The Mentoring Training Event Toolkit
Mentoring is a powerful way of lending support to a young person by teaching skills, listening to their perspectives and creating a sense of belonging. In 2011, more than 485 teen mentors received this training at youth forums throughout Alberta. Mentors are urgently needed in communities all across the province, especially in rural areas. There are many more children and youth on waiting lists for mentors than there are mentors available.
This Mentor Training Event Toolkit provides a framework, and supplementary resources, for hosting a training event. These events provide a forum for people interested in mentoring to come together in a large group setting, meet and connect with like-minded individuals, learn leadership skills and receive the necessary training to become successful mentors. Engaging in networking and relationship building with peers and mentoring staff is reported to be one of the biggest factors in mentors remaining involved with the program long term.
The toolkit provides guidelines for planning and hosting an event that will equip potential mentors with the training and tools required to become successful mentors, including helpful tips and best practices. This information is intended to act as a guideline; planning teams should adapt their approach as needed to best suit the needs of their communities. These tools reflect the combined expertise of mentoring organizations across Alberta that have hosted similar training events. In many instances, these forums have resulted in the establishment of new mentoring initiatives and community partnerships, as a result of networking and relationship building opportunities. Resources and templates adapted to suit the needs of a mentor-based training event have been provided.
View the the Mentor Training Event Toolkit!
Short Course @ UMass Boston
Mentoring Youth in the Foster Care System: From Research to Practice
September 30 – October 1, 2013
The MENTOR/UMass Boston Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring is thrilled to announce it’s first Short Course @ UMass Boston. The topic of this intensive 1.5 day course is “Mentoring youth in the foster care system: From research to practice.” The goal is to provide practitioners with a series of expert lectures and group discussions aimed at deepening their capacity to train and supervise volunteer mentors working with youth who are in and aging out of the foster care system. We hope you can join us on the beautiful campus of UMB, overlooking the harbor islands, for what promises to be a useful and interesting course. Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) are available to all interested attendees.
Please follow this link for more information: http://shortcourse.umbmentoring.org
Special Report: Youth Aging Out of Care
April 2013
Office of the Child & Youth Advocate (Alberta)
In April of 2013, the Office of the Child & Youth Advocate (Alberta) released this special report about youth aging out of care. Among other recommendations, the report highlights the importance of supportive adult relationships. Pages 11-12 of the report state the following:
“Youth described their desire for connections to trusted and caring adults who they could go to for advice and support as they transitioned to adulthood. If parents or other adult relatives were not able to keep that connection, youth stated they needed someone who could. The desire for community mentors came up quite frequently at the focus groups. Youth who currently had a mentor described the person as being extremely helpful in their lives. These youth stated they felt much more optimistic.”
To read the full report, click the image below:
November 5 – 7, 2013
Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta
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