Youth Mentoring Project

This project will develop a statewide mentoring program for youth with special health care needs. The project will continue to follow mentor/mentee pairs matched during year-one of the project and create new mentoring matches, as appropriate. Recruitment of young adults who would be willing to serve as mentors to youth with special health care needs currently in transition will continue. In collaboration with the CCHSN, the project will screen and select young adult mentors. HDI will review mentor applications and provide mentor training for eligible prospective mentors. Mentor training will be held using a method that is most efficient for the mentor and the trainers (face-to-face, via communication technology, etc.). Mentor trainings include competency based components, and are based upon: a) evidenced-based strategies for successful mentoring; and b) an analysis of the barriers to successful transition, as well successful strategies, identified by our young adult participants. Mentoring resources will be housed on the project website. Upon completion of the mentor training, the project will assist the Commission with matching mentors with youth with special health care needs who are currently in transition, and will continue to provide follow along support and monitoring of the mentor/mentee matches. The project will develop quarterly progress reports with due dates of October 31, January 31, and April 30; hold periodic conference calls or meeting with Commission staff to review progress; and develop a Final Report for the Commission describing each of the activities, evaluation summaries for each activity, and recommendations for sustaining the network into the future, to be submitted by July 31, 2015.