Guidelines for Quality Mentoring

Responsible mentoring:

• Is a structured, one-to-one relationship or partnership that focuses on the needs of mentored participants.
• Fosters caring and supportive relationships.
• Encourages individuals to develop to their fullest potential.
• Helps an individual to develop his or her own vision for the future.
• Is a strategy to develop active community partnerships.
• Focuses on the long-term development and success of the child

Types of Mentoring:

Responsible mentoring can take many forms:

• traditional mentoring (one adult to one young person)
• group mentoring (one adult to up to four young people)
• team mentoring (several adults working with small groups of young people, in which the adult-to-youth ratio is not greater than 1:4)
• peer mentoring (caring youth mentoring other youth)

Our Partner organizations offer youth mentoring according to the following categories:

• Academic (focus on school success)
• Friendship (focus on relationship building)
• Leadership development (focus on character)
• Interest-based/skill-based (focus on a specific skill or interest. For example, athletics, arts, gardening, etc.)
• Career development (focus on job skill development)

Locations of Mentoring:

Mentoring can take place in a wide array of settings, such as at a workplace, in a school, at a faith-based organization, at a juvenile corrections facility, and in a community setting.