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Supporting Mentoring Relationships of Youth in Foster Care: Do Program Practices Predict Match Length?
Author(s) -
Stelter Rebecca L.,
Kupersmidt Janis B.,
Stump Kathryn N.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1002/ajcp.12246
Subject(s) - foster care , agency (philosophy) , best practice , psychology , health care , closure (psychology) , health psychology , benchmark (surveying) , medical education , nursing , public relations , public health , medicine , political science , sociology , social science , geodesy , law , geography
Implementation of research‐ and safety‐based program practices enhance the longevity of mentoring relationships, in general; however, little is known about how mentoring programs might support the relationships of mentees in foster care. Benchmark program practices and Standards in the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring , 3rd Edition (MENTOR, 2009) were assessed in the current study as predictors of match longevity. Secondary data analyses were conducted on a national agency information management database from 216 Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies serving 641 youth in foster care and 70,067 youth not in care from across the United States (Mean = 11.59 years old at the beginning of their matches) in one‐to‐one, community‐based (55.06%) and school‐ or site‐based (44.94%) matches. Mentees in foster care had shorter matches and matches that were more likely to close prematurely than mentees who were not in foster care. Agency leaders from 32 programs completed a web‐based survey describing their policies and practices. The sum total numbers of Benchmark program practices and Standards were associated with match length for 208 mentees in foster care; however, neither predicted premature match closure. Results are discussed in terms of how mentoring programs and their staff can support the mentoring relationships of high‐risk youth in foster care.