Supporting Our Youth Mentoring Policy and Procedure Manual

Criteria for Involvement in Supporting Our Youth: Mentoring and Housing for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Transgender Youth

The ultimate decision about whether an adult or youth is eligible to be involved in Supporting Our Youth: Mentoring and Housing for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Transgender Youth rests with the staff of the project, and will be based on the complete assessment process, as described in this manual, as well as an evaluation of the needs of youth who present themselves and the capacities of available mentors.

Criteria for Youth Involvement in Supporting Our Youth: Mentoring and Housing for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Transgender Youth

Youth who wish to become involved in this program must meet the following criteria:

1. 1. they must be between 16 and 25 years of age;
2. 2. they must identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender or queer, or be questioning their sexual orientation or gender status.

Apart from the above criteria, youth may vary in a number of different ways:

• some youth will be very "out" and comfortable with their sexual orientation and gender status; others may be unsure about their sexual orientation or gender status, and not very comfortable about not being heterosexual or not complying with traditional gender identity;
• some youth will have fairly positive relationships with their parents and be living at home, but want to be connected to an adult mentor to help them learn about and integrate into the community; others will be living at home, but not be out to their families, or have very problematic family relationships, and want a positive adult in their lives to help them through the coming out process and for informal support in dealing with their families;
• some youth may only recently have been forced to leave their families; others may have been living independently for a very long time, including some history of street involvement;
• some youth may have had some involvement with substance abuse, prostitution, criminal activity, shelters or homelessness; others will not have been involved in any of these activities or lived in these circumstances;
• some youth may have a history of street involvement, and want to be connected to an adult mentor as part of the process of moving off the street;
• many youth who need supportive housing may come from chaotic families which have had difficulty coping with any kind of stress, and responded to the fact that their child was dealing with issues related to sexual orientation or gender by rejecting them, or with such negativity that the child felt he/she had no choice but to leave home;
• other youth may come from fairly stable homes, but their parents were unable to accept or support their struggles around sexual orientation or gender because of their strong cultural or religious beliefs;
• some youth will be fairly mature and able to live fairly independently, but prefer to be in a safe household where they can have some positive adult contact; others will be incapable of living independently and will need a lot of "parental" support and guidance;
• some youth will be seeing a counsellor on a regular basis, and also want informal contact with an adult mentor to help them integrate into the community; others will not have any connections with a counsellor or other service provider;
• some youth may be 15 years of age, and be wards of the child welfare system; others may be former wards of the child welfare system, who are in transition to independence and still eligible for financial assistance from the child welfare system;
• some youth will be in high school or university, some will be employed or in training programs, others will be unemployed;
• some youth will be eligible for social assistance, including student welfare, general welfare, or disability; others will have no independent financial resources;
• some youth may be HIV+ or have AIDS, or have other physical and/or emotional disabilities;
• youth will come from a variety of different cultural or religious backgrounds, where homosexuality, bisexuality, transsexuality and transgenderism are understood and responded to in different ways.

Criteria for Adult Involvement in Supporting Our Youth: Mentoring and Housing for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Transgender Youth

Adults who wish to become mentors in the mentoring and housing program must meet the following criteria:

1. they must be 26 years of age or older;
2. they must have completed the entire application process including: attending the orientation session and mandatory training sessions, completing the mentor application form, providing personal and medical references, undergoing a criminal record check, participating in a personal interview to assess their suitability to be mentors;
3. they must sign an agreement to maintain confidentiality and abide by the policies of the project;
4. they must agree to be a mentor, or to be available as a mentor, for a period of at least one year following the completion of the entire application process;
5. housing mentors must have sufficient space in their households to allow a youth to have a private bedroom.

Apart from the above criteria, mentors will vary in a number of different ways:

• they may be single or in a relationship;
• they may be parents;
• they may be students, employed, self-employed, retired, or unemployed;
• they may have a comfortable income, or be on social assistance or disability benefits;
• they will come from diverse cultural or religious backgrounds;
• they may be HIV+ or have AIDS, or other disabilities.

The development of these on-line resources has been funded by
The Counselling Foundation of Canada