Mentoring High Risk & System-Involved Youth – Bridging Research & Practice

Session 1: 9:55-11:55 (2 hour workshop)

Is your organization trying to develop, improve or expand a mentoring strategy aimed at reaching foster care, reentry, and juvenile justice system involved youth?  Wondering what the research says about serving these populations? This workshop will highlight research and practitioner innovations presented at the 2011 Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring (SIYM) at Portland State University, which was focused on mentoring youth who have had contact with child welfare or juvenile justice systems.  The SIYM offers an opportunity for experienced mentoring professionals to listen to presentations and participate in interactive discussions on the latest developments in theory and research on youth mentoring led by prominent, internationally recognized research fellows.  Participants in this session will have ample opportunities to discuss with other mentoring professionals effective strategies and unique challenges of working with this often hard-to-reach population. 

Workshop presenter Michael Garringer of the National Mentoring Center at Education Northwest, has attended the SIYM since 2008, each year summarizing the research shared into brief, easy-to-digest publications.  Polly Roach, Vice President of Strategic Services at MPM also attended the SIYM this past summer and one of our conference keynote presenters, Renee Spencer, was a featured researcher at the 2011 Summer Symposium on Mentoring Research, a one-day symposium offered in conjunction with the SIYM.  Both Polly Roach and Renee Spencer will be on hand throughout this workshop to share their observations and insights as well.

Intended Workshop Audience:  Programs serving foster care, reentry and juvenile justice involved youth.

Presented by Michael Garringer, Advisor at the National Mentoring Center Education Northwest, Renée Spencer, Ed.D., LICSW, Associate Professor at the Boston University School of Social Work and Polly Roach MSW, Vice President of Strategic Services at the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota

Michael Garringer is an information services professional with extensive experience in developing and disseminating collections of education-related materials. He has worked at the Education Northwest for 13 years in various information services roles. As Resource Advisor with the National Mentoring Center he provides mentoring programs nationwide with information, consultation, and resources to assist in the development, improvement, and evaluation of their program practices.

Michael is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous publications and guidebooks, including Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring, ABCs of School-Based Mentoring, and Peer Mentoring: An Introductory Guide. He recently developed the YouthBuild Mentoring Operations Manual, a guidebook governing the mentoring model used in YouthBuild sites around the United States. He currently serves as the administrator for the Mentoring Forums, a practitioner discussion forum with over 1,500 members.  He also has extensive experience in Web site development, graphic design, desktop publishing, and providing online reference services. Michael holds a B.A. in English from the University of Oregon. 

Dr. Renée Spencer is Associate Professor at Boston University School of Social Work. Her research focuses on youth mentoring, specifically relational processes in more and less successful relationships. She is currently conducting a mixed-methods longitudinal study of the development of youth mentoring relationships in community-based programs. She has published widely on youth mentoring and serves as a member of several boards and committees, including MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership Research and Policy Council, The Center for the Advancement of Mentoring (TCAM) National Cadre of Mentoring Researchers, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Research Advisory Council. 

Polly Roach leads the delivery of services to support youth-adult mentoring programs around the state, providing resources and technical assistance to strengthen their efforts to reach all youth in need of caring adult mentors. Before joining MPM in 2004, Roach directed a one-to-one mentoring program for girls at the YWCA of St. Paul for over 16 years. In that capacity, she was a founding member of the Metro Mentor Network and one of the first recipients of the Angel of Mentoring Awards. Roach received a master of social work degree from the University of Minnesota, focusing on services to children and families. She is actively involved in initiatives that promote meaningful youth-adult partnerships and advocacy for girls developmental needs. She is currently mentoring in the Longfellow United for Youth & Families-FUNdamentals tutoring program.