Supporting Our Youth Mentoring Policy and Procedure Manual

Third Party Information/Complaints

The project is receptive to information or complaints about mentors or mentor matches from third parties if this information is relevant, or thought to be relevant, to the mentoring process. Every effort will be made to deal with this information in a thorough, respectful and expeditious manner. The following general guidelines will be employed in the handling of information or complaints from third parties.

Any information received from a third party about a mentor applicant, mentor, or mentoring match will be followed up by the project social worker, or in her absence, by the project supervisor, within two days of receiving the information or complaint. The manner in which the information is dealt with will depend on the source of the information, the way in which it was received, and the nature of the complaint.

1. Community Information or Complaints about Specific Mentors or Matches:

Information or a complaint from a community member may come to the attention of project staff through a telephone call, by letter or email, or in person. The professional skill and judgement of the social worker will determine the exact nature of the immediate response to information or complaint, with consideration to the following:

• the project values information or complaints about mentors or mentor matches from community members, when this information is relevant to the mentoring process;
• project staff will advise community members calling with information or complaints about mentors or mentoring matches whether or not the individual(s) named are participants in the project, although not about the exact nature of their involvement at the current time;
• if the individual(s) are not participating in the project, no further information will be heard;
• in the event of information or a complaint made by email or letter, every effort will be made to establish telephone or in person contact with the person providing information or making the complaint;
• once the nature of the information or complaint has been communicated to the social worker, the project has a responsibility to deal with it, in a manner that is deemed appropriate;
• the project cannot guarantee that the anonymity of the person providing the information or making the complaint will be maintained in the process of addressing the information or complaint with a mentor and/or youth;
• although the project will give serious consideration to the information or complaint, and address it as is deemed appropriate, the outcome of this process will not be communicated to the informant or complainant;
• should the person providing the information or making the complaint appear to be distressed or in need of support, the project social worker will suggest appropriate resources to them, if possible;
• information received from community sources will be documented in detail as soon as possible after it is communicated;
• the project social worker will consult with the project supervisor as soon as possible to determine an appropriate course of action;
• any contacts associated with the information or complaint, and the outcome, will be documented.

2. Community Inquiries or Complaints about the Project's Screening and Monitoring Process

In the event of a general inquiry or complaint about the project's screening or monitoring process, an effort will be make to determine the cause of the concern, or the circumstances that led to the inquiry. Should it become clear that the concern relates to an individual mentor or mentoring match, the process described above will be followed. Otherwise, the person inquiring or complaining will be informed of the project's policies and procedures for screening mentors and monitoring matches, and offered a written summary of this process.

3. Information or Complaint from an Adult or Youth Participant of the Mentoring and Housing Project

Should the information or complaint come from an adult or youth participant of the project, every effort will be made to meet with the adult or youth in person. The course of action that will subsequently follow will be determined by the project social worker, in consultation with the project supervisor, with reference to the guidelines outlined in 1 above.

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