (April 2002):157-197.

The authors reviewed 55 research evaluations of mentoring programs. They found that disadvantaged and at-risk youth benefit most from mentoring. Significant positive effects depend on the use of best practices and developing strong relationships. Poorly implemented programs can have a negative effect on youth; therefore, it is important for programs to use effective methods of planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Dubois, David L., and Michael J. Karcher, editors. Handbook of Youth Mentoring. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2005.

This is one of the most comprehensive recent works on the theory, research, and practice of mentoring youth. Under the section on theory and frameworks, Jean Rhodes presents a theoretical model of mentoring where relationships of mutuality, trust, and empathy promote social-emotional, cognitive, and identity development. For formal mentoring programs, the handbook gives useful material on developing and evaluating a program, and on recruiting and sustaining volunteers. In addition to covering various types of mentoring (natural, cross-age, intergenerational, e- mentoring), the book also considers mentoring in various contexts (schools, work, after-school, faith-based organizations, and international settings), and with specific groups (at-risk students, juvenile offenders, gifted youth, pregnant/parenting adolescents, abused youth, and youth with disabilities).

Freedman, Marc. The Kindness of Strangers: Adult Mentors, Urban Youth, and the New Voluntarism. Revised ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Over three hundred interviews were conducted to produce this important work on urban youth mentoring. It distills guidelines and principles for effective mentoring programs and gives overviews of some mentoring efforts around the country. While realistically looking at pitfalls and problems, the book offers a hopeful perspective on mentoring as one important part of the solution to youth violence and other problems.

Hall, Horace R. Mentoring Young Men of Color: Meeting the Needs of African American and Latino Students. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006.

Hall advocates mentoring and other strategies to channel care and concern for young men to enable them to reach their potential despite the challenges they face.

National Mentoring Center—http://www.nwrel.org/mentoring/index.php

The National Mentoring Center (NMC) has been serving youth mentoring programs of all types since 1999. Originally created by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the National Mentoring Center offers training, resources, and online information services to the entire mentoring field. The NMC now houses the LEARNS project, which provides training and technical assistance to mentoring projects supported by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The NMC also works in partnership with EMT Associates to manage the Mentoring Resource Center.

Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring is the Center’s cornerstone resource for developing all types of youth mentoring programs across a variety of settings. It is a useful resource for start-up efforts and established programs alike. This 114 page guidebook is available free from the website, and covers all aspects of developing a mentoring program, with included charts and sample forms.

National Mentoring Partnership/MENTOR—www.mentoring.org

An advocate and resource for the expansion of quality mentoring initiatives nationwide. This networking organization builds and supports state mentoring partnerships, sponsors the National Mentoring Institute, develops resources like the Elements of Effective Practice, and encourages research and support for mentoring. The website makes available many great resources including:

Elements of Effective Practice, guidelines and detailed action steps developed by leading national authorities on mentoring. They were recently revised, taking into account solid research to help mentoring programs plan effective organizations that will nurture quality, enduring mentoring relationships. Available free at: http://www.mentoring.org/downloads/mentoring_411.pdf.

How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice. While the previous resource provides a detailed outline, this handbook discusses in detail the considerations and methods of carrying out the steps needed to develop a quality mentoring program. It covers design and planning, managing, implementing, and evaluating the program. Many specific forms, handouts, lists, and guidelines are included, esp. on the CD. This 188 page “toolkit” handbook can be downloaded free at www.mentoring.org/eeptoolkit or purchased in print and CD format.

The Mass Mentoring Partnership (Mass Mentoring)—www.massmentors.org is the state partner of the National Mentoring partnership.

Rhodes, Jean. E. Stand By Me: The Risks and Rewards of Mentoring Today’s Youth. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002.

Rhodes draws on her own research and also an analysis of research by Public Private Ventures to inform her well-written study. Well trained mentors who develop good, long-term mentoring relationships can make a difference in the lives of at-risk youth by improving their social skills, develop their thinking and academic skills through dialog, and by serving as advocates and role models. She also provides cautions about the risks of ineffective and damaging mentoring relationships.

Sipe, Cynthia L. Mentoring: A Synthesis of P/PV’s Research, 1988-1995. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures, 1996. Available as a free download at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org.

In addition to reviewing the major findings of Public/Private Ventures’ mentoring research, this synthesis summarizes ten different research reports of the period.

Thornton, T. N., C.A. Craf, L. L. Dahlberg, B.S. Lynch, and K. Baer. Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action. New York: Novinka Books, 2006. See pages 149-192.

One of the four major strategies to prevent youth violence covered in this sourcebook is mentoring. The material here is especially helpful because it reviews and summarizes a wide range of research and resources. It surveys community-based and site-based mentoring with reviews of research on Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Norwalk Mentor Program. It deals with staff and mentor recruiting and training principles and resources, goal setting, activities, and evaluation. The guide to books, research, training materials, and organizations offers many useful resources.

Find more youth mentoring resources at Culture and Youth Studies: http://cultureandyouth.org/mentoring/

 

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