Webinar recording on preventing abuse now available
Last month the MRC did a webinar on preventing incidents of sexual abuse in mentoring programs. The presentation was done by John Pearson of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, who used his extensive expertise in tracking abuse cases in mentoring programs to teach staff what they need to be on the lookout for in spotting potential abusers in their programs.
You can view a recording of the presentation and download the information-packed handout on the MRC website at: http://www.edmentoring.org/seminar11.html
Does this webnar provide information for coaching volunteers on what they do when their mentee tells them, in confidence, about abuse going on in their family? Is there another thread in this forum that deals with this topic?
Does anyone have screeing tools for perspective mentors and guidlines for relationships to be reviewed with potential mentors. Information would be helpful to me as I am tryin to start a program for low income urban youth who many are LGBT.
Rlopez@acqc.org
Hi Rosemary!
You can find good advice on mentor screening in this downloadable resource:
The US Department of Education Mentoring Program’s Guide to Screening and Background Checks
This guide, developed in partnership with the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, addresses all aspects of screening adult volunteers to serve as mentors to youth in school-based settings. It examines the key characteristics of effective volunteer screening practices, provides an eight-step framework for screening applicants, and includes sample forms and worksheets programs can use as they set up their volunteer screening process.
Another good resource for starting up a program is the Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring guide.
Hi Rosemary,
In addition to the great resources from Michael, I would also suggest our publication, SAFE (Screening Applicants for Effectiveness): Guidelines to Prevent Child Molestation in Mentoring and Youth-Serving Organizations. Published in 2006, it offers research on child molesters, tools for programs to use in a screening and monitoring process (including sample forms), and other resources. Check it out at http://www.friendsforyouth.org/SAFE.html
We have offered SAFE trainings at different conferences and events in the past and are excited to be including webinars coming up in a few months! Look for more information soon on these forums or sign up on the Mentoring Institute's email list, http://www.friendsforyouth.org/MentoringInstitute.html
Feel free to call me if you have any other questions, too.
Sarah
Has anyone ever conducted a sexual assault awareness training with parents and/or mentees in their program? Is it possible to do this without planting the idea that mentors can be abusers? (We already have an extensive screening process for our mentors, including criminal background and personal reference checks, etc., so this would be in addition to those things).