Entries by Jean Rhodes

Are supportive relationships enough? The great debate continues

by Jean Rhodes In their provocative new paper, Back to the Future: Mentoring as Means and End in Promoting Child Mental Health, mentoring experts Tim Cavell, Renée Spencer & Sam D. McQuillin make the case for several approaches, including the “supportive mentoring” approach, wherein the “mentoring relationship is not intended as a targeted intervention designed to produce […]

“I thought, are you serious, really, in the United States of America?”: How a revolutionary new social policy will lift mentees’ lives

By Jean Rhodes Let’s take a moment to celebrate some really good news for American youth and their families. Tucked into the new economic stimulus bill is the most sweeping anti-poverty effort in generations.– a guaranteed income for families with children. Although this provision hasn’t gotten much attention, it is expected to cut child poverty […]

Now more than ever: Best practices for working with immigrant youth

by Jean Rhodes Editor’s note: Mentors who are working with the many immigrant children in our country are, no doubt, concerned about the immigration-related policies of the former administration, including its the anti-immigration rhetoric and hate incidents/speech of recent months. Although President Biden is seeking to reverse many of the measures, and restore DACA, the policies […]

Making the case for paraprofessional mentoring …40 years ago

by Jean Rhodes In 1979, a young psychology professor named Joseph Durlak published a controversial study in Psychological Bulletin that sent ripples through the helping professions. What Joe sought to do was to combine all published studies that had compared the outcomes of experienced psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers with those of paraprofessionals (i.e., nonexpert, […]

MENTOR announces new tool that helps middle and high school student prepare for their future!

MENTOR and American Student Assistance are excited to share ASA Futurescape™, a no-cost tool that helps middle and high school students prepare for their futures anytime, anywhere. ASA Futurescape™ is the mobile-first experience that lets students explore thousands of education and career paths on their own terms. Futurescape is 100% personalized and 100% free. Powered […]

Profiles in Mentoring: Psychologist Lawrence Steinberg explains the perils of expecting adolescents to maintain social distant

In a New York Times piece, leading adolescent psychologist, Lawrence Steinberg (as excerpted below) gives three reasons that expectations for social distancing and mature COVID responses are may be unrealistic. “These plans are so unrealistically optimistic that they border on delusional and could lead to outbreaks of Covid-19 among students, faculty and staff. My skepticism […]