“A positive guiding hand”: A qualitative examination of youth-initiated mentoring and the promotion of interdependence among foster care youth

Children and Youth Services Review 93 (2018) 41–50

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Children and Youth Services Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth

“A positive guiding hand”: A qualitative examination of youth-initiated mentoring and the promotion of interdependence among foster care youth

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Renée Spencer , Alison L. Drew, Grace Gowdy, John Paul Horn Boston University School of Social Work, United States

A R T I C LE I N FO

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Youth mentoring Foster care Interdependence Qualitative research

This qualitative interview study examined experiences of youth-initiated mentoring relationships (YIM) among youth transitioning out of the foster care system. YIM is an innovative approach wherein programs work with youth to identify adults within their existing social networks to serve as their mentors in the formal program. Participants were 13 mentor-youth dyads involved in a pilot trial of YIM in a mid-western city. Youth and mentors completed one-time, in-depth individual interviews. Narrative thematic analysis of the interview data yielded the following major findings: (a) youth overwhelmingly reported having a strong or very strong relationship with their mentor, (b) these relationships offered a number of forms of social support to the youth (i.e., appraisal, companionship, emotional, informational, and instrumental), and (c) the mentor was perceived to have positively impacted the youth during the course of the relationship in multiple ways, including the youth's psychological well-being, relationships with others, and beliefs about and orientation toward the future. These findings suggest that YIM is a promising approach for establishing meaningful and impactful connections that may promote interdependence for older foster care youth as they make the transition to adulthood.

Youth initiated mentoring (YIM) is a new approach wherein mentoring programs work with youth to identify adults within their existing social networks to become their mentors in the formal program. Few programs have implemented this approach, but it has generated significant interest, particularly in light of its promise for older youth and youth transitioning out of the foster care system. YIM has the potential to offer greater youth voice and choice in the mentor selection process, which aligns well with both the developmental needs of older adolescents (Liang, Spencer, Brogan, & Corral, 2008; Zarrett & Eccles, 2006) and empowerment approaches to working with foster care youth (Propp, Ortega, & NewHeart, 2003). It could also play a role in the promotion of interdependent living among youth transitioning out of foster care, to facilitate youth having the support of an adult on whom they can rely for “advice, information and connection” rather than trying to go it alone (Antle, Johnson, Barbee, & Sullivan, 2009, p. 309). The present study takes a close look at YIM relationships among youth transitioning out of the foster care system, focusing specifically on the nature and quality of the relationships formed, the support provided by the mentor and the perceived impact of the mentoring relationship from the perspectives of both youth and the mentors they selected.

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1. Youth initiated mentoring (YIM) The first formal documentation of the YIM approach is of its implementation in the Youth ChalleNGe program, which is a 5-month residential treatment program designed to re-engage youth 16–18 years of age who have dropped out of school and thus are at high risk for a host of negative occupational and psychosocial outcomes later in life (Millenky, Bloom, Muller-Ravett, & Broadus, 2011). The intent of the YIM component in this program is to help youth sustain the benefits achieved in the initial residential program through the transition back home and beyond by having them select a mentor from their community to support them for a full year and formalizing this relationship through the program. An evaluation of the program found that YIM did indeed appear to help, as youth in in the longest-lasting mentoring relationships showed the greatest improvements in the outcomes examined (i.e. GED/HS diploma, college credit, months employed, earnings, months idle, and convictions) at the 38-month follow-up (Schwartz, Rhodes, Spencer, & Grossman, 2013). The success of this approach in the Youth ChalleNGe program has led to other applications. YIM is being used in the child welfare system in Denmark to recruit adults nominated by the youth to serve as mentors and join family members and a team of professionals to work in a time-limited way toward achieving jointly determined goals as an alternative to out-

Corresponding author at: Boston University School of Social Work, 264 Bay State Rd, 02215, United States. E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Spencer).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.06.038 Received 3 March 2018; Received in revised form 28 June 2018; Accepted 28 June 2018 Available online 30 June 2018 0190-7409/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Given that older youth in foster care might not be open to forming a relationship with a new adult due to past disruptions and inconsistencies in important relationships as a result of the insecure nature of foster care (Geenen & Powers, 2007; Kools, 1999; Samuels & Pryce, 2008), they may be more apt to engage in YIM relationships than in traditional formal mentoring relationships. Qualitative research demonstrates that youth in foster care strongly value relationships with persons and professionals who demonstrate commitment, caring, and positive modeling for them (Geenen & Powers, 2007; Greeson, Thompson, Ali, & Wenger, 2015); youth-initiated mentoring provides an opportunity for these youth to identify pre-existing relationships with adults they trust in order to further capitalize on these already strong relationships. Being invited to serve as a mentor by a specific young person could also contribute to the adult mentor entering into these formal mentoring relationships with a higher level of commitment to the youth than adults recruited by programs, who typically volunteer out of a more general desire to “make a difference” in the life of a young person (Spencer, 2007). The youth-selected adults are also likely to be aware of important aspects of the youth's life circumstances and needs, and therefore, may be better able to evaluate the level of interdependence needed and desired right from the start of the relationship than could a mentor who was just meeting and getting to know the youth. This may lead to a longer and more impactful relationship and may also reduce the likelihood of mentor abandonment that has been observed in mentoring with more traditional matching practices (Spencer, 2007; Spencer, Basualdo-Delmonico, Walsh, & Drew, 2017), which could be especially detrimental to foster youth. Some research has identified qualities of mentors that foster youth have found to be supportive. Such mentors have been described as warm and accepting (Farruggia et al., 2006), reliable and encouraging (Collins et al., 2010), patient (Ahrens et al., 2011), empathetic and caring (Hass, Allen, & Amoah, 2014), and trusting and authentic (Munson, Smalling, Spencer, Scott Jr., & Tracy, 2010). Also important to foster youth is that the support offered be tailored to fit their needs, timely and offered without judgment (Thompson et al., 2016). Mentors, whose roles are more fluid than that of adults in other formal roles with youth, such as counselor, teacher or case worker, may be able to offer an array of supports and even more involved assistance given their less restrictive role and the potential for them to become more integrated into the fabric of the youth's everyday life.

of-home care (van Dam et al., 2017). The concept has also been expanded beyond formal mentoring to training youth to cultivate an array of natural mentoring relationships in programs designed for first-generation and under-represented college-bound (Schwartz, Kanchewa, Rhodes, Cutler, & Cunningham, 2016) and first-year college students (Schwartz et al., 2018). 2. YIM and foster youth aging out of care Research indicates that mentoring can make a positive difference in the lives of foster youth (Ahrens, DuBois, Richardson, Fan, & Lozano, 2008; Munson & McMillen, 2009; Taussig & Culhane, 2010; Thompson, Greeson, & Brunsink, 2016), who are at risk for a variety of negative outcomes by the time they reach age 26, including lower rates of educational attainment, higher rates of incarceration, lower rates of employment and less earnings, higher rates of economic hardships, and lower rates of civic engagement than their non-foster youth peers (Courtney et al., 2011). Many foster youth report having informal connections with supportive adults (Collins, Clay, & Ward, 2007; Farruggia, Greenberger, Chen, & Heckhausen, 2006) and such relationships are associated with improved outcomes, chiefly in psychological and educational domains (Thompson et al., 2016). In one study, 68% of youth in foster care reported having a mentor-type relationship with an adult, but only 2% indicated that this was a formalized mentoring relationship with a volunteer from a mentoring organization (Courtney et al., 2011). While these rates of natural mentorship are encouraging, insights from in-depth qualitative interviews with young adults aging out of care indicate that the mere presence of supportive adults does not mean that foster youth will be open to availing themselves of that support, as doing so can be perceived to be a threat to their independence and success (Samuels & Pryce, 2008). Supportive relationships with adults are vital to healthy development for all youth but have been identified as being of particular importance to both current and former foster care youth (e.g., Collins, Spencer, & Ward, 2010; Taussig & Culhane, 2010; Thompson, Greeson, & Brunsink, 2016), who by definition lack some stability in their family lives. As youth age-out of care, the need heightens for what have been called “bridge relationships” to provide support for navigating the transition to adulthood (Antle, Johnson, Barbee, & Sullivan, 2009) and fostering the normative process of interdependence (Propp, Ortega, & NewHeart, 2003). Indeed, there is growing recognition that the emphasis on self-sufficiency is out of sync with the developmental needs of young people as they make their way into adulthood and may be especially unhealthy for youth transitioning out of the foster care system (Propp et al., 2003). As all youth move toward greater independence in early adulthood, they continue to rely on the advisement and support of capable trusted adults and often derive significant support from their parents (Laursen & Collins, 2009). Social support is critical for positive development in adolescence and early adulthood (Yeung & Leadbeater, 2010) and is one of the ways that mentoring is thought to promote positive outcomes for youth more generally (Sterrett, Jones, McKee, & Kincaid, 2011) as well as for foster youth in particular (Greeson, 2013; Osterling & Hines, 2006). YIM may offer foster youth much needed adult support during this critical time without threatening a young person's sense of success by providing a relationship that can foster interdependence (Propp et al., 2003). Propp et al. (2003) define interdependence as being able to “count on others” and emphasize the importance of connection, social support and community for the health and well-being of transitioning foster care youth (p. 263). They contrast this with the more traditional emphasis on independence and self-sufficiency. As youth become more skilled at solving the complex problems that come with adulthood (e.g., moving into college, going on the job market, navigating romantic relationships), they may rely on these adults less and less, but still know they could rely on them for support in times of need (Propp et al., 2003).

3. Current study Although there have been some examinations of both formal and informal mentoring relationships among youth in and transitioning out of foster care, there has been no close study of the nature of YIM relationships among these youth and their potential to promote interdependence. This study examines the experiences of youth and adults in YIM relationships established and supported by a formal mentoring program. Our specific research questions were as follows: What were the youth and mentors' perceptions of the strength and quality of the mentoring relationship? What supports were provided by the mentors and how were these supports received by the youth? What impact, if any, did these supports have on the youth, from the perspective of both youth and mentor? 4. Methods 4.1. YIM program The current analysis includes matches from a larger study of YIM relationships with programs participating in a pilot initiative of YIM in a mid-western city (Spencer, Gowdy, Drew, & Rhodes, in press). The participants included in the present analysis were recruited from a program serving youth who were involved in, or recently aged out of, 42

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the foster care system and were transitioning to independent living. Previous to the pilot, this agency had an established mentoring program matching homeless and runaway youth who were transitioning to independent living in traditional mentoring relationships where the youth and mentor had no previous relationship. This year-long pilot was the program's first attempt at implementing YIM. Mentoring program staff interviewed all youth who were referred to the program. Because the mentoring program served mostly youth who were legally adults, the youth was usually interviewed alone. However, in some cases, typically when the youth was a minor and lived with a parent/guardian, that parent/guardian was also interviewed as part of the enrollment process; if the youth was a minor, the parent/guardian had to agree to the mentor selected. Staff coached the youth on choosing an appropriate mentor, namely someone who could positively impact their life and with whom they were interested in spending more time. Youth were encouraged to think of potential mentors from a variety of aspects of their lives including school, social services, religious groups, neighbors and extended family members. Mentors were required to be at least 21 years of age, but also older than the mentee. Some youth and guardians expressed a preference for a mentor of the same race/ethnicity; however, most youth prioritized picking someone they felt they could trust and who would not judge them. The program allowed for cross-gender matches if it was preferred by the youth. Ultimately, this sample includes one cross-gender match with a male youth and a female mentor. Once a youth had selected potential mentors, program staff reached out to nominated mentors. Mentors who were interested were screened and trained by mentoring program staff. Once mentors were approved, mentoring program staff met with the youth, mentor and sometimes the youth's parent/guardian to go over program policies and officially start the mentoring relationship. All YIM matches were one-on-one, community-based relationships, meaning that once relationships were formalized through the YIM program, mentors and youth were expected to meet in the community at least once per month, scheduling and choosing activities on their own. All match parties were asked to make a 1-year initial commitment to the relationship during which mentoring agency staff were supposed to check in regularly to provide monitoring and support.

Table 1 Mentor's previous role in youth's life (N = 13). Role

Count

Social services School employee Church activities Family member Former foster parent

5 3 2 2 1

and the way the relationship had impacted the youth (e.g., “how would you describe your relationship mentor/mentee?”). Interviewers informed the youth and mentor that their individual responses would not be shared with the other person or with their mentoring program. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were verified for accuracy and de-identified, including the replacement of participant names with pseudonyms. 4.3. Participants The current analysis includes all mentors (n = 9) and youth (n = 12) who completed interviews, representing all 13 YIM matches serving youth involved in or who had recently aged out of the foster care system; both mentor and youth data were collected from 8 of the pairs. The youth (8 female) were 16–25 years old (M = 19.17, SD = 2.59) and racially diverse: 41.6% White, 16.6% Black and 41.6% Multiracial. Mentors (6 female) were 21–56 years old (M = 34.78, SD = 10.15). Most mentors were White (88.9%) with 1 identifying as Black. All matches had been formally matched for less than 1 year at the time of the interviews. Youth selected mentors from a variety of areas of their lives (Table 1). The majority of youth identified mentors with whom they had a professional relationship, such as a teacher or social worker, while others picked adults they knew from church activities. In addition, two youth identified mentors from their extended family, and one chose the foster mother she lived with for 7 weeks before aging out of the system and transitioning to independent living. 4.4. Data analysis

4.2. Procedures A multi-step thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) of the interviews was conducted to examine mentor and youth perceptions of the strength and quality of the YIM relationships as well as the types of support offered by the mentor and perceived impact of those on the youth. Two research assistants developed an initial codebook based on themes covered in the interview protocol and relevant research questions. The codebook was then reviewed by members of the research team. The codebook was evaluated throughout the coding process and additional codes were included based on themes identified from the data. All interviews associated with a match were coded by one research assistant using NVivo. Once the transcripts were coded, the same research assistant constructed a narrative summary (Way, 1998) of the match, first describing the individual experiences of participants and then summarizing themes across participants creating an integrated story of the relationship. The narrative summary included sections on the strength of the relationship as well as the types of support offered by the mentor to the youth, including specific forms of social support (i.e., informational, companionship, emotional, appraisal and instrumental support; see Table 2 for definitions and examples) and the perceived impact of the relationship on the youth. One team member served as the master coder, reviewing all coding and narrative summaries to ensure consistency across cases. Coders met weekly to discuss questions and clarify use of the codes. To identify patterns across cases, two coders conducted close readings of each narrative summary by reading the narrative summary multiple times and making notes relevant to the research questions. The

All mentors and youth that were in active YIM matches (N = 13) at the end of the one-year pilot initiative were invited to participate in an interview. Given that youth involved in the foster care system can be a difficult population to reach, staff from the mentoring program and a local mentoring program advocacy organization assisted with study recruitment. Based on input from these program staff, it was determined that the greatest number of youth participants would be reached by offering to interview them in person, over coffee or a meal. Therefore, data collection was timed to maximize successfully reaching youth participants, rather than at a set or uniform length of the mentoring match. Mentors and youth who were not available to meet in person were given the option to be interviewed by phone. In total, 12 youth and 9 mentors completed a one-time, in-depth (Johnson, 2002), semi-structured (Seidman, 1991) interview either inperson (n = 14) or via telephone (n = 7). One youth and four mentors who were eligible did not participate in the study either because they were not interested or because they could not be reached. All participants received a US$50 gift card for their participation. All adults provided written consent to participate; parent or guardian consent and youth assent were obtained for any youth under the age of majority, which was 19 in their state of residence. Interviewers used a semi-structured interview protocol with openended questions addressing participants' experiences of the mentoring relationship. Participants were asked to reflect on the overall strength of the relationship, types of support the mentor provided for the youth, 43

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Table 2 Types of support provided to youth by mentor, reported by mentor and/or youth (N = 13). Type of support

Definition

Example

Cases reported

Informational

Mentor offers youth advice

13

Companionship

Mentor offers youth companionship or friendship

Emotional

Mentor offers youth comfort, listening ear, someone to confide in, and validation of feelings/experiences

Appraisal

Mentor affirms youth's self-esteem, helps youth see strengths, shows pride in youth's accomplishments

Instrumental

Mentor offers youth concrete support

“And I know Tremayne was one of those young men that had so many questions, justifiably, about what was coming: how to handle being a father, how to rent a place, how to hold a job, how to socialize appropriately, how to formulate some informal support networks that you can kind of fall back on to. So, we talked a lot, I think that's a really formal way of saying, we had a lot of very good conversations over the past four years.” (Mentor, Will) “I think every time I get some time, one-on-one with him, he gets smiles on his face, and I don't think he has to worry about anything when he's with me.” (Mentor, Samson) “Therapists… are very straight to the point, you know: ‘I think this is the reason you're upset. This is the reason you're upset.’ [My mentor] Seth will ask you, ‘Why are you upset?’ He won't tell you why you're upset. He'll ask you questions. He'll [say], you know, ‘You can talk when you're ready. You don't have to talk right now. Just let me know if you're okay.’” (Youth, Chase) “She's given me pride… I used to think I would never be able to do anything, because I'm so different. Besides, you know, compared to everybody else that I wouldn't get a job. I wouldn't, you know, do anything in life. She said, ‘If somebody's gonna love you, they're not gonna love you for what you look like. They're gonna love you for the information that you hold inside and that and not for the cover.’ I was like, ‘That's very smart.’” (Youth, Laura) “I've been struggling looking for jobs for quite a while. And he helps me. Like one day we sat down and… he helped me look for jobs and search for them… on the internet. And, or like he was gonna take me to go around and like go pick up applications.” (Youth, Luis)

12

12

6

6

me, ‘cause she depends on me, and I love that feeling. And I love doing it, because I know that she really does need me.” Some mentors noted that they sensed that that the youth felt a stronger connection to them than they felt to the youth. However, they viewed this difference in experience as part of the natural dynamic of being an adult in a mentoring role with a young person. All mentors and youth described feeling dedicated to maintaining the mentoring relationship and expected the relationship to last beyond the 1-year commitment made to the formal mentoring program. A few, including mentees Ashley and Penny who were both matched with former social service workers, even expected a life-long relationship. In their effort to characterize the nature of their mentoring relationships, the youth evoked other important relationships as a comparison (Table 3). For example, Carmen described her mentor, who is an extended family member, as a “friend” who was a consistent, supportive part of her life: “She's like my best friend. Like, she's just there, she's always there, she's understanding, and, she's like… my best friend, like, that's how I feel.” Other youth described their mentors more traditionally as a role model, someone they could look up to and who they wanted to be like in some way when they are older. A number of youth reported their mentor fulfilled a parental role in their lives. One mentee, Louise, whose mentor was a former teacher, even went so far as to indicate that she feels the kind of safety and security with her mentor that an infant feels with its mother:

two coders then created a conceptually clustered matrix (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2013) organizing data from the narrative summaries including demographic information, the mentor and youth's reports of relationship strength, perceived supports provided to the youth, and how both the mentor and youth felt the relationship had impacted the youth, organized by case. The two coders discussed any discrepancies to come to agreement with regard to the data, going back to the interviews if needed to be sure to represent the mentor and youth's experiences as accurately as possible. Cases were then sorted to examine themes. Finally, exemplar cases were selected to serve as models of these processes at work within the relationships. Both the overarching themes and a case example exemplifying the details of each theme are presented below. 5. Results These youth and adults described their mentoring relationships as largely strong and meaningful to the youth. In the sections below, the participants' descriptions of the nature and quality of these relationships are detailed, as are the kinds of supports perceived to be offered and provided by the mentor and the impact of these relationships on the youth. For each, the general themes are presented first, with brief examples, and are then followed by a case example that serves to illustrate the themes but also provides more rich detail about the specific experiences of the participants.

You know when a baby cries, and they hear their mother's voice, they tend to calm down? That's how it is with me. It's like… if I can't see her, but I can hear her, I tend to calm down. I really look to her as my mother, because I never really had a mother… We kind of have that type of bond. And so, when I hear her voice, or… she

6. Strength and nature of the YIM relationships Although all pairs had been formally matched for less than 1 year (Range: 0.5–8 months, Median = 2.5 months), youth overwhelmingly described their relationships with their mentors in ways that indicated they felt a strong connection with them. In only one case did a youth indicate not feeling that way. However, this youth, whose mentor was an extended family member she had known less than 1 year, perceived the relationship to be growing stronger since the pair had begun spending one-on-one time together through their formal match in the 6 weeks prior to the interview. Likewise, most mentors described their relationship with the youth as strong. As Catherine explained, “we still have that connection you know, we have that bond. She still relies on

Table 3 Youth Views Mentor's Role in Life (N = 12).

44

Role

Count

Friend Parent figure Role model Mentor Actual family member

5 4 4 2 2

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[will] be like ‘Louise calm down’ or whatever… I tend to calm down.

or instrumental support. In all cases, mentors had provided multiple forms of support over the course of the relationship. Of great importance to these youth was that their mentors offered support unconditionally and without judgment. As Jessica explained:

Case Example: Davide and Susan. Davide (20-years-old) met his mentor Susan when she was his high school teacher for a subject that he particularly enjoyed. Davide described himself as her “second hand man” in the classroom that year. Davide and Susan both agreed that he chose her as a mentor in part because it allowed him to reconnect with someone back at the high school. Davide also thought their personalities were a good match, describing both Susan and himself as relaxed, outgoing, and friendly. Although Davide and Susan had been formally matched for just 3 months, Davide felt that their relationship was strong, and he most valued having “someone that just can be there for me, and… occasionally work with me on something, but like, most of the time, just be casual and friendly.” He noted that the two shared a number of interests and personality traits, which he felt made their relationship particularly strong and distinct in his life. In contrast, Susan was more measured in her assessment of their relationship. She indicated she experienced it as somewhat strong and described her approach to the relationship as being in keeping with how she typically tries to engage with students and former students:

I was expecting her to be like, ‘I told you so,’ and all this, and she didn't. So I'm like, ‘Oh, I know I can come to you whenever, ‘cause you're not gonna judge me. You're gonna come to me… as a… mother.’ Many youth spoke about how much they appreciated not only the persistence their mentors demonstrated in the provision of support but also their candidness and efforts to hold them accountable. For example, Ashley, who admitted one of her biggest challenges was procrastination, felt that her mentor Meredith was helping her transition into independent living by “staying on my ass” to make sure she had somewhere to live with a sufficient income, and was a good mother and friend. At the same time, Meredith provided spiritual and emotional support coupled with practical parenting advice that helped Ashley feel confident in her abilities and optimistic about her future. Mentors provided supports that were tailored to meet the youth's particular needs and developmental stage and that capitalized on the mentor's skillset. Will, who had previously been his mentee's social worker, stated that his main goal in the mentoring relationship was for his mentee, Tremayne “to get to a place that's stable.” Will used his professional skills and connections to support Tremayne's needs. Will connected Tremayne with a fathers' support group where he could learn skills to co-parent his young son. He helped Tremayne fill out an application for emergency funds available to youth who have aged out of foster care. In addition, he coached Tremayne on how to successfully work with his case manager to access other supports he may have needed. Another mentor, Callie, provided her mentee Laura, who was a senior in high school, advice about getting her first job and about her relationships with her parents and boyfriend. Callie, Will and the other mentors interviewed were aware of the issues and concerns that were important in their mentee's lives and used the skills, experiences and connections they had to provide appropriate, effective support. In addition to specific supports, many mentors discussed their intentional efforts to provide a sense of stability, which they viewed to be lacking in many of these youth's lives and thus constituted a critical need. Lucy, a former caseworker, saw offering stability as an essential way to support her mentee Bailey, who was about to age out of foster care, and therefore, lose her formal support system shortly after beginning college.

Recognizing them, by being interested in what they're interested in, and in the case of our students, not getting concerned if they throw a few creative languages, or occasionally fists. 'Cause they've had a rough time. And if you kind of don't freak out from that and just take it as ‘This was a bad day. We'll keep goin',’ I think they get that. Susan was aware that the mentoring relationship was more meaningful to Davide than it was to her and was comfortable with this and with her ability engage with him in ways that fulfilled his needs and interests in the match. Susan expected to stay in the formal match for as long as Davide needed her. Davide, on the other hand, did not imagine ever wanting to let their relationship go: “I don't think I'll ever really get to a point where I say… ‘I don't want you to be my mentor anymore.’” It was clear from his interview that Susan provided Davide with support that he relied on and found to be quite meaningful. For example, Davide recounted how when he got fired from his job, he turned to Susan for emotional support. He noted that, being a teacher, she focused on the larger goal of his education, and provided advice and encouragement for getting back into college. Davide appreciated the guidance Susan provided and experienced her support as unconditional and without judgment. Both Susan and Davide saw the importance of her role in helping him get back into college and to expand his options for the future. Susan also identified ways she had helped Davide socially, including encouraging the development of better manners and more prosocial behaviors. As she explained,

She hasn't been stable for that long. I mean she [is] still on that kind of, you know, dividing line where she could go back into her old ways… or she could keep going on a positive track, and I really wanna help her stay on that positive track once she doesn't have all of the people involved in her case.

I would have to say just some social aware[ness] that he has [developed]… It's kind of like manners, but it's more than that. It's just really being aware of some social dynamics and how they are working, and he worked very hard on figuring all that out.

Lucy was aware of how Bailey's school success had been compromised in the past by disruptions in adult support and wanted “to make sure that she knows that there's someone there, other than her friends that are her age, that's excited for her and… supporting her stuff that's going on.” Mentors also expressed the desire to serve as role models to help these youth identify and explore options for their own future. Callie described how she was attempting to show her mentee, Laura, what she can achieve in the future by talking about her own college and work experiences, and by exposing Laura to her healthy relationship with her boyfriend. Callie explained to Laura how they budget for household needs, such as groceries, and shared her experience booking plane tickets for a trip so that hopefully Laura could picture herself doing the same someday. Given that neither Laura nor Callie had parents who went to college, Callie expressed her strong desire to “be a role model for her and help her… know that… it's not as hard as you think it is… You can do it if you really want to.” Laura was responding to Callie's

Davide felt like having Susan as a mentor had contributed to increased self-confidence and had also resulted in him having better relationships with other people. 7. Supports provided by YIM relationships The narratives of both the mentors and youth indicated these relationships offered a number of forms of social support to the youth (i.e., appraisal, companionship, emotional, informational, and instrumental; Table 2). In all cases, the mentors had provided informational support, such as how to find a place to live, creating a budget or tips on parenting a young child. In all but one case, participants described the emotional and companionship support these relationships provided, and almost half also described times when the mentor offered appraisal 45

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efforts, as was evident in her description of Callie: “She is like my idol. When people ask me what I want to grow up to be, and I'm like, ‘Callie.’” Despite the clear evidence that these mentors were committed to the youth, that the youth felt comfortable with their mentors, and that all mentors had provided some supports to the youth, some youth still talked about feeling like there were times when they would not ask their mentor for help or support, even if they thought their mentor would be willing and able to do so. Youth expressed concern about burdening the mentor, being embarrassed or ashamed to reveal a choice they regretted, and feeling like there were some things they should be able to handle on their own. Laura noted that she was sometimes reluctant to call her mentor if she had a bad day:

Table 4 Perceived Impacts of YIM Relationships on Youth, Reported by Mentor and/ or Youth (N = 13).

Because she's got some stress going on in her life… she's going through college and ... trying to get, you know, the job… She's just got a lot going on too. And I feel like I don't need to put my problems on her shoulders because she already got enough problems stacked up on her shoulders. Penny recounted a time when she was too embarrassed to reach out, “At the moment I didn't… really want to reach out to [my mentor] and let them know what I was going through because I was, I was messing up.” Jessica described the strong desire for self-sufficiency that was evident in many of the mentees' narratives and how this contributed to her hesitancy to reach out when she wanted to try to handle something on her own, given her age and life circumstances:

Impact of relationship

Cases reported

Psychological well-being Happier/less angry Increased confidence Increased optimism

6 5 2

Relationships with others Improved relationship with family Someone to talk to Improved relationships with friends Feeling accepted

5 3 2 1

Future orientation Engagement with education Gaining independence Planning for the future Decision making skills Health/self-care Stable transitional support

6 5 5 3 2 1

I even talked to her before about if anything was to ever happen to me, would she ever want to take care of my kids?… And she was like, she doesn't have a problem with doing it… Because if something was to happen to me, I would want them to go to somebody that I would know would raise them right.

I wanted to see if I could do it on my own. Like that's just one thing. Even though I know she's always there, I try my hardest to, even though I'm failing, to try to get up and do it on my own because I know a lot of people, not her, but I know a lot of people think as a system kid, you'll never make it. So in my head, I always think in my head, she knows I'm gonna make it so I kinda want to make her proud, and even though I'm struggling and going from place to place, I want to make her proud to do it on my own.

Penny and Devyn both agreed that Devyn had positively impacted Penny's life by providing her with support and guidance. 7.1. Perceived impact of YIM relationships In each mentoring relationship examined, the mentor was perceived by the mentor and youth to have positively impacted the youth during the course of the relationship in multiple ways, including the youth's psychological well-being, their relationships with others, and their beliefs and orientation toward the future (Table 4). Interestingly, while all mentors could identify some ways in which they had positively impacted their mentee, the youth tended to identify a broader array of ways that their mentor had influenced them, suggesting that these relationships were more impactful to the youth than the mentors may have realized. More than three quarters of mentors (10/13) were perceived as contributing in some way to their mentee's psychological well-being. Many of the youth reported that spending time with their mentor helped them feel happier, less angry or calmer. They also spoke about how their mentors helped them feel more confident in their abilities and self-worth, which helped them feel optimistic about their future. As Ashley explained:

Case Example: Penny and Devyn. Penny, 25-years-old and a mother, met her mentor Devyn in a group foster home where Penny had lived more than 11 years prior. Penny asked Devyn to be her mentor because of the “tough love” she provided at that time: “She was a loving person. I mean she just wanted to see us do good and make sure we did out chores and got good grades and we worked.” After being formally matched for 6 months, both viewed the relationship as strong and expected it to last indefinitely. Through their mentoring relationship, Devyn provided a wide range of supports to Penny that demonstrated Devyn's understanding and responsiveness to Penny's current developmental needs. Devyn provided emotional support and a listening ear whenever Penny wanted to talk about what is going on in her life, especially with regard to family relationships. While Penny often brought her children for visits, Devyn noted that she had recently left them with a babysitter when they got together: “I think she just kind of wanted some ‘adult time,’ and [we] just kind of talk[ed] about her children's father and their relationship and stuff like that. So, yeah, it was pretty much [we] just sat and talked.” Devyn tried to give advice while respecting Penny's autonomy. Devyn described her approach by saying she wanted to “be a support for her” by “not necessarily tell[ing] her what to do, but just talk[ing] about the options that she has and let[ting] her make her own decision” and “just really be[ing] a support for her in kind of the way that she needs me to be.” Penny highly valued Devyn's parenting advice, which was important given the strained relationship she had with her own mother. Penny also wanted to work in a field similar to Devyn's and often asked for professional advice as she made decisions about college and jobs. As a testament to the strength of their relationship and the support Devyn provided to Penny, Penny acknowledged that she would want Devyn to have custody of her children if anything ever happened to her:

She helped me realize that I deserve happiness no matter what. [I deserve] to be happy because I was just involved in a whole bunch of turmoil. I was never treated right by a man… It's definitely helped me realize that life is too short to continue in turmoil. You deserve to, everybody deserves to be happy, no matter what. So, it's just that … she taught me to be cautiously optimistic. Jessica also described the ways her relationship with her mentor contributed to her feeling more positively about herself: It changed about how my self-esteem is and how I feel so good about myself. Like when I didn't have her or nothing, I felt horrible. I felt like I could never make it in life. I could never age out the right way. But then knowing her… that encouraged me, made me feel so good, like no matter what, even though I have her, I can do it. I can do it for myself, so it actually boosted my positivity about myself. In most cases (9/13), it was reported that forming and deepening 46

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importance of getting and keeping a job in order to support herself and have the kind of lifestyle she wants in the future. Jessica described how her mentor helped her think through the consequences of her behavior in the workplace and also how her mentor's investment and involvement in her life shifted as a result of becoming a formal mentor:

the relationship with a mentor helped youth to improve their relationships with other people in their lives, such as family members and friends. Some mentees talked about how their mentors provided them with an adult perspective on their relationship with their parents or foster parents in an effort to help the youth understand where the parent was coming from. Other mentors provided their mentees with advice about managing romantic relationships or on how to approach co-parenting. In several cases, the mentor helped the youth think critically about which people they chose to spend time with and whether their friends were positively contributing to their lives or holding them back. Mentors also modeled positive, healthy friendships. As Davide explained:

I have anger issues so she makes me think about it, like ‘What are your consequences if you do this or you do that?…What if you [are at] work and a customer comes at you wrong?’ I'm just like, ‘Yeah, I won't have a job no more.’ So she's like, ‘So you're back to square one again. You gotta learn… not to do that.’ So as being a mentor, all the little things of me… changed. She's more on me… I get so mad. I don't want to work. She's more on me like, ‘Stop. …. you're grown now. You need to let all that go and focus on you and work.’ So it's more everything in the world that she's seen as me being a system kid, she's more on me now. She's like, ‘I'm your mentor now.’

I think she's kind of, you know, made me a better person through influence and example… [She] really improved the way I treat people, family, friends, stuff like that. I don't know how, honestly. It's just been like through example and influence… I've just been like, ‘I want to be like that,’ and been a lot more positive towards people all the time. And it's a slow, gradual change, but it has been made, it is being made.

Case Example: Chase and Seth. Chase (19-years-old) had his mentor Seth as an English teacher in high school. Seth already considered himself an informal mentor to many of his students, which Chase recognized. Chase asked Seth to be his mentor because he knew Seth cared about his students, was trustworthy, did not “beat around the bush” and was one of the few teachers who kept Chase on track. Chase and Seth both described the relationship as strong and expected it to continue beyond the formal agency commitment. Seth provided support by being someone for Chase to talk to, and provided guidance and advice around what was important in Chase's life, such as his relationship with his girlfriend, how to better control his temper and choosing friends. Seth also encouraged Chase's interest in reading by buying him a new book each month. Seth challenged Chase to think about his future career options and helped him identify skills and personal attributes that could be applied. He also provided instrumental support to help Chase enroll in college, including writing a recommendation letter. Like other mentors, Seth's support of Chase was unconditional. Also important was how Seth served as a stable presence in Chase's life. Seth made himself available at the times that Chase needed him, which sometimes surprised Chase. As Chase explained:

In some cases, mentors provided mentees with the kind of trusting and accepting relationship with an adult that they did not otherwise have. Especially for youth who had lived in foster care most of their lives and had often moved between placements, having an adult who was consistently available and who would talk to them as a friend was viewed as especially important. As Louise explained, “it just goes all the way back to her just accepting me for who I am. Telling me that it's not bad that I have had the issues that I have had, and that I can overcome that.” She added that since formalizing her relationship with her mentor: I don't feel as if I am not wanted. It's as if I belong here. I feel like I have a purpose here because of what she has done and the way she makes me feel like a human. It wasn't like [that] when I was a kid, I feel that – it just takes one person, it just takes one person to change the way you feel on life, and the way you feel about yourself. The vast majority of mentoring relationships (11/13) were perceived by the mentor and/or youth to have influenced how the youth felt about their future including their education and career planning, and their ability to plan and make decisions for the future, carefully considering the consequences of their behavior. Paramount for many mentors was helping the youth to pursue educational opportunities that would improve their future career options. For some youth who were still in high school, this meant encouraging them to do well, engage in extracurricular activities and begin to plan for post-secondary education. For youth who had graduated from high school, mentors offered encouragement to take college courses and helped with the paperwork. Often, youth reported that the mentor had impacted their education by making them feel confident and motivated to be successful. Laura, who had some memory loss after an accident, explained how her mentor Callie encouraged her:

I never took Seth as the type of person to text back when he's on vacation. For an example, a couple months ago… I got into a fight with my girlfriend. I messaged, I texted him and said, ‘Seth, is there any way you could talk? I know you're on vacation.’ He was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I'm just fishing right now… I'm bored.’ So, he was like, ‘What's going on?’ you know. I talked to him about it, and he was like, ‘Do you really care about her?’ ‘Yeah, I care about her.’ ‘Well, then, why [are] you texting me? Go tell her you're sorry.’ You know, like, straight forward, to the point, talks me through my problem, then tells me what I need to do. Seth and Chase both acknowledged that Seth had helped Chase improve his self-confidence through their relationship. Seth accomplished this by helping Chase identify and focus on his positive traits. Chase shared that:

I was like, ‘Callie, I'm never going to go anywhere in school, because I don't read as fast anymore. I have to have glasses now. I have to have all these things and slow down… I'm never going to, you know, succeed early like I had planned.’ She's like, ‘So, what? So, what if you don't succeed early? You're going to succeed and that's all that matters… Doesn't matter if it's early or late or whatever. You're going to succeed. And you need to stand behind that.’ ‘Cause my dad graduated from high school, but never went to college. My mom never graduated high school… so I will be the first in this family to actually graduate high school and have a plan for college… And she was like, ‘Good. Good. Good. Good. It means you're going to go somewhere in life.’

I don't really think of myself in a positive way, and it really angers Seth... The stuff I say about myself. And he's like, ‘Chase, you focus on the negative stuff. You need to focus on the positive things. You've had a 4.0 GPA since the sixth grade. You are smart as a whip. You can take apart any electronic device and put it back together, with no parts missing.’ He was like, ‘you're intelligent.’ He's like, ‘you're a great looking guy. You have the brains. You have the brawns... You have all of it. Like, stop thinking about the negative things, think about the positives.’ Chase added, “He makes me think more about the positive things when I'm around him.” These improvements in his self-confidence have helped Chase consider options for his career and feel confident about his ability to be successful. Chase expressed interest in becoming a

Many mentors were described as having influenced their mentees' planning for the future and development of skills needed to transition to independent living. Jessica's mentor helped her understand the 47

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police officer, which Seth supported. According to Chase, Seth said, “‘I think it would be a great idea for you to become police officer... With your leadership skills, you're smart.’ He said, ‘Kid, if you join the police force, you'll be a captain before you know it.’” Beyond promoting his self-confidence, Chase was able to identify a number of additional ways his relationship with Seth had positively impacted him, which Seth did not discuss and of which he may have not been aware. Chase reported that Seth had helped him appreciate education more and had helped him look forward to going to college. Through their activities together, Seth encouraged Chase to be more active and involved in exercise, which he felt was good for his overall health. Seth also helped Chase think differently about his relationship with his foster mom. Like most teenagers, Chase would sometimes get mad at his mother, and he shared how he would talk with Seth about those feelings:

approach for establishing meaningful and impactful connections that may promote interdependence for older foster care youth as they make the transition to adulthood. That the youth were receptive to the support and assistance of these adults is especially notable given the tendency for youth who have been in foster care to cultivate a “veneer of self-reliance” (Kools, 1999, p. 148) and the sense that they should be able to manage on their own as they transition out of care (Goodkind, Schelbe, & Shook, 2011; Morton, 2017; Samuels & Pryce, 2008); a notion that is reinforced by an emphasis on self-sufficiency in policies and practices with foster youth as they transition out of care (Courtney, 2009). Recognition that former foster youth often lack the kind of safety net on which youth who have not been in care often rely (Arnett & Fishel, 2013) has led to calls for policies and practices that promote interdependence and stability rather than emphasizing self-sufficiency, which can be an unrealistic and even counter-productive goal (Antle et al., 2009; Rome & Raskin, 2017). Given that other studies show foster care youth are often already involved in informal mentoring relationships with supportive adults (Collins et al., 2007; Courtney et al., 2011; Farruggia et al., 2006) and that these relationships are associated with positive psychological and educational outcomes (Thompson et al., 2016), formalizing YIM relationships has the potential to offer the kind of stable support many have noted these youth critically need (Howard & Berzin, 2011) but do not always find in assigned formal mentoring programs (Rome & Raskin, 2017). Importantly, in this study, as in previous research on YIM (Spencer et al., 2016), participants expected these relationships to continue for some time. That these relationships were experienced as both meaningful and durable suggests that YIM may have a role to play in helping transitioning youth establish what has been called “relational permanence” (Samuels, 2008), or a “continually supportive, warm relationship(s)” with non-parental adults (Williams-Butler, Ryan, Schulenberg, & Davis-Kean, 2018, p. 3). The YIM approach provides mentoring programs an opportunity to use what is known about the relationships foster youth have with supportive adults and to provide specialized support in maintaining and growing that relationship into an enduring, beneficial connection with another key adult. The combination of a self-selected mentor and a formalized relationship may be particularly well-suited to the needs of older foster youth. In addition to the tendency toward self-reliance documented in previous research and observed in the present study, several participants expressed concern about over-burdening or asking too much of their mentor. The programmatic support and scaffolding to not only help youth identify potential mentors but then also formalize these relationships and monitor their progress may ease some of the concern about asking for “too much” that can prevent these youth from seeking any help at all, even when willing providers may already be in their natural support networks. Further, as demonstrated in the findings, youth used advice from their mentors to improve the other relationships in their lives, potentially broadening the support networks available to these youth. YIM matches made through formalized mentoring programs may provide the link to supportive mentoring relationships for those foster care youth who cannot identify a mentor, formal or informal, in their lives (Courtney et al., 2011). Evidence from this study suggests that many of these youth may have adults in their lives with whom they would like to connect and who they feel could be helpful, but that they may not have the ability or willingness to approach without the assistance and support of mentoring program staff.

When I was living in her house... I was like, ‘She won't let me hang out with my friends for long periods of time, or this and this.’ He's like, ‘I get where you're coming from, but …. think about this. …. you've been with her this long. She doesn't want to lose you in some accident.’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, I guess you got a point.’ …. it's just little stuff he helps me understand more and more. Seth also supported Chase's friendships as long as he knew they were good for Chase. If Chase told Seth about a new friend, Chase reported that Seth would ask if they are helpful or not: You know, he really makes [me] think about people who I get close to because I have a bad habit of letting the wrong people close to me. [Seth says,] ‘So, do you think this person is a great choice to be around? You know, this person's doing this, this, and this, and you're focused more on your future.’ So, like, he'll tell me. This helped Chase be more careful deciding who he spends time with and who he trusts. When Seth gave his opinion, Chase described how would reflect on and consider that, saying how he would “think about it” whether it was positive or negative. As he said, I always think about it. If it's positive, you know, I go back and I think, ‘Well, I did make a good choice this time.’ Or if it's bad, you know, ‘Okay, he's right. I have to cut this person off. They're going to get me into trouble.’ 8. Discussion These participants' narratives indicate that the mentoring relationships established by foster care youth using a YIM approach quickly became connections that were perceived by both the youth and mentors as meaningful and as having a positive impact on the youth's psychological well-being, relationships with others, and beliefs about and orientation toward the future. Both the youth and the mentors described these relationships as providing a range of supports that were perceived to have helped the youth navigate complex obstacles encountered in the transition out of care and into adulthood. These supports included role modeling, serving as a reliable confidante, and pushing the youth to take positive action while directly supporting the youth's efforts in a way that scaffolded and supported their development. Mentors also helped these youth navigate their relationships with other important people and offered advice and counsel that appeared in some cases to help the youth sustain these connections. That the mentor was an adult already known to, and selected by, the youth, and who offered support without judgment, seemed to have made it easier for many of these youth to accept such support, although several youth did still describe feeling reticent to ask for assistance at times, even from these trusted adults. These findings are similar to those for YIM relationships established through the Youth ChalleNGe program (Spencer, Tugenberg, Ocean, Schwartz, & Rhodes, 2016) and suggest that YIM is a promising

9. Limitations There are a number of limitations to this study that are important to note. The interviews were retrospective and collected at only one timepoint, which did not allow for examination of the development of the relationships over time. The matches are also all relatively short in length, which may impact what types of support each party reported. 48

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Quantitative or mixed methods research would facilitate the examination of impacts on youth using a comparison group rather than relying on self-report or perceptions of impact, which could be biased based on social desirability or influenced by perceptions of the relationship. Quantitative methods are also necessary in order to reliably compare outcomes for foster care youth matched through YIM with either youth matched in traditional relationships or those without a formal mentor. In addition, future research is needed to explore differences between youth in foster care who are successfully matched using YIM and those who are not interested or able to be matched. There may be differences in these groups in terms of access to adults, the youth's beliefs about the need to be independent as opposed to interdependent or their openness to forming relationships with attachment figures. Understanding current limitations in enrolling some foster care youth in YIM relationships can help programs expand outreach and tailor marketing messages to better attract these youth. Further, if some youth truly do not have access to appropriate adults to nominate as a mentor, future research should examine the comparative effectiveness of matching those youth in traditional mentoring relationships.

Further, although participants spoke about their intentions to continue with their mentoring relationships, whether and for how long these relationships did endure is unknown. This study also examined the experiences of only the young people who were successfully matched with a mentor through the YIM program. Program staff reported that a number of eligible youth declined participation in the program and the assessment of the reason for this reported by staff was that many youth felt they could or should handle things on their own (Spencer et al., in press). This suggests that there could be important differences between the participants who opt into the YIM program and those who do not that cannot be captured in this type of study. In addition, staff reported that there were a small number of youth who did not feel that they could identify an appropriate mentor or who nominated mentors that the agency was not able to contact or who declined, typically due to time constraints. So, while the findings here speak to the potential promise of YIM to meet the need for stable relationships that offer meaningful social support for foster care youth, further consideration of how to engage those youth who could benefit from such relationships but were not successfully matched through this YIM program are needed.

Acknowledgements 10. Implications for practice This project was supported by Grant #013-JU-FX-0005 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice. We also gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Jean Rhodes, Janis Kuperschmidt and Rebecca Stelter for their collaboration on this research. We also recognize the contributions of Emily Abrams, who was involved in earlier phases of this research, and deeply appreciate the partnerships with Whitney Baker and the Midlands Mentoring Partnership, and with the staff at Youth Emergency Services, which made this research possible.

YIM is a promising model for providing mentoring relationships for older youth involved in or aging out of the foster care system. Mentoring programs connecting youth with adults from within their social network in formalized relationships are likely to provide the youth with a wide array of supports. Given the particular needs of these youth, both developmentally and stemming from their involvement in the foster care system, mentoring programs will likely need to provide specialized match support services to both youth and mentors in order to best support their particular needs. These matches would be best served by staff with a strong understanding of the needs of emerging adults who have been in foster care systems. While YIM mentors tend to be familiar with the youth with whom they are matched, including their history and personal needs, these mentors continue to need agency support in handling challenges, especially at times when the youth may not reach out to them for help. As in formalized, assigned mentoring programs, the mentoring agency may help by providing match support in the event that conflict arises between the mentor and youth. Providing match support in the face of conflict could prevent further disruption of important relationships for these youth, who have already experienced significant relationship disruption in their lives. Mentors would benefit from training and support to help them understand the concept of interdependence in order to specifically foster that trait in their mentee and to be aware when the mentee's tendency toward independence might in fact be detrimental. In addition, if youth are still involved in foster care, it would be important for both the agency staff and the mentor to be in contact with social service providers to understand the precise needs of the youth at the time as well as other supports in place. As indicated in the findings, the mentoring relationship presents an added source of support in helping youth plan for their transition into interdependence by providing another key adult to help the youth explore and take action toward meeting their goals for emerging from foster care into adulthood.

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