Study Explores Case Managers’ Influence on Mentee-Mentor Match Outcomes

Karcher, M. J., Sass, D. A., Herrera, C., DuBois, D. L., Heubach, J., & Grossman, J. B. (2023). Pathways by which case managers’ match support influences youth mentoring outcomes:Testing the systemic model of youth mentoring. Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.23010

This study underscores the central role of case managers in shaping the quality and durability of youth mentoring relationships. Building on Thomas Keller’s systemic model, which argues that program staff can influence outcomes through multiple pathways, the study followed 758 mentor–mentee matches supported by 73 case managers across seven agencies in nontargeted programs. Researchers examined how the perceived quality of match support related to two outcomes—closeness and length—and mapped the routes by which support exerts its effects.

The results show a clear direct link between higher-quality match support and longer match length. Just as important, support quality also extended match length indirectly by cultivating more youth-centered interactions, encouraging a stronger focus on goals, and strengthening match closeness. Notably, support quality did not connect directly to goal orientation; rather, it was associated with youth-centeredness, which in turn was tied to goal focus. The contribution of goal-focused interactions to match length also depended on how close youth felt to their mentors.

Supervisor ratings of case manager support did not predict day-to-day match interactions or closeness, suggesting that programs should look beyond supervisory perceptions when assessing support quality. Overall, the findings affirm that capable case managers influence mentoring outcomes through multiple pathways, with youth-centered practice emerging as the first step that sets off a chain of stronger goals, greater closeness, and ultimately longer-lasting matches.

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