Mentor Induction Pack

Workshop one: pp 1 Buddy up mission; aims; and objectives.

Overview of Buddy up.

Workshop two: pp 20 What is mentoring?

The code of conduct.

Workshop three: pp 29 Values

Communication skills

Building relationships

Confidentiality

Workshop four: pp 38 Adolescence

Child development

Workshop five: pp 44 Child protection

Young people’s issues; and young people’s resources

Workshop six:

pp 50 GIRFEC

Children Scotland act 2014

Workshop seven: pp 54 Dealing with challenging behaviour

Re – cap

1

Workshop one agenda

Mission; aims; and objectives

Overview of Buddy up

Topics and exercises covered:

Housekeeping and anonymous suggestions box

Find common ground exercise

Complete knowledge evaluation

The topics for remainder of induction

Discuss Buddy up mission; aims; and objectives

Discuss our definition of mentoring

Discuss the matching process

.

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Mission; aims; and objectives

The Y Sort-It peer mentoring programme aims to provide care

experienced young people an opportunity to develop relationships with

each other whilst helping to increase their active citizenship and improve

their lives.

Our objectives are:

To support care experienced young people in their communities.

Allow young people to sustain positive relationships with someone

with a shared experience of care.

Encourage young people to become more active and healthy

members of their community.

The four key outcomes which we hope to help young people achieve

are:

Young people will gain benefit from building relationships with

fellow care experienced young people.

Care experienced young people will improve their lives based on

their personal goals.

Young people will increase their social capital and become more

connected to their community.

Young people will develop a range of intrinsic outcomes.

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Values

Y Sort It aims to connect; support; and inspire young people.

We encourage young people to be the best they possibly can be.

Connecting young people allows young people to be included in their

community; increase their social and personal development and result in

improved life outcomes.

We know that young people come with different life experience; different

personalities and live in different environments. Therefore we aim to

treat each young person in a non-judgemental manner whilst

understanding their needs and supporting them to progress their lives on

an individual basis.

4

Who is Buddy up for?

Mentors

18 – 30 years of age.

Experience of care or an understanding of the issues young care

experienced people face.

should have appropriate values and behaviour to act as role

models.

Mentees

14 – 26 years of age.

Three months in a care environment.

Our definition of care experience is:

Looked after at home (this means you live in your family home)

Foster care

Secure care

Looked after through kinship care (with a relative)

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Definition of Mentoring Model

There are many definitions of mentoring which can range from highly

formal mentoring at one end of the scale to befriending at the other end.

There is also highly facilitative mentoring versus more directive

approaches.

The main model is one to one mentoring.

Mentoring will take place in the community with arrangements to

be made between the mentor and the mentee.

The activities will be agreed between the mentor and mentee

Activities will be tailored to meet the needs and goals agreed

between the mentee and the programme coordinator.

We plan to adhere to the following definition offered by David

Clutterbuck:

“In practice, mentors provide a spectrum of learning and supporting

behaviours, from challenging and being a critical friend to being a role

model, from helping to build networks and develop personal

resourcefulness to simply being there to listen, from helping people work

out what they want to achieve, and why, to planning how they will bring

change about.”

6

Core elements of the programme

There are five key elements of the programme:

Consistent relationships

Risk management and management support

Focused activities

Active brokerage and partnership working

Continuous measurement of effectiveness

Consistent relationships mean we will match a reliable mentor with a

mentee and will aim to keep the relationship going on a weekly basis for

up to a year.

Risk management and management support means two things:

Mentors will always have an experienced manager available for

advice whilst they are out with their mentee.

A range of risk assessment and management processes are in

place to protect both the mentor and the mentee

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Focused activities means we the mentor and mentee will plan their

activities in advance and these will lead towards goals the mentee has

identified.

Active brokerage and partnership working means we will help the

mentee to improve their knowledge of other organisations and agencie

and use these.

Continuous measurement of effectiveness means two things:

We will try to prove what we are doing, and

We will try to improve what we are doing

To do this we will ask the mentors to provide a verbal update to the

mentor coordinator after each contact.

For more detail on the key elements or the

processes for the programme please see the

Buddy up practice guide.

8

Mentor pathway

This is a diagram of the different stages a mentor will go through

after they start with Buddy up.

Each stage is explained in more detail on the next page.

Induction

On – Going

Support and

Supervision

from

Programme

Coordinator

Optional

Progressions

Independent

Living Skills

Increase Social

Networks

Employability

Skills

Form an on-going

relationship with

young person

Achieve personal outcomes

Group mentor meetings

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Mentor pathway explained

1. After being accepted onto the programme following a short

application form and interview the mentors will go through an

induction process. This will enable the group to learn the

processes and systems within the programme. It will also outline

expectations relating to practice.

2. The young person will then be matched with a young person who

they can mentor once per week for approximately three hours.

3. On-going support and supervision will be provided to help the

mentor in their role.

4. Bi-Monthly group mentor meetings will allow for training and also

an opportunity for the mentors to build relationships with fellow

mentors.

5. An optional progressions element will be delivered by the

programme coordinator should the mentor require support in

employability; increasing social networks or independent living

skills. This will include an accredited SQA qualification.

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Mentor pathway in more detail

Application

A young person should contact Y Sort It by telephone; email;

Facebook or by dropping into Y Sort It.

From this point the programme coordinator will make sure the

young person is eligible before helping them to fill in the

application form.

At this point the young person will be notified they will require a

PVG check and two character references.

Induction

The 20 hours of induction training will enable the new mentor to

understand their role better.

Topics covered include:

What mentoring is; and the limitations of mentoring relationships.

How to keep themselves and the mentor safe during contacts.

The values and beliefs of Buddy up.

Other important issues including confidentiality and other Buddy up

policies.

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On-going support and supervision

Mentoring is a highly rewarding role. The role comes with a high

level of responsibility and can be nerve racking for people who are

new to it

Buddy up will fully support the mentor and be available when the

mentor needs support or guidance.

We ask that mentors have formal supervision once per month

initially. Formal supervision will be with the mentor coordinator

and will be a discussion.

In addition we ask the mentors to phone the mentor coordinator

before and after each contact to clarify any concerns they may

have.

Group mentor meetings

These will be run every two months and are an opportunity for mentors

to come together and chat about their experiences.

The mentors are encouraged to take control of these meetings and bring

their own ideas.

Optional support out with Buddy up

The programme coordinator is available to support mentors with their

employability skills as well as independent living skills.

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Mentee pathway

This is a diagram of the different stages a mentor will go through

after they start with Buddy up.

Each stage is explained in more detail on the next page.

Meet with Programme

Coordinator

Every three

months meet

with

programme

coordinator to

re-assess

needs and set

new goals.

Baseline

formed in initial

meeting.

Optional

Progressions

Independent

Living Skills

Increase Social

Networks

Employability

Skills

Three-way meeting

with mentor and

programme

coordinator

Achieve personal

outcomes

Form an on-going

relationship with a

mentor

Complete exit process

titled “Looking

Forward”

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Mentee pathway explained

1. After being accepted onto the programme the mentors will meet

with the programme coordinator. This will enable the mentee to

express their wishes and needs.

2. The young mentor; programme coordinator and mentee will meet

together for introductions and to agree on boundaries and nature

of initial activities.

3. The young person will then be matched with a mentor.

4. An optional progressions element will be delivered by the

programme coordinator should the mentee require focused

support in employability; increasing social networks or independent

living skills.

5. “Looking Forward” is a plan for the last month of the relationship.

The aims are to ensure a planned ending that enables the mentee

to understand what they have achieved throughout the relationship

and work out their plan for the future.

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Mentee pathway in more detail

Referral process for mentees

A potential referral will come through to the mentor coordinator

who will arrange to meet the young person and the referrer before

deciding on the young person’s suitability for the programme.

This meet will also enable the programme coordinator to provide

more information about the programme to the young person.

The mentor coordinator will then support the young person or more

likely the referrer to complete the referral paperwork.

After this the young person will be shown a description a mentor

has written about themselves and decide whether or not they want

to pursue the match.

The final part before the match starts is a three way meeting with

the programme coordinator; mentor; and mentee. This should

clarify expectations for the mentee; and a mentoring agreement is

signed.

Regular updating

The mentor coordinator and mentee will meet to form a base-

line wellbeing web and set goals prior to the matching process.

The mentor coordinator will then meet the mentee every three

months to re-appraise their needs and re-set goals.

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Exit planning for mentees

The idea is to end the relationships on a good note.

The mentor and mentor coordinator should agree and the mentee

should also be consulted prior to this process commencing.

The exit plan starts four weeks before the final contact and starts

with an exercise titled “looking forward”.

This encourages the mentee to think of a future plan and mitigate

any dependency they may have formed with their mentor.

It is also designed to enable the mentee to reflect on their recent

past and build social networks.

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The matching process

We know the importance of getting a good match at Buddy up.

Matching a mentor with a mentee where both parties feel comfortable

that it’s a “good fit”.

This is a four step process.

Firstly we must get to know the mentor

Secondly we must get to know the mentee

Thirdly we must make an appropriate match, and

Initial introductions and observation

These four steps will be described below:

Get to know the mentor

The programme coordinator will gather information on the mentor using

the following methods:

Mentor application form

Mentor brief interview

Contacting the mentors two references

If there is a referral professional involved such as social work

speak to them

The mentor induction will enable the programme coordinator to

spend time with the mentor discussing issues such as values;

health and safety knowledge; grasp of confidentiality.

Mentor will complete a biography sheet which asks them to

describe themselves and mention their interests

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Get to know the mentee

The programme coordinator will gather information on the mentee using

the following methods:

Speak to referral agent i.e. unit manager; social worker; foster

carer

Informal chat between mentee and programme coordinator

If the referral agent is not the lead professional the programme

coordinator will speak to the lead professional to gather more

information in relation to personality; history and risk; and

protective factors

Match mentee with appropriate mentor

Using the information collected above, the matching decision will be

taken between the programme coordinator; the Y Sort It project

manager; and the West Dunbartonshire mentoring programme

coordinator. All three will have to endorse a match before moving

forward.

At this point the programme coordinator will visit the mentee and the

mentee referral agent with the biography completed by the mentor.

They then have the choice to agree to the match or not.

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Initial introductions and observation

The initial meeting between mentor and mentee will be facilitated by the

programme coordinator in a three way meeting. This will enable

expectations to be clarified. In addition to this the first couple of contacts

between a newly trained mentor and their mentee will be observed by

the programme coordinator within Y sort it or potentially out with.

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Workshop two agenda

What is mentoring?

Code of conduct

Topics and exercises covered:

Ask anything you need to know from last session or put a note into

the anonymous suggestion box.

Discuss what mentoring is.

Discuss what mentoring isn’t and the limitations and boundaries of

mentoring.

Think of a person who has been important to you in your life.

What qualities and skills did they have? How did they treat you?

And how did this make you feel.

Presentation and video on mentoring.

Discuss the purpose of a code of conduct before brainstorming to

form a code of conduct.

Presentation on the Buddy up code of conduct

Discuss mentoring agreement

Case studies and scenarios based around code of conduct and

personal safety

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What mentoring is

Challenging and being a critical friend?

Role model?

Helping build social networks?

Develop personal resourcefulness?

Listen?

What they want to achieve and why?

Planning how they bring about that change?

“In practice, mentors provide a spectrum of learning and supporting

behaviours, from challenging and being a critical friend to being a role

model, from helping to build networks and develop personal

resourcefulness to simply being there to listen, from helping people work

out what they want to achieve, and why, to planning how they will bring

change about.”

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What mentoring isn’t?

Lecturing

Best friend

Colluding

A support worker

A parent

Thinking you know best and telling them so

Don’t have the mind-set of trying to reform the

mentee. Get to know them first.

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Code of conduct

The frontline mentors are the people who make the programme

work and without your buy in we will be unable to effectively

support young people to improve their lives.

The purpose of the code of conduct is to keep the mentor; and the

mentee safe; and uphold the good reputation of Y Sort It.

The mentor must demonstrate the values as outlined in the value

statement. In short the mentor should behave in an empathetic

non-judgemental and non-discriminatory manner.

Mentors should acknowledge that every young person is different

and they should take this into consideration. The likes; dislikes

and needs of the young person should be central to how the

mentor approaches the relationship.

The following guidelines will help to keep the mentor and mentee safe

and ensure the best possible developmental relationship for both parties:

Mentors should adhere to the advice from the induction training

and the on-going support and supervision processes; and in

particular in relation to relationship boundaries and limitations.

The mentor should be reliable and ensure they make contacts in a

timely fashion – therefore adhere to the stipulations within the

mentoring agreement form.

The mentor should take the mentees preferences into

consideration when choosing activities and inform the mentor

coordinator prior to participating in these activities.

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The mentor must familiarise themselves with policies and

procedures and adhere to them. These include vitally important

health and safety and confidentiality procedures.

The mentor should attend Mentor meetings every two months and

actively participate in supervision.

The mentor should provide an update to the programme

coordinator after each contact and verbally check in prior to each

contact.

The mentor must provide receipts or refund cash to programme

coordinator after accepting a cash advance.

The mentor should inform the Peer Mentor Coordinator if the

mentee offers them gifts and should not offer gifts to the mentee.

The mentor should not enter into any financial arrangements with

mentee such as loaning them money

There should be no alcohol, drugs or gambling during contacts and

if the mentee is thought to be under the influence the contact

should be ended immediately by the mentor.

The meetings between mentor and mentee should not be

conducted at eithers home address.

The mentor must ensure their mobile phone is working prior to

contacts and that there is adequate battery life and at least enough

credit to text the programme coordinator

The mentor must maintain their personal information which means

notifying the peer mentoring coordinator of updates and changes.

This includes the mobile number which will be used during

contacts; emergency contact details; current address and car

details if applicable such as registration, make, model and proof of

insurance and MOT.

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Mentoring agreement

Date:

This agreement is between: Mentee and Mentor

This document will be countersigned by the programme coordinator.

Copies will be given to both the mentor and mentee. The information

contained in this document and in the Meeting Logs will preserve

anonymity for monitoring and evaluation purposes. The mentee and

mentor will be responsible for updating the document as necessary.

Copies of updated documents will be forwarded to, countersigned by

and held by the project manager/co-coordinator.

A. Purpose and goals of the contacts – The mentor and mentee meet

for a contact each week in an agreed place and participate in an activity

of their choosing so long as it has been agreed by the mentor

coordinator in advance. The mentor will work towards an agreed action

plan.

B. Mentoring meetings - The mentee and programme coordinator will

meet prior to the three way introduction meeting with their new mentor.

At this meeting the mentor will agree an action plan and this will

influence what the focus of the contacts with their mentor will be. The

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mentee and programme coordinator will meet every three months to re-

evaluate the action plans.

C. Confidentiality - The mentor and mentee will honour confidentiality.

The degree of confidentiality and any exceptions will be outlined in the

mentor induction.

D. Challenges and premature ending of the relationship - In the

event of difficulties arising in the relationship both parties agree to

mediation by the supervisor/co-ordinator to conciliate or formally end the

relationship. Re-matching is at the discretion of the programme

coordinator. (Mentoring: Good practice guide 49)

E. The Role of the Supervisor/co-coordinator - The supervisor/co-

coordinator will provide on-going support and training for mentors.

E. Code of conduct - The mentor agrees to abide by the Code of

Conduct and any other policies relevant to the role of mentor.

F. Monitoring and Evaluation - The project may require mentors and

mentees to contribute to both written and verbal evaluation.

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G. Commitment to the term of the programme - The mentor agrees

to provide mentoring, on a one-to-one basis to one or more mentee/s,

for a period of __________ . Over that period the mentor and mentee

will meet _____ times per week. Dates and venues are as mutually

agreed and communicated to the programme coordinator.

Communications between mentor and mentee will be restricted to the

mentoring sessions and the mentee will not have the mentors personal

phone number and the mentor and mentee will not communicate on

social media.

H. Reschedule or cancelling – Either party must inform of

cancellations or rescheduling with as much notice as possible. Mentees

should contact the programme coordinator who will pass the message

on to the mentor.

Mentor signature: _______________________________________

Programme co-ordinator signature: __________________________

Mentee signature: ________________________________________

Date:

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Case studies

You are out with a 14 year old girl and she says to you:

“Can I tell you something but you can’t tell anyone?”

After this she then blurts out:

“I’ve dogged school a couple of times. My friends were all

taking legal highs but I didn’t”

You are out with a 15 year old boy and a few boys come

on the bus and he tells you he fights with them

You pick up a 14 year old girl from her mums house and

you have a good time at the cinema.

On the way home she decides she is going to stay out with

friends for a couple of hours before going home

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Workshop three agenda

Values

Communication skills

Building relationships

Confidentiality

Topics and exercises covered:

The group should discuss their own definitions of the words;

values; stereotypes; prejudice; discrimination.

Presentation on standard definitions for these words.

Discuss the concept of a “role model”

Watch a short video on role models.

Discuss what good communication looks like; and what not so

good communication looks like.

Presentation on communication effective skills.

Discuss how trusting relationships are formed and barriers to this.

Presentation on building trusting relationships.

Open ended question discussion and role play.

Discuss the concept of confidentiality.

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Stereotypes

• Can be positive or negative and contains assumptions about a

person which may not accurate

• When a label is attached to a person or a group it can lead to

negative opinions or prejudice being formed

Values

• Important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by

the members of a culture about what is good or bad and

desirable or undesirable.

• Values have major influence on

a person’s behaviour and attitude and serve as

broad guidelines in all situations.

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Prejudice

• Usually a negative opinion or thought formed without taking time

and care to judge fairly

Or….

• A preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual

experience

Discrimination

• Can be direct or in-direct

• Unequal treatment as a result of stereotypes or prejudices –

both positive or negative

• To be treated in a detrimental way because of perceived

differences from others

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Role Models

What is a role model?

• “A role model is someone to look up to”

• Someone “you want to be like”

• “Sets an example”

• “Does good things”

• “Who inspires you,” “who teaches you,” and who “helps you.”

Be a positive role model

Realise you’re a role model

Listen, listen, listen

Respect their privacy

Don’t think you know everything

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Communication skills

There are a range of skills and things to consider when communicating.

We will concentrate on communicating in person rather than by email.

The three elements of communication are tone; what we say; and body

language:

Tone: This means the way we say something. It is possible to say the

exact same thing and it means two different things. We must be aware

of this.

What we say: This means the words we use.

Body language: Again our body language is something we must

become aware of. Do we have open body position or closed? Are we

engaged in what the young person is saying or do we appear distracted?

Two good techniques involve active listening and paraphrasing.

Active listening and paraphrasing are described on the following page.

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Active listening

Active listening means you should fully concentrate and engage in what

the other person is saying. We should not be thinking of what we are

going to say next whilst the other person is speaking.

Whilst listening we should demonstrate to the other person we are

listening. This can be achieved by giving the person your full attention;

making eye contact and nodding and saying a word or two to let the

person know you’re engaged.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is an active listening skill and is a three step process:

Listen to what the person has said; make sense of what they have said;

put what they have said into your own words and repeat it back to them.

Other skills include questioning; clarifying; and summarising.

Questioning demonstrates we are interested and encourages the

person to speak.

Clarifying allows you to fully understand what the person is saying

and ensures you have not misunderstood.

Summarising is similar to paraphrasing and can be used to

reinforce that you have listened and fully understood what the

person has said

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Building relationships

For a mentoring relationship to be successful the relationship must be

nurtured. Below are some suggestions for building effective

relationships.

Both the mentor and the mentee should have realistic

expectations. The mentee should understand the limitations of the

mentoring role.

It takes a lot of time for some young people to trust people and it is

important a mentor realises this is a longer term commitment.

Young people are likely to feel safer if a mentor is consistent in

their approach. So mentors should do what they say they will do;

and not make promises they can’t keep.

The mentor should be on time and stick to the boundaries set out

elsewhere in the mentor induction…..Code of conduct!

Mentors can use “active listening” and in general be positive and

make things fun when possible

Treat the mentee how they want to be treated!

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Confidentiality

This session should be conducted with the Buddy up confidentiality

policy in mind.

Mentors are expected to share any information they think could

cause harm to the young person or any other individual to the

programme coordinator.

The mentee will have been told this prior to the relationship

starting by the programme coordinator. The mentee will also have

signed a “mentoring agreement” which outlines this.

Mentor should have a password lock on their phone to protect any

information or data from texts or emails.

The mentor must not share or repeat any information relating to

the mentee or their families with anyone other than the programme

coordinator unless instructed.

Page 26 and 27 of the “National guidance for child protection in

Scotland 2014” document outlines the terms of information sharing and

confidentiality in Scotland

http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0045/00450733.pdf

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38

Workshop four agenda

Adolescence, and

Child development

Topics and exercises covered:

Presentation on adolescence and child development Discussion on adolescence and child development

39

Child Development and Adolescence

Children and young people move from dependence to autonomy.

This means they go from being totally dependent on another to

gradually becoming more independent.

There is an order to this process and this is demonstrated in the

table below:

Infancy Birth – 2yrs Dependent on care giver

Rapid growth

Childhood 2 – 12yrs Learning social skills

Adolescence 12 – 18yrs Thinking develops rapidly

Preparation for adulthood

Conflicts with peer pressure

Adolescence is the likely stage of our

mentees and there is more depth on the

following page!

Adulthood 18+ Support themselves economically

More mature

Adults also go through stages

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Adolescence in more details

In addition to physiological growth, seven key intellectual, psychological

and social developmental tasks are squeezed into these years. The

fundamental purpose of these tasks is to form one’s own identity and to

prepare for adulthood.

Physical development

By mid-adolescence, if not sooner, most youngsters’ physiological

growth is complete; they are at or close to their adult height and weight,

and are now physically capable of having babies.

Intellectual development

Most boys and girls enter adolescence still perceiving the world around

them in concrete terms: Things are right or wrong, awesome or awful.

They rarely set their sights beyond the present, which explains younger

teens’ inability to consider the long-term consequences of their actions.

By late adolescence, many youngsters have come to appreciate

subtleties of situations and ideas, and to project into the future. Their

capacity to solve complex problems and to sense what others are

thinking has sharpened considerably. But because they are still relatively

inexperienced in life, even older teens apply these newfound skills

erratically and therefore may act without thinking.

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Emotional development

Adolescents can shift moods rapidly, vacillating between happiness and

distress and self-confidence and worry. Also, complex social

interactions such as conflicts with friends, school pressures and

experimentation with romantic relationships can exacerbate the labile

emotional state of adolescents.

Adolescence is a time when teenagers begin to explore and assert their

personal identities. During this developmental period, teenagers engage

in a process of searching for where they fit in with peers and society at

large. It is common for adolescents to have an unstable sense of self

and try out new personal labels and associate with various peer groups.

Additionally, adolescents might struggle to define their sexual and

gender identity during the teenage years.

During adolescence, relationships with peers begin to take precedence

over relationships with the family. Although family interactions are still

important and essential for a teen’s development, adolescents often

place a stronger emphasis on their friends’ perceptions and values.

Likewise, during the adolescent years, teens might be strongly

influenced by their peers’ beliefs and behaviours. Paired with

adolescents' limited life experience and under-developed decision-

making skills, teenagers are often vulnerable to negative peer pressure.

Adolescents often test boundaries, in most cases, this behaviour is

driven by the adolescent’s need to develop autonomy, experience new

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activities and earn more independence. Even though teenagers can

benefit from testing boundaries during adolescence, they still require

rules and boundaries if they are to avoid negative influences and

achieve their potential.

It is often difficult for adolescents to look at circumstances from other

people’s perspectives. This is due, in part, to their still-developing brain

structures. Thus, adolescents might come off as self-centred and

focused on their own needs without considering how those needs affect

others.

Social development

As described an adolescent is searching for their identity. They are

looking to strike out on their own whilst also wanting to conform to their

peers. They will search for independence whilst still having financial and

other dependences on others. They will start to be influenced more by

peers and go on romantic dates.

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Workshop five agenda

Child protection, and

Young people issues and resources

Topics and exercises covered:

Presentation on child protection Case studies and scenarios on child protection Learning from significant case reviews An awareness raising session on young people’s issues An awareness raising session on resources and provisions for

young people locally and nationally

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Child protection

This session should be worked on with the Buddy up child protection

policy in mind.

The key points to remember about child protection are listed below:

Child protection is everyone’s responsibility

A child’s wellbeing should be taken into consideration

What is a child?

Everyone under the age of 16 is a child

For those between 16 and 18 the protective interventions that can

be taken will depend on the circumstances and legislation relevant

to that child or young person.

What is child abuse and neglect?

Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. Somebody

may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting, or by failing to act to

prevent, significant harm to the child.

The forms of abuse are physical; emotional; sexual; and neglect.

What is child protection?

Child protection means protecting a child from child abuse or

neglect. Abuse or neglect need not have taken place; it is sufficient

for a risk assessment to have identified a likelihood or risk of

significant harm from abuse or neglect

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Child protection scenarios

You are mentoring a 14 year old girl and she informs you she watched a

film with her foster carer and a friend. You realise a couple of days later

the film is an 18 and has some violence in it.

You are mentoring a 15 year old boy and he asks you if he can tell you

something…

On your last two contacts with a 14 year old girl she has asked you to

buy her something to eat. You think there may be a chance her gran –

who she lives with – may not be making her meals.

A 14 year old girl you mentor starts to shout at her mother. The girl gets

into her mother’s face and her mother slaps her. The girl starts shouting

towards you “you’re my witness; you saw her slap me”

A boy of 15 shows you a bruise they have on their upper arm and

suggests this happened at school. He then presents a few weeks later

with scrapes on his face and won’t discuss how this happened.

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Risk factors for teenagers (learning from significant case reviews)

Young person factors Family/ environmental factors

Agency factors

Mental health

problems

Risk taking

behaviours e.g.

self-harm;

substance

misuse;

offending

Long-term

involvement with

social work

Looked after with

multiple

placements

Non-

engagement with

agencies

Absconding

Previous abuse/

neglect

Social isolation/

lack of family/

community

support

Known to

associate with

peer/ family

involved in risk

taking behaviour

Lack of

resources to

meet young

people’s needs

Risks presented

by transition to

adult services

Professional

powerfulness

Mental health

needs not met

Housing needs

not met

Other considerations for mentors

The reasons for challenging behaviour/ attendance at school; or

absconding from foster or residential care should be explored

Think about patterns and levels of missed contacts

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Young people’s issues and resources

As stated in the core elements of Buddy up, brokerage is an important

part of what a mentor does. Mentors should be aware of issues that

might affect their mentee as well as organisations and resources who

can help. Some of these issues may be specific to the local area and

some may be issues which are prevalent around the country.

As Buddy up mentors you are local to West Dunbartonshire and have a

recent working knowledge of what is out there. It is good practice to

share this knowledge with other mentors at the mentors meetings.

Below are some thought provoking questions:

You are mentoring a 14 year old girl and she stays in her room for

most of the time. She only leaves her room to go to school. What

resources could she benefit from?

A 15 year old boy you mentor has recently had two deaths in the

family. Since then he has not been the same person and often

comes across as though he is a bit down. What resources could

he benefit from?

A girl of 14 who you have recently started mentoring is going out at

weekends and drinking alcohol. Last week she picked up police

charges for breach of the peace and vandalism. What resources

could she benefit from?

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Workshop six agenda

GIRFEC, and

Children Scotland Act 2014

Topics and exercises covered:

Presentation on GIRFEC Presentation on Children Scotland Act 2014

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GIRFEC (Getting it right for every child)

The national approach in Scotland to improving outcomes and

supporting the wellbeing of our children and young people by offering

the right help at the right time from the right people. It supports them and

their parent(s) to work in partnership with the services that can help

them.

Child-focused

The child and young person should be at the centre of the support they

receive and the decisions made.

Well-being of the child

The overall wellbeing of the child should be considered. This can be

assessed using the SHANARRI acronym. Safe; healthy; achieving;

nurtured; active; respected; responsible; and included.

Tackling needs early

We hope to identify needs early to prevent any issues or problems

getting worse in the future

Joined up working

Young people; parents; carers and the services they need should work

together

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Children and young person act 2014

After consulting CELCIS (centre of excellence for looked after children in

Scotland) we were advised young people don’t often know their full

range of rights.

This is especially true for the new parts of this act.

Remember our core elements say we value brokerage and we should

signpost young people to advocacy agencies when possible. “Who

cares Scotland” for example.

However it is important for mentors to have an understanding of the act

and the relevant sections are listed below.

If you want to read the full act you will find it at this address:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/8/contents/enacted

Part 4: Named person

Part 5: The child’s plan

Part 9: Corporate parenting

Part 10: Aftercare

Part 11: Continuing care

Part 12: Services in relation to children at risk of becoming

looked after, etc

Part 13: Support for kinship care

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Workshop seven agenda

Dealing with challenging behaviour, and

Re-cap of the entire Induction

Topics and exercises covered:

Encourage mentors to understand and be aware of their own

tolerances and trigger points with challenging behaviour

Work through coping strategies for dealing with challenging

behaviour

Presentation on general tips for dealing with challenging behaviour

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Dealing with challenging behaviour

Challenging behaviour can come in many shapes and sizes and it is

important for each mentor to work out what they deem to be

challenging behaviour. Having the opportunity to brainstorm

challenging behaviours and discuss the nature of these behaviours

increases awareness.

For each challenging behaviour there are likely to be many factors

that contribute to why this behaviour. It is therefore beneficial to be

able to understand the causes and drivers of the behaviour.

Once we have a greater awareness of challenging behaviours and

some of the reasons for this helps us to identify solutions.

Some general tips for dealing with challenging behaviour

Remain calm. Do not get angry or upset

Listen; and understand the persons frustrations

Be aware of body language and remain unthreatening

Provide concise instructions where possible

Use dos and avoid don’ts when possible

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What we have covered

If you are unsure of anything please do not hesitate to ask the

programme coordinator or anyone else associated with Buddy up

including fellow mentors.

Workshop one Buddy up mission; aims; and objectives.

Overview of Buddy up.

Workshop two What is mentoring?

The code of conduct.

Workshop three Values

Communication skills

Building relationships

Confidentiality

Workshop four Adolescence

Child development

Workshop five Child protection

Young people’s issues; and young people’s resources

Workshop six

GIRFEC

Children Scotland act 2014

Workshop seven Dealing with challenging behaviour

Re – cap

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