How do I know if a mentoring program is safe?
Mentoring programs are strongly encouraged to follow national best practice standards (called the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring) to ensure that they are safe for youth. When determining whether a mentoring program is safe, you may want to ask program staff the following questions:
—How does the program screen their mentors? All mentors should be required to go through background checks and an interview process, and it’s helpful if the mentoring program also completes reference checks. If the mentor will be driving any young people in their car, a driving record check should also be completed.
—How does the program train their mentors? All mentors should be required to participate in a training before they are matched up with a young person, ideally lasting a minimum of two hours. This training should help mentors understand their role and how to engage in a safe mentoring relationship.
—How does the program monitor matches? Programs should provide ongoing support and monitoring to matches for the duration of the program. This may look different for different programs, but in general, program staff should be checking in with mentors, mentees, and caregivers on a regular basis to see how things are going and whether there’s anything the program can do to help. Staff should also be available any time you have concerns or questions.
—What policies does the program have in place? Ideally, programs will have numerous policies in place to promote child safety. Some of these policies may include guidance on mandatory reporting of child safety issues, inappropriate behaviors, program requirements, social media and image usage, overnight visits and out-of-town travel, confidentiality, transportation, among others.
There are also steps you can take to ensure your child remains safe while engaged in a mentoring relationship.
—Read the program’s policies and procedures and ask questions about how the program handles safety if you have concerns.
—Don’t allow your child to participate in any unapproved activities with their mentor (for example, if the program doesn’t allow mentors and mentees to travel out of town together, help ensure all activities remain local).
—Talk to your child about how to stay safe when they are away from home.
—Ask your child often about how their mentoring relationship is going, and ask probing questions if you think something may be wrong.
—Report any concerns to mentoring program staff immediately, such as a change in your child’s behavior or a concern about how the relationship is going.
Pamela Johnson
Emma Rush
Tamice Spencer-Helms
James Harris
Patryk Czescik
Nishaun Battle
Sindy Montalvo
Kinshasa Samuel
Tashara S. Void
Virginia Patterson
Tiara Whitfield
Alexandra Clayton
Cailey Cummins
Andrea Wiegard
Arya Pazhwak
Briana Oyler
Antonio Mielak
Jessica Fittro
Yvonnia Bryant
Ayannah Bowman-Williams
Alexa Augone
Stephanie Hunter
Allyson Roberts
Bianca Myrick
John Harris
Laura Leporati
Tammie Mobley
Ashley Williams
Abbie Wolf
Melody Lutz
Emily Bolinger
Jessica Hand
Blake Mogel
Lynsey Meissner
Tiffany Patton
Rameka Blakey
Katelyn Chau
Hope Davis