Report: An Exploratory Action Research Study Considering the Impact of Befriending and Mentoring Programmes for Children in Care and Care Leavers
Fiona Long, Emilia Preter, Clive Diaz , Shane Powell and Elen Newton
Summary
This report encapsulates the key findings from our evaluation of the Birmingham Trust’s Befriending and Mentoring Scheme. This scheme was established in recognition of the fact that care-experienced young people struggle more with social isolation and independent living skills than their non care-experienced peers (Rutman and Hubberstey, 2016). The Trust therefore developed a series of programmes which aimed to simultaneously help care-experienced young people to develop skills whilst building social connections. It also implemented a mentoring scheme in which young people were matched with a mentor who would meet with and support them on a weekly basis. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the scheme, we undertook a series of interviews with young people, professionals, and mentors; observed the programmes in action; and conducted one focus group.
Our findings highlight the multiple ways in which involvement in the scheme benefits care-experienced young people, including improvements to their health and wellbeing, increases in social interaction and networks, greater support networks, and the ability to learn and develop new skills. The report also reflects on the difficulties faced by the Trust in implementing scheme, including initial difficulties concerning organisation and continued challenges regarding demand and implications for funding. Given the benefits of mentoring and befriending, we recommend that this scheme, and others like it, continue to develop in order to support care-experienced young people, and in connection with this, that policymakers provide additional funding to better support this cohort of young people.
Evaluation objectives
The overall aim of this exploratory action research was to evaluate the perceived impact of the befriending and mentoring programme on children in care and care leavers in Birmingham, from the ages 16 to 25.
The following research questions aimed to address this:
To what extent do children in care and care leavers engage in the befriending and mentoring programme and what factors enable or inhibit this?
What are the experiences of children in care, care leavers, mentors and programme facilitators when engaging with the ‘I-hub’ programme in relation to the operation and value of activities offered?
What tangible impacts has the ‘I-hub’ programme had on the overall experiences of children in care and care leavers?
Our specific objectives were as follows:
To explore the experiences and perspectives of children in care and care leavers related to their relationships with mentors/befrienders, perceived benefits of the programme and areas for improvement.
To explore the viewpoints of volunteer mentors/befrienders on the relationships formed and the overall programme including strengths, challenges and potential changes needed.
To synthesise feedback from professionals on observed impacts that participation in the programme has had on participants skills, relationships, wellbeing and general outcomes.
The learning from this evaluation could help policy makers, senior managers, team managers, and practitioners to identify areas of good practice in Birmingham, whilst considering barriers and enablers to good practice when working with children in care.