Download Changes NSM Pilot Mentoring Programme Policy and Procedures

Changes NSM Pilot Mentoring Programme
Policy and Procedures
Overview
Changes is a user-led mental health charity based in North Staffordshire
providing a unique recovery service to those in mental distress, based on
users attending weekly mutual help support groups and following Changes 12
step recovery programme, Access to Changes service is open and open
ended, no referral is needed Groups work on the principle of mutual help, i.e.
where people in mental distress can join together to help each other. To
facilitate this process, groups are coordinated by 2 trained volunteers, (known
as Co-coordinators) and follow a Group Method, (i.e. set agenda and
protocol). Changes aims to promote Wellness, Recovery and Social Inclusion
within Staffordshire for those experiencing mental distress. Our service offers,
guidance, encouragement and support, our service is essential in promoting
‘person centered’ recovery giving people the opportunity to live independently
and become active and contributing members of their immediate and wider
community.
The ultimate goal of Changes service is self-reliance. At Changes the
emphasis is on recovery and personal growth. Through attending Changes
mutual support groups you will develop your personal resources to the stage
where you are able to cope (and ultimately thrive) on your own. Regular
attendance to any of Changes groups or workshops will only benefit a
persons 'mental maintenance' that is to stay in recovery and to retain their
mental fitness. Some members go on to train as Coordinators and run their
own group. When experiencing mental health problems individuals are often
confronted with powerlessness. The Changes programme is empowering
within recovery and enables members to use their own abilities to regain (or
retain) control over their life, including managing problems and taking
responsibility for their decisions and actions.
The aim of this document is to outline the implementation of a peer-mentor
scheme to complement Changes service provision.
Mentor
The Home Office states - Mentors guide, motivate, encourage and inspire:
"Mentoring is a one-to-one, non-judgmental relationship in which an individual
mentor voluntarily gives time to support and encourage another. This
relationship is typically developed at a time of transition in the mentee’s life,
and lasts for a significant and sustained period."
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Mentors develop a personal relationship with their mentee. The role of a
mentor is to help build confidence, encourage, and challenge unhealthy
thinking/behaviour, whilst still offering support. During the time spent together
a mentee may want to access training or find a pathway into work voluntary or
paid A regular commitment made by the mentor is usually a few hours each
week and needs to both accept people as they are and inspire them to
achieve their best. This programme intends to offer people who experience
mental distress a complimentary service to work alongside mutual support
meetings.
Aim
The aim of the Changes mentoring project is to develop a one to one peer
mentoring service to be accessed by people within NSM to develop a
personalized plan of low level-emotional and practical support to improve
individual’s overall wellbeing.
Outcomes (for both mentor and mentee)
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Raised self-esteem and confidence
Reduced social isolation
Improved access to education, employment or training
Increased involvement in social and physical activities
Improved access to other changes services and mental health provision
NEW INSIGHTS SAMPL
Role Description and Person Specification – Volunteer
Mentor
Main role
To offer low-level emotional and practical support to any person/ persons on a
one to one basis to help improve general wellbeing.
Roles involved in mentoring
To meet and build a relationship with the mentee
To actively participate in social and recreational activities with the mentee to
increase their confidence and self-esteem.
To help develop and support your mentee through a personalized action plan
outlining goals and ambitions.
To encourage the person to attend group recreational activities with other
people to reduce isolation.
Tasks involved in mentoring
Completion of OCN training programme
Attend peer Mentor Training
Participate in other activities when required e.g. training and team building
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days
Maintain appropriate records of meetings and expenditure
Comply with mentoring health and safety procedures and other Changes
policies
Time Commitment
Meeting commitment with mentees will depend on the needs of an individual.
Mentors will be asked to take on a caseload of no more than 2 people at any
one time.
Volunteer Mentors should be aware of committing time to monthly supervision
sessions.
Qualities:
Be interested in mental health
Display an empathetic and caring attitude to people experiencing mental
distress
Possess knowledge to offer suitable advice and support
Good listening and communication skills
Ability to relate to young people
Recruitment
The recruitment of peer mentors will be focused around current Changes
volunteers who have completed / are completing the OCN accredited
Changes Coordinator Training Programme. Becoming a peer mentor will be
offered as an additional volunteering opportunity to those volunteers who
complete the course which compromises of attending 17 weeks of training
sessions and 35 mutual support meetings or workshops. This course will give
the volunteers suitable knowledge regarding supporting people suffering from
mental distress, however volunteers will be required to attend additional
training surrounding the principles and practice of mentoring.
When a volunteer expresses an interest in becoming a mentor, staff will meet
with individuals to discuss the roles and responsibilities of the position. All
volunteers should have already filled in a membership form and completed a
CRB check. Volunteers will also be asked to complete a matching form as
well as other forms relevant to the role
The mentoring pilot scheme will be offered to any person already attending
Changes mutual support groups - as an additional support
Training
It is the policy of the Changes pilot-mentoring programme that all mentors
complete the accredited OCN training programme prior to being matched with
a person in need of this service. Mentors must also complete a 3-hour training
course designed to provide volunteers with a deeper insight into some of the
potential issues of the person they will work with and the principles of
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mentoring. Topics will include confidentially, roles of a mentor, safety &
procedures. It is the responsibility of the program coordinator to plan, develop,
and deliver all training sessions with assistance from other agency staff and
volunteers. Evaluation forms will be collected from each training session for
the purposes of evaluating/improving the content of the trainings and trainer
performance. Volunteers will be encouraged to suggest additional training that
they may find useful in the delivery of their role. This will be considered and
provided by Changes staff if needed.
Matching
Changes staff will meet with any potential mentor and mentee to assess their
suitability for the scheme and to determine the suitability of a mentor/mentee
match.
The program coordinator will determine the suitability based on the following
criteria:
Preferences of the mentor/ mentee,
Similar gender/ethnicity 
Common interests 
Geographic proximity
Similar personalities
Matches must be either male adult to male or female adult to female. In
special circumstances it is acceptable for female mentors to be matched with
a male. It is never acceptable for male mentors to be matched with females.
A meeting with prospective mentee, mentor and Changes staff will be held to
gauge initial suitability. If both parties agree to the match, they will be
encouraged to make contact with each other to arrange the first meeting. In
the initial 3 way meeting, we will outline the time scale of the match and the
goals that the mentee wishes to achieve with the help of their mentor. This
will be based on a person individuals needs as discussed during the
introductory meeting with a Changes staff member. A mentoring agreement
will then be developed and signed by all parties, including the mentor, mentee
and staff member. A copy will be given to mentee and mentor and the original
will be kept in the case file.
Once the match is established, Changes staff will make monthly phone calls
or ask the mentor to come into the office for an update. Staff must gather
information for that month including the dates and times spent participating in
mentoring activities and a description of those activities, and assess the
success of the match from all party’s perspectives. In the case of match
difficulties, discord, or concerns, appropriate discussion and intervention must
be undertaken to improve or rectify problem areas.
Beyond monitoring the match relationship and activities, program staff will
undertake other efforts that support participants,
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Supervision
Once matched, the programme coordinator will be assigned to support and
monitor the mentoring relationship.
Within one week of the first activity date of a new match, the assigned staff
person will make phone/personal contact with all parties to determine how the
first meeting went. At that time, they will make their first entries in the Report
Logs in each file.
After this initial contact, the assigned staff member will then follow up monthly
by phone with the mentor to gather information regarding meeting dates,
times, activities, and how the match is proceeding. Three attempts to contact
each party will be made in a given month before a written letter or note will be
mailed requesting they call the programme coordinator.
With each contact, information will be recorded on two forms in the case files:
Mentor or Mentee Contact Sheets: An entry will be made on the respective
Mentor/Mentee Contact Sheet that supervision contact was made, noting if a
Report Log was filled out, a message was left, or there was no answer. The
respective Mentor/Mentee Contact Sheet should be completed each time a
mentor or mentee makes contact even if outside monthly supervision times.
Report Log: Detailed information regarding the dates, times, activities, and
progress of the match will be recorded on the respective Report Logs during
monthly supervision meetings with the mentors.
In order to assess how the match is proceeding, programme staff may inquire
if any core issues have arose as well as inquiring about any of the below: 
Are they enjoying participating in the match? How do they feel it is going? Are
they having any difficulties? Is the relationship developing, as they would like?
If not, are there reasons you feel this is not happening are there any concerns
or issues that should be addressed by program staff? Do they need more
support or any intervention?
If the coordinator assesses that there is a potential problem with the match,
the coordinator will attempt to clarify the potential problem and work with the
mentor and mentee to resolve the issue. The general process for resolving
problems will follow the IDEAL model that includes:

Identify the problem and have a clear, shared understanding of the problem
between the mentor and mentee.
Develop alternative solutions that could address the problem.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each solution.
Act on the most constructive solution
Learn from how the solution worked and repeat the IDEAL process if
necessary.
When the match problem involves a lack of contact on the part of the mentor
or mentee, the programme staff must investigate the reasons for lack of
contact with the offending party, and make efforts to ensure the match is
meeting according to the contracted amount of time per month.
If a problem area continues, the coordinator should consult with their line
Manager to define a viable approach to addressing the problem and
proposing potential solutions.
If the problem cannot be resolved, formally closing the match may be
necessary. At that time, it would be determined if either or both parties are
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suitable for matching with other partners.
All support and supervision by programme staff must be recorded on the
respective Mentor/Mentee Contact Sheets, referencing any notes included in
the files.
Changes programme coordinator will closely monitor the caseload of each
mentor. No mentor will have a caseload of more than 2 individuals. If the
mentor feels as if their caseload is becoming unmanageable, a meeting with
the mentor and Changes staff will be agreed to suit both parties to discuss the
closure of a match and the allocation of another mentor.
POLINEW INSIGHTS SAMPLE POLICY
Meetings
It is important that both parties comply with the agreed number of meetings
per month stated at the initial meeting and recorded on the mentoring
agreement.
After each meeting, the mentor should complete a Meeting Log, outlining the
nature and outcome of the meeting. These should be returned to the Changes
office during the monthly supervision meetings.
Mentors should ensure they arrange a bi-monthly meeting with the mentee to
monitor individual progress.
It is imperative that both parties follow the guidelines stated in this
section to ensure meetings are conducted in accordance to Changes
health and safety procedures.
Mentors should never give out personal details to their mentees including:
personal contact numbers, address or postcode.
Mentors should contact their mentees on allocated mobile phones or on the
Changes office number only.
Meetings should be agreed each week by both parties and mentors should
notify the programme coordinator of the mentee name, date, time and location
of each meeting.
Mentors should contact the programme coordinator before and directly after
each meeting to ensure the safety of the individual. If contact has not been
made with a Changes staff member by the mentor directly after a meeting, all
efforts will be made to contact the mentor on their personal numbers or at
their home address. If contact has not been made, Changes staff will make
contact with the emergency contact number given by the mentor.
Meetings should be held in a public location and never in the home of either
party.
Meetings should only be held between 9am and 9pm Monday to Friday. No
meetings should be conducted on Saturdays or Sundays.
Contact between mentor and mentee should also adhere to the times stated
above.
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Mentors should turn off their phones during non-allocated times and mentees
should not try to contact their mentors during these times.
If any of the guidelines are ignored, Changes staff will contact individuals and
appropriate action will be taken which may include the closure of a match.
Any mentor or mentee found to be consistently ignoring the guidelines will be
asked to leave the programme.
Closure
All mentors and mentees must participate in closure procedures when their
match ends. Closure is defined as the ending of a formal match relationship
regardless of the circumstances of the match ending or whether they intend to
have future contact informally beyond the match duration.
Closure can occur for any number of reasons including: the contracted match
duration has ended, one or both participants do not want to continue the
match, there are changes in life circumstances of either the mentor or
mentee, or an individual no longer meets the requirements for programme
participation. Hence, the match may end at the discretion of the mentor,
mentee or programme coordinator. It is left to the discretion of the programme
coordinator whether an individual will be reassigned to another match in the
future based upon past participation performance and current goals and
needs of the program.
The initial duration of the match will be determined in the 3 way meeting and
be based on the mentee’s target sheet. After this set amount of time, the
match will be terminated. If the targets outlined have not been met,
programme coordinator will evaluate the outcomes of the match with the
person and suggest alternative provision i.e. accessing mutual support
meetings, alternative mentoring or in some cases an extension of the initial
mentoring agreement.
At the point it is decided that a match is closing, the mentoring programmed
coordinator will fill out a Match Closure Summary form and supervise and
instruct all participants through the closure process. A copy of the Match
Closure Summary will be placed in both the mentor and mentee files. All
closures must be classified as to the reason for the match ending. The major
classifications are as follows and the circumstances will dictate the procedure
to be followed:
Planned
A planned closure is one that has been known for a period of time such as
three months or more. Common reasons for planning a match closure may
include the match is reaching the end of the commitment, the mentee ages
out of the program, and/or the goals of the match have been achieved.
Extenuating
Extenuating circumstances for match closure are usually more sudden in
nature, and beyond the control of the programme and/or its participants, i.e.,
relocation or moving away, or an unexpected personal crisis.
Difficult
A difficult match closure is due to relationship or behavioral difficulties, i.e.
lack of cooperation or contact, parental disapproval, irreconcilable issues, lack
of compatibility, and/or violations of program policies.
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Monitoring
Monitoring is the routine and systematic collection of information against a
plan. Changes will keep the following records for monitoring purposes to
maintain effective delivery of services:
Numbers of Mentors completing mentor training programme
Number of mentee enquiries
Total number of matches
Age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religion of participants
Total number of contact hours
Total number of matching closures
Changes in self-esteem and confidence levels
Number of referrals to other services
Number of attendances at changes mutual support meetings
Number of application forms completed for education/ employment/ training
Numbers of attendances in social or physical activities
These indicators will be measured via the following methods of information
collection:
Membership Forms
Meeting Logs
Training registers and training evaluations
Action plans
Mentoring agreements
Report logs
Contact sheets
Personal Evaluation Forms
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