Type of Activity:
x Mentoring
❑ Peer Mentoring
❑ Workshop
Relevant pillar: Housing
Relevant competence(s): Communication, Transversal Elements, Social & Civic, Learning to Learn, Sense of Initiative & Entrepreneurship
Duration: minimum 6 hours (it is recommended to implementing these activities at least at three different moments in time)
Materials and Resources: laptop with internet access, printer, A4 paper, notebook, markers, pens.
One-to-one activity mentoring.
As the previous ones, this activity is organized in two components: (i) Closure(Prepare closure, expect unexpected reason to closure, be open to eventual need of support further on…) (ii) to help the mentee identify opportunities, interests, willingness to pursue a personal constructive path regarding all matters related to housing.
Recommendations – If any of the precious sessions was implemented, this topic is not of mandatory reading. Please go to the Objectives section.
Please take in consideration that this is a mentoring session – not a training or educational activity, or even a workshop! The Leaving Care Professional (LCP) is not a teacher/trainer/facilitator, he/she is a caring, more experienced individual(s) that will establish a relationship with a less experienced person resulting in the provision of support, friendship and constructive role modelling consistently over a period of time. The role of the LCP is to provide the young person with support, guidance, and assistance. The Leaving Care Professional through a mentoring relationship should be able to listen and ask questions that will challenge the mentee to identify the course of action they need to take in regard to their own development.
Flexibility is an asset! – This mentoring session can combine different activities, starting from getting-to-know each other and reflecting on the self, then building the relationship, until the stage of discussing specific topics.
The mentoring Journey focusing on Housing is not necessarily the last session for each child in care, as each child will have different priorities in need of support. The journey will be different depending on what the child needs and the results of the initial assessments. If the results show that the greatest need for development the child is indeed around the Education Pillar and the least around Housing then, indeed the LCP can use the materials in this order. If this is not the case, then the closure mentoring must be adopted to the section and pillar that needs least the support of the LCP depending on the specific needs of the child.
- To pursue the development of autonomy (creation and implementation of an automatization path, individual exploration, and actively build of intrapersonal reinforcement strategies),
- To identify opportunities, interests and goals regarding Housing.
Outcomes
- Increased autonomy, specifically in relation to: (i) capacity to create and effectively implement a self-driven automatization path, (ii) decide and do individual exploration, and (ii) actively build a set of intrapersonal reinforcement strategies.
- Enhancement of mentee’s sense of trust, security and constructiveness in the relationship with the LCP.
- Increase of the mentees’ ability to organize her/his sense of self and to positively express feelings about her/his self, life events, and significant people, specifically focused on the challenges that health (physical, psychological and social) can pose during the ageing out process.
- Develop the mentee’s awareness of her/his choices in creating adequate strategies regarding housing.
Global considerations (cf. Session 1) – If any of previous sessions were implemented, this topic is not of mandatory reading. Please go to Challenges section.
The mentoring process can be useful for a large diversity of situations and in different stages of the life trajectory. Because it is a flexible, people centred, and constructive process, where “an experienced and trusted advisor” (in this case an adult) share his/her experience and knowledge in a facilitative manner to support the development of the mentee it is particularly relevant for children integrate in state care system. It can be a very interesting opportunity for the mentee to know a positive and constructive influence in his/her life, and to develop a relationship based on trust, sharing, respect and caring.
To do that, the LCP will have a challenging role, in which he/she will be asked to:
- Actively listening
- Provide different perspectives (not only those of the LCP’s)
- Encourage self-analysis and self-reflexion
- Give constructive critics and accept that are other ways of seeing, feeling and being in this world
- Provide evidence-based feedback
- Ask questions to help understanding better situations or problems
- Both –LCP and mentee need to have open minded, positive approaches. Therefore, the LCP should avoid leading questions and always have in mind that decisions are made by the mentee.
- Provide information and knowledge, inform and share (in)formal networks
- Provide advice on educational and/or career development, and/or other topics considered relevant by the mentee
- Focus on relationship in positive and constructive approaches – provide support and encouragement
Regarding key mentoring skills, the following are commonly expressed in the literature:
- Self-Awareness –implies a good understanding of his/her own strengths and development needs
- Credibility – on personal and professional level
- Accessibility –willingness and commitment in terms of time and availability for support and guidance
- Communication – great communication skills and be able to understand the ideas and feelings of others is a must!
- Ability to empower – the LCP should be able to create a learning/sharing environment where it is safe for mentees to disclose or try out different things,
- Creativity and Inventiveness – be open to new ways of doing things and different ways of learning/working
- Empathy – Ability to empathise with the mentees
- Understanding – ability to understand different perspectives, approaches and possibly backgrounds of different mentees.
-Self-confidence and self-concept might be low, which have a potential negative impact on matters related to housing. To discuss one’s difficulties and fragilities during an especially stressful period (ageing out of state care) may produce the intensification of negative emotions, fears and concerns.
-Some concepts may be too abstract/difficult and seam irrelevant for the mentee (e.g., “legislation on housing rights”).
-To maintain and continuously reinforce a positive, constructive and trustful relationship with the mentee (taking in consideration that children need time, opportunities to connect and develop activities together, and moments of confidence and sharing which require flexibility and support from the LCP).
-The LCP will be prepared to adequately address emotional distress and self-confidence/self-concept doubts/difficulties, especially in relation to housing and housing related issues.
-The LCP will use common language (if technical concepts are needed, they will be explained through practical examples, analogies and/or personal experiences) to ensure the mentee properly understands what is being said. Please focus on the aspects/dimensions of Housing that are perceived as relevant and as a priority for the mentee.
-The LCP will focus on establishing a positive, constructing and trustful relationship with the mentee. To do so, he/she will have an open minded, flexible approach, and will ensure the mentoring process occurs accordingly to the mentee’s needs, interests, capacities and expectations. Let the child dictate the timings of disclosure and the evolution path of the mentoring process. This might implicate adjustments in the objectives, contents, methodologies and/or activities of each session- in order to enhance efficiency and efficacy of the mentorship. This does not mean, however, that this guideline is to be discarded – it will always guide the mentoring path, even though each path will, evidently, be unique.
Each mentoring path is singular, and this is part of its richness. Therefore, no structured mandatory activities will be suggested for the 9 sessions of mentoring. Instead we propose to give suggestions for LCP and mentee to consider and to implement, with the flexibility and adaptation that are needed.
For this meeting, the suggestion is for the LCP to focus on discussing:
Part A
- Review of the previous sessions’ experiences – major positive elements, what needs change/improvement, emotional state of mind during and after the sessions,
- Help develop a doable action plan and support its implementation (regarding the topics addressed so far): give support on identification of objectives, signalization of initiatives/actions, definition of major steps to accomplish objectives, definition of monitoring strategies.
- Provide constructive feedback
- Identify strengths and achievements and explore options
- Coach on specific areas of difficulty/needs if need
- Create opportunities for mentees to gain experience
Part B
- Housing
a. Wishes, priorities, possibilities and opportunities
b. Support to
i. develop intrapersonal reinforcement strategies regarding the process of searching, choosing, and renting/buying a house
ii. identify major goals, challenges and opportunities related to the choices made by the mentee
iii. build a plan and to operationalize the strategy chosen
iv. build and implement an efficient house searching strategy
A. Dealing with Closure
a. Prepare closure,
b. Expect unexpected reason to closure,
c. Be open to eventual need of support further on…
B. Housing
- Identifying the most important characteristics of a house for the mentee
Justification: Previous to any exploration of housing possibilities/opportunities it is important to know what the mentee wishes for his/her accommodation. One dynamic way to do it, which will also be relevant for the mentee to use when pursing housing opportunities, is to ask him/her to prepare a 5 lines document with the key elements a house must have. The LCP should help prepare this document and, additionally, to support mentee’s reflection on what he/she wishes a house to have and the main reasons why.
- “Going for it!” – Plan a strategy to find your house (or other accommodation)
Justification: For many ageing out children the most difficult component of housing is not, necessarily, the identification of the “accommodation” they wish to have but to plan and implement an efficient strategy to actively find it and maintain it. This activity is, in its essence, the development of the first stages of this strategy – to have a doable action plan for housing seeking. To do it, mentee and LCP need to decide the template they wish to use (on scenario paper, on computer program – word, Power Point, directly in a A4 sheet, by post-it that will be glued together and after an organized document will be produced). With LCP’s support, mentee will identify major goals, challenges and opportunities related to housing. A strategy with the operationalization of the actions chosen. During the implementation of the strategy, the plan should be regularly monitored and updated.
- “Intrapersonal reinforcement strategies”: Simulation of difficult, emotionally challenging and positive situations regarding housing search issues”.
Intrapersonal rewarding from the mentee to him/herself could be: “Very well! I am amazing”! or “I nailed it! I will reward myself with a movie with friends!”
Justification: This session is particularly challenging for the majority of the mentees. It is essential that the mentee develops strong intrapersonal reinforcement strategies to cope with all these challenges in an assertive way. To train this skill we propose that LCP and mentee practice, using simulation techniques, different situations, reactions and outcomes – the main goal is to reinforce acceptance, positive coping styles and the mentee strengths.
4. Final evaluation of the mentoring journey and closure: LCP and mentee will discuss the achievements, challenges, difficulties and strategies to overcome them, among all other issues they decide to bring up during this assessment discussion. The LCP will focus on positive and constructive feedback and suggestions for further enhancements and improvements. A strategy for punctual follow up and/or help must be put in place.