Female Narrator: Welcome to reentry mentorship training, Module Three: The Mentor/Mentee Relationship.
In module one, you learned about the role of the reentry mentor. You also learned about who the mentees may be, as well as others who may be involved in the reentry process, and how to support a positive mentor/mentee relationship, including setting appropriate boundaries.
In module two, you learned about the path through the justice system and about possible criminogenic and responsivity needs a mentee may have. You also learned how to recognize signs of substance use, how to support your mentee during recovery, and how to use motivational interviewing techniques that may spur changes in high risk behaviors.
In this module, you will learn how to prepare for initial meetings with your mentee, how to maintain a healthy mentor/mentee relationship over time, and how to monitor progress.
Let's start with a few things you can do to prepare as you embark on your mentorship.
On screen text: "Preparing to Meet Your Mentee"
Before meeting with your mentee, your sponsoring program will provide you with specific information related to your mentoring role and their organization. Make sure to read all materials carefully, as they will cover some important details that you will need to know before beginning your role as a re-entry mentor. These details include:
- Time requirements, including the required or recommended length of overall commitment to your mentee and how often you should meet.
- Information about your mentee, such as who you will be paired with.
- The specific needs of the mentee, like substance abuse issues or any court ordered programs they must attend.
- Program contact information, including how and when to contact your mentor coordinator or case manager.
- Any expectations and responsibilities of the mentor in relation to the program, such as keeping logs and checking in.
- Specific boundaries for your mentor/mentee relationship, including what direct assistance you can and cannot provide to your mentee.
- Where and how to find information about the services and resources your mentee may need, and how to connect them to the appropriate ones.
- Check-in procedures, including how the sponsoring program will check in with you and your mentee, and,
- What to do if there are challenges or issues that come up for which you need guidance.
You may also want to find out if there are additional trainings to support ongoing mentoring, or whether the program provides any other guidance that may help you in your role, including suggestions for places to meet, ideas for appropriate activities or other events, suggested questions to help guide initial discussions, and any other tips that can assist you in supporting your mentee.
As part of this training, you can also refer to the Additional Resources for Reentry Mentoring Programs, which includes additional reading on risk, need, and responsivity, motivation and engagement, and effective communication skills. But be sure to check with your mentor coordinator or case manager so that you understand the full range of resources that are available to you.
[Image of Additional Resources for Reentry Mentoring Programs flyer]
On screen text: "Initial Meeting With Mentee"
Female Narrator: Now, as you begin to prepare for your first meeting with your mentee, it is important to remember that the initial hours, days, and weeks of the re-entry process can be highly vulnerable times. Challenges for mentees may include: Going back to previous neighborhoods with social or emotional triggers, finding appropriate, safe, and stable housing, reconnecting with family and friends, entering or re-entering the job market, getting re-accustomed to living outside of an institutional setting, and establishing access to any needed medical or mental health resources.
As a result, transitioning back into the community may cause fear, anxiety, and stress, not only for the mentee, but for the mentor as well. Therefore, it is important to remember to be patient and anticipate negative emotions or setbacks during this early period of the mentorship.
Keep in mind, some mentees may also be resistant to mentoring. Reasons may include:
- Feeling that having a mentor is not a priority, especially when other needs, such as finding a job or housing, are pressing goals.
- Feeling like mentoring meetings are another "reporting" requirement, similar to reporting to a probation officer, and,
- Feeling a lack of confidentiality or lack of interest in sharing personal issues with a mentor.
It will be important to work with your sponsoring organization to help deal with any resistance issues. However, there are some ways you can deal with, or at least reduce, initial resistance.
First, make the mentor/mentee meetings as easy to attend as possible for the mentee, such as scheduling them immediately before or after another required meeting they have, and meeting at the same place to reduce the effort they have to expend to meet with you.
To make the meetings positive experiences, you may also want to meet somewhere your mentee likes to be, and is easy for them to get to, such as a park or a place where they like to eat. A physical environment that is safe and comfortable for both you and your mentee can help set the tone for the relationship, and may help ease feelings of discomfort or resistance.
Another way to reduce resistance is to focus initially on building a positive rapport and supportive relationship before jumping into your mentee's biggest challenges. You can do this by focusing on small, immediate wins and most attainable goals. Ask yourself, "What are some things your mentee needs support with in the short term that you can provide?"
It may be something simple, like getting access to a phone or choosing an outfit to wear for an interview. It may also be looking at a map together to understand what bus or train they need to catch to and from the different places they need to be. Helping with immediate needs such as these can help establish a supportive connection and start your relationship off on the right foot.
It is also important to remember that initially, your mentee or you may be experiencing anxiety about being paired with each other. That is why at the outset of the mentoring relationship, it is important to spend the necessary time getting to know each other. Take the time to understand what your mentee likes and doesn't like, and try not to insert your own expectations about what should be accomplished in each meeting. Only after building a level of comfort and rapport will your mentee feel more at ease opening up to you about more personal issues and the challenges they face.
Besides establishing rapport during the initial meetings with your mentee, it is also important to build and maintain a healthy mentor/mentee relationship throughout your mentoring experience.
One way to do this is by setting realistic expectations. For example, your mentee may be facing a great number of challenges and personal setbacks during the re-entry process. It would be unrealistic to think that the mentee will attend every meeting or make immediate changes based solely on your support. A realistic frame of mind, on the other hand, is that changes can happen slowly, and that you, as a mentor, cannot control the scope or speed of change. You can only continue to offer your time and support.
Another way you can build and maintain your relationship with your mentee is to help them build a network of support. It is important to realize that the more support an individual has during the re-entry process, the more likely they are to succeed. While you will be an important source of help and encouragement for your mentee, you likely will not be able to provide them with everything they need. Therefore, one function you can take on as a mentor may be to help them identify other people in their life that they can rely on.
Another way to maintain a healthy relationship is to build trust and mutual understanding. You can do this by acknowledging the mentee's strengths, encouraging questions of all types, and asking for and being open to constructive feedback from your mentee. Keep in mind that the re-entry process is a dynamic one. Your mentee's needs, opportunities, and challenges will likely shift and change during the course of your relationship. Seek to find a balance between remaining flexible in the face of your mentee's changing circumstances while also maintaining a focus on the goals you defined with your mentee at the outset.
Another important related component of building and maintaining a healthy mentor/mentee relationship is to uphold confidentiality. In a mentoring relationship, this refers to maintaining and respecting the privacy of the mentee. Some mentees may worry that information they divulge to you could be shared with others, such as a parole officer or family members. Sharing such confidential details can quickly undermine trust and lead to a broken relationship between the mentor and mentee.
However, be sure to check with your sponsoring programs confidentiality policy, and note that you may be required to share certain information under the law. This should also be explained to mentees at the outset of the relationship in order to establish mutual understanding of circumstances in which confidentiality must be broken.
Let's now turn to monitoring progress.
As a mentor, it's critical to monitor the progress being made with your mentee to ensure goals are being met. Therefore, be sure to check in with your sponsoring organization regularly to review progress and developments in the mentoring relationship, as well as to understand any evaluation processes in place to assess how the relationship is going. Your organization will also provide you with the appropriate process for tracking progress, which may include journaling, reflection, observation, feedback, or even submitting more formal progress reports.
Next, know if and when it is time to close the mentoring relationship based on the organization's commitment to requirements, as well as the progress made by the mentee.
During closing, it will be important to review the progress made and whether established goals have been met. You should also provide the mentee with an opportunity to provide feedback on the mentoring experience. Again, there may be a process for this with your sponsoring organization so that the mentee can provide feedback directly to the appropriate individuals.
Finally, as you wrap up your mentoring sessions, it will be important to also make sure your mentee knows where and how to find additional resources that may be needed in the future. This will help ensure that they will be able to get the support they need and can continue to move towards their goals. Check with your sponsoring program or organization, as they may have specific policies and procedures for ending the mentor/mentee relationship, including the organization's plan for how the mentee will get the support they need and continue to move towards their goals once the mentoring relationship has ended.
In closing, we hope this training helped you understand how you as a mentor can assist mentees successfully navigate the re-entry process and support them as they reenter their communities. We also hope that it gave you an understanding of some of the key concepts pertaining to mentoring recently released individuals so that you can build a constructive, supportive relationship with your mentee.
For more information, please contact your sponsoring organization.
We wish you success in your journey as a re-entry mentor.