About This Program:
Target Population:
Youth who are referred by teachers, counselors, probation officers,
county mental health workers, Children's Protective
Services, and other youth professionals as being at-risk of not reaching
their full potential due to challenges at home, at school,
or in their neighborhood...
Program Overview:
TMFF mentoring mission is to create quality mentoring relationships for youth who need them most... TMFF recognized that many at-risk youth did not fit the focus of other available services... Our Mentoring Services program creates and sustains community-based, long-term, one-to-one relationships between adult volunteer mentors and youth who lack a positive adult relationship... This relationship exposes youth-in-need to new opportunities for learning and growth, with an emphasis on positive youth development, academic achievement, health and wellness, prevention services, and critical skills for future self-sufficiency...
TMFF integrates outcome measures for the youth (e.g., academic achievement, wellness, skills development) into ongoing operations... Data is gathered during the intake interview of the mentee, three-months after being matched with a mentor, and at the one-year mark and is then analyzed. The data is then used to see how the youth has progressed...
TMFF core values are:
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Belief in power of human relationships
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Uncompromising program excellence
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Integrity
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Leadership in the mentoring field
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Community Impact – e.g. Community Educators
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Optimum program quality
Program Goals:
The goals of TMFF Mentoring Services are:
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Increase positive behaviors, reduce risk behaviors, and improve the self-concept of at-risk youth in order to help them make healthy choices and reach their full potential
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Improve academic engagement and achievement and help low-income, at-risk youth set goals for their future by providing effective, educational, and enriching out-of-school support services and activities
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Build a ‘community of caring’ for young people through networks, collaborations, and coalitions
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Promote best practices and safety in all mentoring programs in the community
Program Delivery
Child/Adolescent Services
TMFF Mentoring Services directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:
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Poverty, living in homes and/or communities in which violence, drugs, and other negative risk factors are present, abuse, violent or delinquent behavior, low self-efficacy, academic failure, truancy/suspension from school, avoidance of reading or other “academic” endeavors, depression, short attention span, withdrawal, lack of appropriate social skills, anger, substance use, aggression, sexual activity/teen pregnancy, and grief...
Services Involve Family/Support Structures:
This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: Parents/guardians are first approached about TMFF through a county or private youth service professional or school personnel with whom they have built a positive relationship. Once a referral with parental consent is received, a home visit is set up, during which time parents/guardians are interviewed, and families receive program details, with an opportunity for questions. Families must support their child’s participation... Consistent contact with families continues once a match is made, allowing staff to build positive relationships with the family, monitor the mentoring relationship, and identify any challenges. Friends for Youth helps parents/guardians by referring them to other community resources that they may need for their families. TMFF also communicates with schools and other agencies involved with each youth. Friends for Youth is highly collaborative and networks with other community agencies
in order to best respond to the needs of families that are identified...
Homework
TMFF Mentoring Services
includes a homework component:
There is an academic achievement component that focuses
on all aspects of school behavior and performance... Prescriptive homework sessions are not as effective as a developmental approach involving stimulating academic interests, incorporating learning components into match activities, and developing positive relationships with school personnel. Homework is included in match activities as the relationship develops and mentees are open to this direct intervention... Additional learning resources are provided to and utilized by matches. Friends for Youth developed an Academic Activities Guide to help mentors design activities with learning components and teachable moments... TMFF also developed a Mentoring Journal to help mentors and mentees have meaningful developmental interactions and activities...
