	Volunteer Mentoring Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

VM 7: Relationship Development

The mentor is a friendly, supportive role model who develops a trust-based relationship that promotes the growth and development of the service recipient.

VM 7.01

The mentor acts as a role model who strives to develop trust and build a supportive friendship centered on the service recipient.

Research Note: Some research suggests that mentors who take the time to develop close, trusting relationships with youth are more likely to make the relationship last long enough to be potentially helpful to the service recipient.

VM 7.02

Mentoring meetings are frequent enough, and continue long enough, to meet the objectives of the relationship.

Interpretation: When program type or model precludes meeting frequently or for a long period of time (for example, if a school-based program is designed to coincide with the school year), service recipients should be informed about any time limits associated with service provision.

Research Note: As referenced in VM 4.02, it is often recommended that mentors and service recipients meet at least four hours per month, for at least a year. Literature emphasizes that it may be difficult to develop a relationship if a pair does not meet regularly, and research suggests that mentoring relationships may be more effective if they last at least a year. One study found that, compared to their peers who lacked mentors, youth in relationships that lasted twelve months or longer reported improvements in academic, psychosocial, and behavioral outcomes. Youth in relationships that terminated earlier reported fewer gains, and youth in relationships that ended within a very short time actually reported declines in several areas.

VM 7.03

Site-based mentoring programs:

develop an effective partnership with the institution in which the program is housed; and
ensure that the institution’s officials welcome and support mentors and share the program’s understanding of a mentor’s role.

Interpretation: Programs can be housed at a variety of sites, including schools, faith-based organizations, juvenile justice facilities, and workplaces. School-based mentoring programs should ensure that school officials do not view mentors as academic tutors, and encourage mentors to engage service recipients in social activities.

NA The program is housed at a site controlled by the organization, or the organization does not operate a site-based mentoring program.

VM 7.04

Program personnel involve family members, when appropriate and feasible, in supporting the development of a positive mentoring relationship.

Interpretation: There may be some instances when involving family members is either not feasible (for example, programs based at schools or juvenile justice facilities may have trouble involving families) or not in the best interest of the individual being mentored.

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	PURPOSE: Individuals participating in Volunteer Mentoring Services develop supportive, positive relationships that contribute to the achievement of personal, social, and educational growth.

RELATED FILES


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	OBJECTIVE A sub-goal stated in operational terms, i.e., a statement that makes clear what expected results are to be measured or assessed.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	PROGRAM PERSONNEL All direct service and administrators or supervisors of direct services that are involved in the operation of the organization's social service programs. "Program personnel" does not include MIS, accounting, facilities, clerical, or other staff that are not involved in the provision or oversight of direct services.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."