05: Youth Enrollment

Standard of Practice: Programs should have processes for welcoming youth into the program that ensure prospective participants are eligible and a good fit in terms of their goals and commitment to engage in the mentoring relationship and program activities.

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Practices Supporting this Standard

The program has established policies and procedures for confirming youth eligibility and their compatibility with, and interest in, the services offered, and for accepting or not accepting them into the program.

All mentoring programs need a standardized set of policies and accompanying procedures that manage the process of determining eligibility and accepting new mentees into the program, including ensuring that participants understand both the benefits of participation and their roles and responsibilities and that they are interested in, and committed to, being a part of the program.

The program provides youth (and caregivers, as needed) with a formal application that is completed as part of the enrollment process.

The questions in the application can help programs collect information on youth’s strengths, areas for growth, goals for the mentoring experience, desired traits in a mentor, and important personal characteristics (such as their background, special needs, hobbies, and interests) that can help programs find the right mentor (or group) to maximize the impact of their participation. This information must be stored securely and managed with confidentiality, and staff should be equipped to respond appropriately when sensitive information is shared (e.g., LGBTQIA2S+ status, disability-related information).

Youth (and their caregivers, as needed) formally consent to participate in the program and commit to following program expectations and rules upon their acceptance into the program.

This commitment should include understanding and agreeing to program policies, particularly regarding safety, as well as details around the frequency of mentoring meetings and the duration of the mentoring relationship. For many programs, this will be roughly once a week for the duration of a school or calendar year, although that will depend on the program’s design and theory of change. As part of the consent process, the program should also provide an estimated timeline for when the mentee will be matched with a mentor.

As appropriate, the program asks caregivers to provide additional information, beyond the application, that will help determine eligibility and fit and identify an appropriate mentor (or mentoring group) for the young person. Additional information can be gathered in several ways, for example, through interviews, conversations, or additional forms. This practice can also identify other adults, beyond the youth’s caregiver, who can support their involvement in the program or who may need to inform decisions about the relationship.

The program refers youth who have needs or circumstances beyond the program’s scope to other services and supports in the community, especially when youth are ineligible to participate in the program. Programs should have a list of referral partners — both other mentoring programs as well as other types of service providers — for youth and families who are not accepted into the program.

Because there is tremendous diversity in how and where mentoring is delivered to young people, we also offer additional practices and recommendations related to this Element for the following program models and contexts. Readers should note that there may be overlap in the following categories (e.g., a peer mentoring program in a school or a Boys & Girls Club offering a group mentoring program on-site) and read all that may be relevant to their work. The next recommendations can help navigate the nuances of the early stages of working with mentees and those supporting their mentoring experience.

GROUP MENTORING MODELS

In addition to the general practices noted above, group mentoring programs may need to consider whether all enrollment needs to happen in a predetermined timeframe so that there are enough participants available to form groups. This will facilitate forming groups that will have membership stability from the beginning and will not need to add new members sporadically throughout the year. The application and other enrollment activities should also gather information about peer relationships with other youth in the program to avoid placing those with negative prior histories in the same group.

Group models will also need to consider whether a group experience is the right fit for a particular young person. Some youth may simply benefit more from a deeper one-to-one relationship with a mentor, while others may have personality traits (e.g., extreme shyness) or behavioral challenges that may be problematic in a group setting. Youth who are not the right fit can be referred to other programs or services as needed.

PEER MENTORING MODELS

Given that many cross-age peer mentoring programs serve relatively young mentees (i.e., elementary school age) there may be a need to engage caregivers more in the application and enrollment processes to solicit information about the youth and why participation in the program may be beneficial. Programs may also need to explain the goals of the program and what participation will be like for younger mentees.

E-MENTORING MODELS

E-mentoring programs face some additional challenges enrolling youth due to the virtual nature of the communication between program staff and youth and their caregivers. These programs should prioritize online applications and other easy-to-use digital forms, supplemented with face-to-face conversations using virtual meeting technology so that details about the program can be explained and questions and concerns can be addressed in real time.

The enrollment process is also an ideal time to assess the youth’s technology access, comfort, and skill in using technology, and developmental suitability to communicate using virtual platforms (especially for very young children). Some youth may lack the requisite technology access or comfort to participate meaningfully in the program. If the program will make technology available to participants, that should also be explained during the enrollment process.

It is also important to share policies and other information about program safety, privacy, confidentiality, and data management with young people (and caregivers, as relevant) as they enroll in the program. They should understand what program staff can access about their mentoring interactions and other monitoring policies or practices. Programs may also clarify expectations for privacy for online mentoring conversations, including whether caregivers or others (e.g., siblings) are allowed or encouraged to join or overhear mentoring conversations.

E-mentoring programs should also get consent from caregivers around the collection of electronic data about the youth’s participation (e.g., accessing chat or emails sent to the mentor, tracking engagement in an online mentoring platform, monitoring for risk management concerns, etc.). Youth should also understand exactly what components of their interactions are shared with program staff and how that information will be used. See the E-Mentoring Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, fourth edition, for more information about youth data privacy, consent, and legal obligations regarding youth participation in online programs (Garringer et al. 2019).  

SCHOOL- AND OTHER FORMAL SITE-BASED MODELS

Schools and other youth-serving organizations may already have policies and procedures in place for how youth sign up for specific supports, such as mentoring or tutoring. The program’s enrollment process should align with any existing site procedures. The enrollment process is also an ideal time to assess any scheduling conflicts (e.g., conflicts with class schedules or other school activities) that may impact youth’s participation in mentoring activities.

Enrollment is also an ideal time to ensure that youth understand the purpose of the mentoring program and how it is distinct from other services they may have access to.

INFORMAL MENTORING MODELS

Informal mentoring, almost by definition, implies that youth aren’t formally being accepted into a mentoring program. However, there may still be “eligibility” criteria for consideration. For example, in a program serving high school age youth, informal mentoring may be prioritized for those graduating high school in the next year to support their transitions into college or career paths. Informal mentoring can still have some focused outreach if staff capacity is limited.

  • What information do we need to collect to get to know and best serve our youth and families?
  • Do we ask about youth strengths, goals, and dreams in addition to asking about needs or difficult circumstances? Are we building on assets and strengths or focusing only on challenges?
  • How will we ensure that youth (and caregivers) commit to the expectations for program participation that we set? Are there certain levels of participation that we will require?
  • What might disqualify a youth from being accepted into our program? Are there needs or circumstances we feel are beyond our mentors’ ability to address? Do we have clear criteria for making these determinations?
  • Where can we refer youth and families in our community when they are ineligible or not a good fit for what we offer?
  • Youth and caregivers may have feedback on the enrollment process, including their ease and comfort level completing application forms and other required paperwork, and can share their perceptions of enrollment activities, such as conversations with staff and the overall timeline and flow of the enrollment process.  

Programs may want to set benchmarks and track progress around metrics such as:

  • The percentage of youth applicants that are accepted into the program, not accepted, or quit the enrollment process (with analysis of the demographic composition of each group and the reasons for disengagement or not being accepted).
  • The average length of time it takes an applicant to get accepted into the program.
  • The percentage of applicants that completed all enrollment procedures.
  • The number and nature of referrals to other service providers for youth who are not accepted into the program.
  • The number and nature of community partnerships supporting those referrals.

Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring: Effective Strategies for Providing Quality Youth Mentoring in Schools and Communities. Garringer, M., MacRae, P., National Mentoring Center and The Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence.
This guidebook for program development offers research-informed guidance, tools, and resources to support quality mentoring services.

“Mentee Readiness” Module from Shining Light on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Toolkit to Build Understanding. Youth Collaboratory.
This module, 1 of 19, discusses the importance of assessing mentee readiness in preparing them to begin a mentoring relationship.

Risk Management and Youth Safety Components for Mentoring and Youth-Serving Programs. MENTOR, National Mentoring Resource Center.
This brief discusses risk management for mentoring programs including screening of both mentors and mentees.