Pathways by which case managers' match support influences youth mentoring outcomes: Testing the systemic model of youth mentoring.

Keller's systemic model of youth mentoring posits there are multiple pathways through which all stakeholders in the youth mentoring process, including the program staff who support the match (or case managers), influence youth outcomes. This study examines case managers' direct and indirect contributions to match outcomes and tests how transitive interactions facilitate a theorized sequence of mentoring interactions to effect greater closeness and length, specifically in nontargeted mentoring programs. A structural equations model of case manager contributions to match outcomes was tested using data from 758 mentor-mentee matches, supported by 73 case managers across seven mentoring agencies. Results reveal direct effects of mentor-reported match support quality on match length and indirect influences on match length through increasing youth-centeredness, goal-focused orientation, and closeness. The findings confirm the presence of multiple pathways of influence, including indirect effects on outcomes via transitive interactions in match support that scaffold youth-centeredness and goal-focused interactions in the match. Findings also suggest supervisors' evaluations of case managers may provide little information about how match support influences the nature of mentor-mentee interactions.

Outcomes from a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Relief Nursery Program.

An independent, randomized controlled trial of the community-developed, multiple-component Relief Nursery prevention program was conducted with families with young children considered "at risk" for child abuse and neglect. This established program, currently operating at multiple sites in the state of Oregon, comprises an integrated package of prevention services to children and families, including early childhood education, home visiting, and parent education and support, as well as other interventions tailored to the needs of each particular family. Families who contacted the Relief Nursery for the first time were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, the Full Program condition, whose members had access to all services available from the Relief Nursery, or the Respite Care condition, whose members had access only to respite care and referrals to services provided by other community agencies. A primary caregiver in each family was interviewed prior to intervention and then every 6 months across a period of 2 years. Standardized measures were collected on a variety of risk and protective factors related to child abuse and neglect. Analyses were conducted at the end of the study period. Differences were found between the conditions in terms of perceived helpfulness and satisfaction with services and in terms of social support, in each case favoring the Full Program condition. Implications of the findings for future studies of multicomponent child abuse prevention programs with similar characteristics to the Relief Nursery are discussed.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Long-Term Professional Mentoring Program for Children at Risk: Outcomes Across the First 5 Years.

Child outcomes due to a paid professional mentoring program, Friends of the Children (FOTC), were investigated across the first 5 years of an ongoing multi-site randomized controlled trial. Participants were 278 children attending kindergarten or first grade who were identified as "at risk" for adjustment problems during adolescence. The program was delivered through established nonprofit community-based organizations. Mentors were hired to work full time and were provided training, supervision, and support to work individually with small numbers of children. Recruitment took place across a 3-year period. Random assignment to the intervention condition or a services as usual control condition was conducted at the level of the individual, blocking on school and child sex. After the initial assessment, follow-up assessments were conducted every 6 months. Differences in growth curves across the elementary school years were examined in intent-to-treat analyses. Significant effects favoring FOTC were found in terms of caregiver ratings of positive school behavior and less trouble in school, with a trend for higher child behavioral and emotional strengths. Effect sizes were in the range typical in recent trials of youth mentoring.

Youth initiated mentoring: investigating a new approach to working with vulnerable adolescents.

This study examines youth initiated mentoring (YIM), a new approach to mentoring in which youth nominate mentors from among the non-parental adults within their existing social networks (e.g., teachers, family friends, extended family members). YIM is currently being implemented through the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program (NGYCP), an intensive residential intervention program for youth ages 16-18 who have dropped out or been expelled from high school. This study employed a mixed methods explanatory design, drawing on quantitative data from a national longitudinal evaluation of NGYCP (N = 1,173) and qualitative data from a subsample of participants (N = 30) in the evaluation. Results indicated that more enduring mentoring relationships were associated with increased retention of educational, vocational, and behavioral outcomes 3 years following entry into the study. Qualitative data suggested that, when relationships endured, mentors contributed to improvements in participants' educational and occupational success, quality of relationships with parents, peers, and others, and self-concept by providing social-emotional support, instrumental support, and guidance. Results also revealed that relationships were more likely to endure when youth chose their mentors on their own (rather than receiving help from parents or program staff) and when mentors were of the same race as youth. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The test of time in school-based mentoring: the role of relationship duration and re-matching on academic outcomes.

The influence of match length and re-matching on the effectiveness of school-based mentoring was studied in the context of a national, randomized study of 1,139 youth in Big Brothers Big Sisters programs. The sample included youth in grades four through nine from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. At the end of the year, youth in intact relationships showed significant academic improvement, while youth in matches that terminated prematurely showed no impact. Those who were re-matched after terminations showed negative impacts. Youth, mentor, and program characteristics associated with having an intact match were examined. Youth with high levels of baseline stress and those matched with college student mentors were likely to be in matches that terminated prematurely, while rejection-sensitive youth and mentors who had previous mentoring experience were more likely to be in intact relationships. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Mentoring in schools: an impact study of big brothers big sisters school-based mentoring.

This random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring involved 1,139 9- to 16-year-old students in 10 cities nationwide. Youth were randomly assigned to either a treatment group (receiving mentoring) or a control group (receiving no mentoring) and were followed for 1.5 school years. At the end of the first school year, relative to the control group, mentored youth performed better academically, had more positive perceptions of their own academic abilities, and were more likely to report having a "special adult" in their lives. However, they did not show improvements in classroom effort, global self-worth, relationships with parents, teachers or peers, or rates of problem behavior. Academic improvements were also not sustained into the second school year.

Investing in success: key strategies for building quality in after-school programs.

This paper examines the relation between the implementation quality of after-school literacy activities and student reading gains. The data are from an evaluation of a multi-site after-school program in California in which continuous program quality improvement strategies were implemented to improve the delivery of a new balanced literacy program. Strategies included: (1) targeted staff training throughout the year, (2) regular observations and coaching of staff, and (3) the use of data to measure progress. Programs struggled to successfully implement these strategies early in the initiative, but gradually improved the quality and consistency of their use. Program quality, as measured through observations, also increased. Results suggested that the size of student reading gains were positively correlated with the quality of literacy programming provided by each instructor.

Assessing after-school settings.

According to previous research, three point-of-service features--strong youth engagement, well-conceived and well-delivered content, and a conducive learning environment--lead to positive impacts in after-school settings, the ultimate gauge of quality. To assess quality at a program's point of service, researchers and program administrators should measure indicators of these three quality features. We argue that youth engagement should be the first of these indicators to be measured because it reflects both the content of program activities and the conditions of the learning environment. Next, content should be assessed to ensure that staff deliver a well-designed sequence of active tasks that are linked explicitly to the development of desired skills or competencies. Finally, assessing the learning environment can help explain whether youths' absorption of the content is inhibited by poor interactions, limited youth decision making, or unsafe conditions. In presenting and evaluating multiple measurement approaches, the authors argue that the most reliable measures are those collected from the agent (either youth or staff members) to whom the indicator is most directly tied. Engagement, for example, is an experience of the youth, content is delivered by staff members, and the learning environment, which is maintained by staff members and experienced by the youth, is tied to both agents. Findings from quality assessments should be used to feed an ongoing process of training, support, and content change aimed at quality improvement.

Review of what youth programs do to increase the connectedness of youth with adults.

Common sense and psychological research tell us that connections to adults--parents and others--are integral to the process of normal human development. A substantial research literature exists on the role of the parent-child relationship in development, and there is a smaller, but growing body of research that explores the effects of nonparental relationships. Adolescents, in particular, are open to nonparental adults as they strive to create for themselves lives more independent from their parents while still valuing advice from those more experienced than they. The most commonly examined nonparental relationship is that of a teacher and a student. One of the less explored areas of investigation is the importance of relationships youth have with adults they find in their weekend and after-school activities. This article examines field research that has been conducted over the past 15 years on youth programs, to address what has been learned about "connectedness" as it manifests itself in the field. By connectedness, we mean primarily the attachment youth have to the adults in the programs.

Promoting successful youth mentoring relationships: a preliminary screening questionnaire.

Youth mentoring programs are an increasingly popular intervention, and although successful mentoring relationships can promote a range of positive developmental outcomes, relationships that fail can lead to decrements in a youth's functioning and self-esteem. The present research develops and validates a youth mentoring relationship quality inventory, based on data from a national evaluation of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) mentoring programs (N = 347 youth). This tool can be administered to adolescents who have been assigned mentors in order to assess the quality of the relationship as it is forming and to identify dyads that may need additional support before those relationships fail. Implications of such a tool for mentoring interventions and research are discussed. Editors' Strategic Implications: Reliability and validity data are presented for a measure of youth's perceptions of the quality of their mentoring relationship. This measure shows promise as a tool for research and evaluation of a wide array of mentoring programs due to its brevity, demonstrated psychometrics, and straightforward focus on the mentoring relationship.

The rhetoric and reality of youth mentoring.

Enduring and supportive mentoring relationships can powerfully influence the course and quality of adolescent lives. As mentoring continues to expand, community agencies are implementing alternatives to the traditional one-on-one mentoring mode. Such efforts may help to reach youth who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

The test of time: predictors and effects of duration in youth mentoring relationships.

The effects and predictors of duration in youth mentor relationships were examined. The study included 1,138 young, urban adolescents (Mean age 12.25), all of whom applied to Big Brothers Big Sisters programs. The adolescents were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group, and administered questions at baseline and 18 months later Adolescents in relationships that lasted a year or longer reported the largest number of improvements, with progressively fewer effects emerging among youth who were in relationships that terminated earlier. Adolescents who were in relationships that terminated within a very short period of time reported decrements in several indicators of functioning. Older adolescents, as well as those who had been referred for services or had sustained emotional, sexual or physical abuse, were most likely to be in early terminating relationships, as were married volunteers aged 26-30 and those with lower incomes. Several dyadic factors were also found to be related to earlier terminations, including race, gender, and relationship quality.