Supporting Our Youth Mentoring Policy and Procedure Manual

Types of Mentoring and/or Housing Arrangements

For the purposes of this project, the various mentoring and housing arrangements will be divided into two categories: community mentoring and supportive housing which includes a component of mentoring. Individual matches may shift from one type of arrangement to another, in consultation with project staff.

Community Mentoring

Community mentoring involves matching a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer or questioning youth, between 15 and 25 years of age, with an adult who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or transgender, or gay-positive or trans-positive adult, who is willing to be a "friend" and a positive adult role model to the youth in a regular, organized way. Community mentoring does not involve having the youth live with the community mentor, although the youth may stay at the home of the community mentor from time to time.

Community mentoring arrangements will be tailored to the specific developmental and social needs of the youth; the exact nature of the relationship will be spelled out in a contract between the youth and the community mentor at the time the match is made. All arrangements must conform with the project's policies and guidelines, as described in this manual.

Community mentoring may include a range of different arrangements, with varying degrees of intensity. Some examples are:

• meeting a youth for coffee on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues including personal stories about coming out or transitioning; life choices; the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender communities; community resources; human rights and political issues; etc;
• helping a youth become integrated into the lesbian, gay and bisexual communities by providing information and accompanying them to various activities such as movies or plays, Pride Day, concerts and cabarets, Gay Day at Wonderland, AIDS Vigil, sports activities, fund-raisers, etc;
• for youth who are alienated from their families, taking on some of the roles that are normally part of family functioning such as celebrating religious holidays (Christmas, Chanukah, New Years, etc) or the youth's birthday, as a component of community mentoring;
• involving the youth as a non-residing member of the community mentor's life and/or family for events such as regular home visits or dinners, special events, outings, etc.

Housing Mentoring

Housing mentoring involves having a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer or questioning youth, between 15 and 25 years of age, living in the home of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or transgender adult, or a gay-positive or trans-positive adult. The type of arrangement will be tailored to the specific developmental, social and financial needs/capacities of the youth and the resources/capabilities of the housing mentor. The exact nature of the relationship will be spelled out in a contract between the youth and the housing mentor at the time the placement is made. All arrangements must conform with the project's policies and guidelines, as described in this manual.

Housing mentoring may include a range of different arrangements, with varying degrees of independence on the part of the youth, and varying degrees of involvement on the part of the housing mentor. Youth may or may not contribute financially to a housing arrangement, depending on circumstances. Some examples are:

• a youth who is on student welfare rents a room in the house of an adult, but purchases his/her own food, and has little other involvement with the adult mentor;
• a youth who is working full-time rents a separate basement apartment in the home of an adult, and, apart from casual interactions, has little other involvement with the adult mentor;
• a youth who is in school and working part-time, but not on student welfare, lives in the home of an adult mentor, and is an integral part of the mentor's life and family; the mentor does not receive any financial reimbursement (the youth buys his own clothes and is responsible for his own spending money), and is significantly involved in a parental role;
• a youth who is 15 years of age is placed with an adult mentor by a child welfare agency; the mentor essentially becomes a foster parent, and receives a monthly payment to cover household costs and personal costs for the youth;
• a youth who is 19 years of age and used to be a crown ward lives in the home of an adult mentor; the youth receives a monthly living allowance, part of which is paid to the adult mentor for room and board; the youth is required to attend school or a training program, or to be working or involved in a job search in order to maintain the monthly living allowance;
• a youth who is employed lives in the home of an adult mentor; the youth contributes to costs, but essentially shares the adult mentor's house; the adult mentor provides some support and guidance, but the youth is essentially independent.

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