Family Engagemen t Family Engagemen t The Secret Sauce for Successful Youth Mentoring Programs

Mentoring programs that involve parents and caregivers are more likely to have positive outcomes for youth (Rhodes, 2002). Involved parents and caregivers are more apt to have a positive view of their child’s mentoring relationship and to be more supportive of the match. (DuBois, Holloway, Valentine, & Cooper, 2002) Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory The Science “After two decades of experience in establishing, maintaining and evaluating mentoring programs, I have found that, for the most part, the role of the family in the mentoring experience has been minimal. It is time to take a look at the potential and benefits of the involvement of families in mentoring activities.” Dr. Susan Weinberger, International mentoring consultant & pioneer in designing first one-to-one school based mentoring program in the U.S..

Challenges in Family Engagement Limited time of parents and of staff Parent’s fear of being judged or criticized, feeling unvalued, unwelcome Communication difficulties, cultural barriers Staff perception of parents Strained relationships between parents and children. The obstacles

Steps Toward Implementing Family Engagement Activities GettingStartedGettingStarted First-Level Family Engagement Practices Writing Family Engagement Into Your Program Staff, Volunteer and Mentor Training 1.Sensitize both staff and mentors to the challenges and difficulties in typical parents’ lives. 2.Provide sensitivity training for staff and mentors regarding how to reinforce parents and their role in promoting positive impacts.

Steps Toward Implementing Family Engagement Activities GettingStartedGettingStarted Second-Level Family Engagement Practices Initiating Low Cost Measures for Showing Parents and Caregivers That You Value Them 1.Congratulate parents for coming forward to give their child the gift of a new friend. 2.Honor and celebrate parents or guardians as “good parent” who had the courage, caring and commitment to seek out or agree to a match. 3.Sending a note of congratulations to a parent for their role in improved grades or other positive changes of their child.

More Steps Toward Implementing Family Engagement Activities GettingStartedGettingStarted Third-Level Family Engagement Practices Designing Program Activities That Regularly Engage Parents and Caretakers 1.Publicly celebrating parents during already existing program activities. 2.Developing more recognition events for parents. 3.Adding family engagement sessions like “Super Saturdays” and networking opportunities for parents. 4.Forming a cadre of long-term parents as support volunteers for your program.

More Steps Toward Implementing Family Engagement Activities GettingStartedGettingStarted Fourth-Level Family Engagement Practices Shifting Program to Be Family-Centered & Powered 1.Conduct regular “family joining,” or home visits in the evenings to build friendships with families and to ask for their input, inform them of their child’s involvement. 2.Develop Family Engagement Parent Team of veteran parents who take the lead in working with staff to design and carry out family engagement activities including visits and events. 3.Develop monitoring, learning and evaluation tools that measure your impact on families.