Supporting Our Youth Mentoring Policy and Procedure Manual

Mentor Application Process

Inquiry

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or transgender adults, 26 years of age or older, who are interested in further information about becoming involved as community or housing mentors are encouraged to call the project phone line at 416.924.2100 ext 247 and leave a message. The call will be returned by a volunteer or staff person involved with the program. They will be provided with more information about the program and invited to attend the next available orientation session.

Orientation Session

Orientation sessions will be held in the evening, and be 2 to 2 1/2 hours in length. A maximum of 15 potential mentors will be invited to attend each orientation session. Orientation sessions will be facilitated by program staff and volunteers. Every effort will be made to have a past or current mentor and/or youth attend each orientation session.

The purpose of the orientation sessions is:

1. to provide potential mentors with background information and more detailed information about the community and housing mentoring program;
2. to inform mentors about non-negotiable restrictions involved in mentoring;
3. to help potential mentors better understand the youth who might be matched with them;
4. to give potential mentors an opportunity to hear about the experiences of past or current mentors;
5. to help potential mentors better understand their motives for mentoring;
6. to inform potential mentors about the application, matching and follow-up process;
7. to enable potential mentors to screen themselves out, if appropriate;
8. to provide staff and volunteers with an opportunity to begin to assess potential mentors.

At the end of the session, potential mentors who indicate that they wish to continue with the process will be given a complete application package, including an application form, requests for personal and medical references, a criminal record check form, a signed agreement to confidentiality, and a signed agreement to adhere to the polices and procedures of the program.

Mentor Application Package

To officially apply to become a mentor, a mentor application package should include the following components:

1. mentor application form
2. reference requests form
3. consent to release of information for physician
4. mentor confidentiality agreement
5. consent to disclosure of criminal record
6. mentor agreement to policies of the program

An application package is not complete, and the assessment process will not begin, until all of the components listed above are included in the package. A mentor application file will be opened when all of the above completed documents are received by the program, along with funds to cover the cost of the criminal record check and physician's reference.

Where two individuals are applying to mentor "as a couple", each should complete the entire mentor application package. In the case of housing mentoring, where two individuals who are partners live in the same household, both are required to apply to be mentors.

a) Mentor Application Form: this form must be completed by each individual who is applying to mentor. All applicants must complete the first two pages of the application form; the shaded section on the third page is to be completed only by applicants who wish to be eligible for housing mentoring. All applications must be signed by the applicant at the bottom of the third page.

b) Reference Request Form: anyone applying to be a mentor in the program must provide the names of four references. One of these must be the applicant's physician, two should be personal references, and one should be a business, work or volunteer reference.

All references should be 19 year of age or older, and have known the applicant for at least two years.

Program staff will contact the references directly in writing, and ask for written references using the "Letter of Reference" form. If there is no response from references within three weeks after the Letter of Reference is mailed to them, staff or volunteers from the program will contact references by telephone to request that they complete and return the form. Should a reference refuse to complete the form, every effort will be made to determine the reasons for this, and this discussion will be documented on the applicant's file.

Should program staff or volunteers be unable to contact the reference, or should the reference be unable to provide the required information (due to illness, for example), applicants will be asked to provide the name of an alternative reference. In any case, the application process will not be deemed to be complete without two written personal references, one business/work/volunteer reference and a physician's reference.

Any information provided by references will be kept confidential and will not be shared without the consent of the references, except where disclosure is required by law. The information will be kept in the applicant's or mentor's file. Should an applicant or mentor request access to information on his or her file, all personal or work reference letters will be removed before the information is made available.

c) Physician Reference: every applicant must provide the name of a physician who will provide a medical reference. Applicants must also complete and sign a letter which gives consent to the release of information by the physician.

Applicants are responsible for paying any fee which a physician may charge for providing the reference. Applicants should contact their physician to determine the nature of the fee, if any, and include this amount with their application. Payment should be by cheque, payable to the physician. In exceptional circumstances, where payment of this fee would constitute a significant burden for the applicant, payment of the fee by the applicant may be waived, and will be covered by the program.

Any information provided by a physician will be utilized solely by the program, and will be kept confidential and not be shared without the consent of the applicant. The information will be kept in the applicant's or mentor's file.

d) Mentor Confidentially Agreement: all applicants must sign a mentor confidentiality agreement. This agreement should be witnessed by an individual of the applicant's choosing, and returned to the program as part of the application package.

e) Consent to Disclosure of Criminal Record: all applicants who reside in Toronto (that is, postal code starts with and "M") must sign the "Toronto Police Service***Consent to Disclosure of Personal Information***Police Reference Check Program". The sign should be witnessed by a person of the applicant's choosing. They should also enclose a cheque for $16.05, which includes GST, payable to "Toronto Police Service". Central Toronto Youth Services will forward the signed consent and the cheque to the police.

Applicants living outside Toronto (postal code does not begin with "M") should contact their local police department to obtain a criminal record check from them. The fee for police checks will vary from one police department to another. Information from this criminal record check should be forwarded or brought to program staff.

Toronto Police Services will conduct a search for the applicant's criminal record. If no criminal record is found, the form will be stamped "No Information Found" and returned to the Executive Director of Central Toronto Youth Services who will communicate this information to the Program Supervisor. If a criminal record is found, police will notify the Central Toronto Youth Services and the Program Supervisor that a "Summary Sheet" has been sent to the applicant. Applicants who receive summary sheets should contact the Program Supervisor and the Executive Director at Central Toronto Youth Services to request an appointment to review the Summary Sheet.

The applicant has the right to refuse to permit the Executive Director of Central Toronto Youth Services and the Program Supervisor to see the Summary Sheet. Should this happen, the application process will be terminated immediately.

If the applicant agrees to permit the Program Supervisor to see the Summary Sheet, it will be reviewed and information contained on it will be discussed with the applicant. Should the applicant wish to continue with the application process, program staff may decide to seek legal consultation regarding the information contained on the Summary Sheet. The Executive Director of Central Toronto Youth Services, in consultation with the Program Supervisor, will decide whether to continue with the application process or to terminate it. and ultimately, they have the right to decide whether a potential mentor is suitable for the program, based on this process.

Any information about an applicant's criminal record will be utilized solely by the program, and will be kept confidential.

Applicants are responsible for paying the fee for the criminal record check. In exceptional circumstances, where payment of this fee would constitute a significant burden for the applicant, payment of the fee by the applicant may be waived, and will be covered by the program.

f) Mentor Agreement to Policies of the Program: all applicants must sign an agreement to abide by the policies of the program. This agreement should be witnessed by an individual of the applicant's choosing, and returned to the program as part of the application package.

Mentor Training

All applicants and mentors must commit to attending initial and ongoing training sessions/workshops to be accepted and continue as mentors in the program.

Applicants must agree to attend two three-hour training sessions/workshops during the application process before they will be considered for a match with a youth. These initial training sessions/workshops will focus on developmental issues for youth, the relationship between youth and mentors, and current lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender youth culture.

To maintain their status with the program, all mentors who have been accepted into the program (including those who are not yet matched with a youth) must attend regular program meetings, support sessions, and ongoing training sessions/workshops. Some of these will be compulsory for all volunteers; others will be optional.

Mentor Interview

All applicants must undergo extensive interviews before they can be accepted as mentors in the program. Interviews must be conducted in the home of the applicant, regardless of whether the applicant is applying to be a housing mentor or a community mentor.

In the case of applicants for housing mentoring, all individuals living in the household will be interviewed. However, individuals living in the household who do not intend to be significantly involved in the mentoring process will undergo briefer interviews.

Individuals applying to mentor "as couples" will be interviewed jointly and separately. It is strongly recommended that non-residing partners of applicants also be interviewed if it is anticipated that they will have significant contact with youth placed with the mentor.

In situations where applicants indicate no criminal record, or program staff determine that the criminal record is unlikely to hamper the application process, interviews may be conducted after personal and physician medical references have been received (assuming the information obtained warrants proceeding with the application), but before the criminal record check has been obtained.

Interviews will be conducted by program staff and/or qualified volunteers. Notes will be taken during the interview process. It is anticipated that interviews will be about 2 hours in length, and will be conducted according to a predetermined format. Information from the interview will be assembled and maintained on file.

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