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Mentor Michigan Census Builds Understanding of Mentoring in State

Reposted from email I receive:

Mentor Michigan Census Reports Available

April 12, 2011: Mentor Michigan, a MENTOR affiliate, has now made the latest Mentor Michigan Census (MMC) available online.

This is Wave VIII of the census, which is a survey of organizations operating mentoring programs in the state of Michigan. It was conducted in the fall of 2010, and 137 organizations responded for a 58 percent response rate.

Among the findings of this survey:
* Various academic outcomes are an area of focus for more than 80 percent of responding programs, including school-based programs. Within academics, improved attendance and grades/GPA are the highest priorities. Additional focus areas reported included pro-social skills and health and wellness.

* The biggest changes in demographics since the last survey were a 4 percent increase in mentees between 12 and 14, as well as a 4 percent decline in African-American youth served.

* The biggest improvements in registry-based screening procedures were for use of SafetyNET, which increased by 8 percent since the last survey. (SafetyNET was the highly-successful pilot program that allowed youth-serving organizations access to the nationwide FBI fingerprint database in screening potential volunteers and employees. SafetyNET ended March 31, and a bill to create a permanent successor to it has been introduced in both houses of Congress.)

* Wave VIII showed a small increase in mentor retention; however, the percentage of male mentors — new and returning — has decreased.

According to Mentor Michigan Director Amber Troupe, "The primary purpose of the MMC is to understand the scope and nature of mentoring and mentoring organizations in our state. Specifically, we aim to identify, count, describe and track mentoring organizations, programs, mentors and mentees; understand program components, processes, resources and needs; and encourage and support program evaluation."

"The more information we know about the mentoring programs we serve, the more help we can offer them toward becoming even more effective," noted MENTOR President and CEO Dr. Larry Wright.

To hear more about Mentor Michigan's MMC, Wave VIII, register for the free, online webinar being hosted by evaluator Bob Kahle this Thursday, April 14, at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/564339762. To access all current and past MMC reports, go to www.michigan.gov/mentormichigan/0,1607,7-193--110977--,00.html. For more information about youth mentoring in general, visit www.mentoring.org.

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Tutor/Mentor Connection comment: We would be doing this type of census for Chicagoland if the money were available. We'd use the information to support marketing that builds on strong programs and helps improve weak programs, while helping new programs grow where too few now exist.