Mentor, Cal Thomas enjoys the time he spends with young people through the Michigan 4-H Mentoring Initiative.

By Julie Chapin

Michigan 4-H Youth Development has embarked on an initiative that focuses on planned mentoring as an important and promising means for achieving our mission of positive youth development. In Michigan, interest in mentoring as an effective strategy for supporting at-risk youth is at an all time high. Governor Granholm has established the “Mentor Michigan” program as a major initiative for her administration. Youth development research clearly shows that young people have a need for positive role models. Compelling data that supports this conclusion describes the changes to the American family structure. The number of single parent homes has greatly increased, as has the number of two parent working families. The need for positive, caring adults to be involved in the lives of our young people is more important today than ever before.

Planned mentoring programs typically address young people’s needs in three critical areas: educational success (helping youth improve their overall academic achievement); career preparation (helping youth develop the necessary skills to enter or continue in the work force); and personal development (supporting youth during times of personal or social stress and providing guidance for decision making for a healthy lifestyle). When viewed through the lens of the four H’s of 4-H, it is easy to see that incorporating mentoring as a delivery vehicle for 4-H programming makes good sense. Our focus on “Head, Heart, Hands and Health” addresses these same three areas of youth development.

While mentoring programs are not new to Michigan 4-H and MSU Extension, this initiative will support the expansion of existing programs and training for staff and collaborators interested in establishing mentoring programs in local communities. About one-quarter of MSUE county 4-H programs are actively involved in planned mentoring programs. This initiative will use Michigan 4-H Youth Development’s expertise, infrastructure and resources as part of a larger community-based effort and will help even more counties become involved with this effort.

This issue of Michigan 4-H Today gives you some basic information about planned mentoring as a “delivery vehicle” within Michigan 4-H Youth Development and provides you with ideas and tools for ways you can be a mentor for all of the youth you work with, even if it is not in a planned mentoring situation. As a 4-H volunteer, your “job” has always been to serve as a role model and guide for the youth that you work with. This is also the “job” of a mentor.

Why the Michigan 4-H Mentoring Initiative?

The Michigan 4-H Mentoring Initiative is an opportunity for 4-H to reach out to audiences who currently do not view our current structures (clubs and groups, after-school programs, school programs, camps, etc.) as available options for participation. One-on-one, small group and peer mentoring approaches can bring the assets of 4-H to new audiences in communities across the state.

The 4-H organizational commitment to working with and through volunteers to accomplish our mission of positive youth development also supports this mentoring initiative. 4-H has a long history of adults and youth working together around common interests and over time, the volunteers and members develop sustained, trusting relationships. A common challenge faced by many mentoring programs is finding activities that mentors and mentees can participate in together. 4-H projects and activities that are already occurring are a ready resource to address this concern. Mentor-mentee pairs can make use of existing project materials to provide structure to their meeting times and participate in local 4-H activities. Thus, the Michigan 4-H Mentoring Initiative will take the more intentional approach of “planned mentoring” as a way of reaching Michigan’s currently under-served youth populations. Through these efforts, 4-H can do its part to ensure that every child has a stable, caring adult in his or her life.

Michigan 4-H has an existing infrastructure that supports the development and operation of effective mentoring programs. Mentor screening, training and ongoing support have been shown to be critical factors that have an impact on the success of a mentoring experience. The MSUE Child Well-Being Volunteer Selection Process is an excellent screening tool for prospective mentors. The existing local and statewide volunteer training structures can easily be adapted to support training for mentors and the staff who will be working with them.