Mentors are well positioned to

by Jean Rhodes

This week, Dr. Alexandra Werntz, Sam McQuillin, Tom Keller and several other colleagues are presenting data at the 2024 Summer Institute on youth Mentoring

 

hat show that the demand mental health services, including those provided by psychologists, counselors, and social workers,  vastly exceeds the supply. Indeed, less than a third of children and adolescents who needed mental health and related care actually received any services, most of which were not empirically supported. These rates are even lower in ethnic minority populations.

As we have argued, training paraprofessionals in therapeutic mentoring and/or simply learning how to provide evidence-based mental health care will help narrow service gaps. The fact is that, whether they want to or not, many mentors will encounter mental health struggles. Likewise, even if every professional who provided youth services worked around the clock, there would simply never be enough of them to meet the needs of today’s youth. Most professional mental health workers earn graduate degrees and professional licenses that require several years of study and certification and their specialized services are in high demand. Many youth-serving mental health facilities are at capacity and have long waiting lists, and annual rates of staff turnover in the child- and adolescent-serving mental health workforce exceed 50%.

This gap will only widen unless there are substantial structural changes in how mental health services are provided. Mentors are well-positioned to help. Programs that provide academic or career credentials can recognize mentors’ training and service hours and sustain their commitment through the inevitable trials and tribulations of working with today’s mentees.

This might include finding ways for mentors to satisfy pre-professional training requirements through access to professional supervision and/or providing opportunities for mentors to earn college credit, continuing education units, certifications, and other micro-credential. Learning management systems like MentorPRO Academy offer such training and certification.

The need for balance

Volunteers will need the training and support to strike a balance between friendship and goals, and guard against rigidity and the impulse to put goal attainment above relationship formation and maintenance.  This will involve finesse, flexibility, and a willingness to suspend or abandon planned lessons and activities when adherence contributes to an erosion of relationship building and trust. Striking this balance will improve mentor retention and ensure that the field retains its central identity and mission of providing relationship-based change.