Kansas Mentors

Kansas Mentors: Better communities.Bigger dreams. Brighter futures.

Effective Programs
Best Practices & Kansas Mentors' Gold Star Program
Definition of Mentoring
Kansas Mentors’ Council of Mentors, composed of experts in faith, school and community-based mentoring programs from across the state, established the following definition:

Mentoring is a consistent, structured, stable relationship between youth and a caring role model(s) that:
    - Involves regular, ongoing, and ideally face-to-face meetings; and
    - Is focused on developing the character, capabilities and confidence of the young person(s).

Elements of Effective Practice
Kansas Mentors strongly endorses the Elements of Effective Practice™ created by MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, which were developed by mentoring experts from across the nation and urges all mentoring programs to follow these practices. There are four key components:
  • Program Design and Planning: This element provides a comprehensive strategy for how to start an effective mentoring program.
  • Program Management: This element involves developing a finance plan and the managerial practices needed to help ensure the program is well-managed.
  • Program Operations: This element focuses on recruitment, screening, training, and matching practices, which are beneficial to maintaining standards for safe and effective mentoring.
  • Program Evaluation: This element gives guidance for establishing program quality and effectiveness.
MENTOR's How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program using the Elements of Effective Practice™ (including an editable toolkit) is available to download here.

Kansas Mentors' Gold Star Program
The Kansas Mentors Gold Star program was developed in an effort to provide a safe and effective mentoring environment for the youth of Kansas.  This program recognizes mentoring partners across the state who have committed to maintaining a basic set of standards that ensure a quality mentoring experience.  Developed by the Kansas Mentors Council of Mentors, these standards reflect guidelines set forth in MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership’s Elements of Effective Practice™ and the Council's definition of mentoring.  Click here to learn more about the Gold Star Program.

Research
Summary of Findings:  How Effective Are Mentoring Programs for Youth?  A Systematic Assessment of the Evidence, published in 2011, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2011, 12(2) 57-91.

Mentoring: A Promising Strategy for Youth Development, published 2002, www.childtrends.org.

Public/Private Ventures:  Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the effectiveness of social policies, programs and community initiatives, especially as they affect youth and young adults.  They have published a multitude of research on youth mentoring which can be found at their website.

Jean E. Rhodes, Ph.D.:  Dr.  Jean Rhodes' is the MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.  Dr.  Rhodes is a globally recognized expert on youth mentoring and has devoted her career to understanding  the role of intergenerational relationship in the lives of disadvantaged youth.  On her website you can find the following publications (plus many more):
  • How Effective are Mentoring Programs for Youth? A Systematic Assessment of the Evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12, 57-91 
  • The impact of school-based mentoring on youth with different relational profiles. Developmental Psychology, 47, 450-462
  • Structuring mentoring relationships for competence, character, and purpose. New Directions for Youth Development, 126, 149-152.

Child Trends DataBank:  This resource provides up-to-date trend data with the latest national estimates for all indicators (i.e. risky behaviors, health conditions, socio-economic status etc.).  Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and families by providing research and data to inform decision-making that affects children.

KIDS COUNT : This resource, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. Through KIDS COUNT, you can link to their Data Center, Publications and Resources, and State Networks.



Resources
Overview of Records Checks: Knowing what type(s) of check a program should use when screening mentors can be overwhelming; here is a handy sheet that provides a summary of the various types of local, state and federal checks available.

MENTOR's How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Toolkit:  A great resource for developing and experienced programs that offers essential guidelines for programs to develop, maintain and sustain all aspects of program operations.

MENTOR's Resource Center: Users can search a wide array of topic areas including resources for programs, mentors and mentees.

Strategies for Promoting Positive Youth Development:  This resource, spearheaded by Building Partnerships of Youth - National 4-H Council and the University of Arizona, to ensure that all youth have the opportunities and experiences to arm them with the tools to make healthy choices.

Oregon Mentors Evaluation Toolkit:  A collection of downloadable evaluation instruments, surveys, scales, and questionnaires.

Kansas Volunteer Commission:  A variety of resources and publications geared toward increasing nonprofit capacity and volunteer effectiveness.

LEARNS:  LEARNS is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide training and technical assistance to projects focused on literacy, education, mentoring, and out-of-school time. LEARNS is a partnership of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) and the Bank Street College of Education (BSC).

Corporation for National & Community Service's Resource Center: A variety of interactive resources and publications for the service community. 

U.S. Department of Education's Mentoring Resource Center: A project funded by a contract of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, providing resources on a variety of mentoring areas.

The National Mentoring Center: Developed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, this organization offers training, resources, and online information services to the entire mentoring field.

Click here for an overview of resources available specifically for mentors.

Disclaimer:  The messages portrayed in the film Waiting for "Superman" do not necessarily represent the views of Kansas Mentors.  We are promoting every young person's right to achieve their full potential.  Education is an important part of that process.  We do not have an opinion on the debate of charter schools versus public schools or other issues related to the U.S. public education system.  We can, however, discuss the proven merits of mentoring as a whole and as an intervention that helps keep young people in school. 

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