Quality-Based Membership
Quality-Based Membership is a process for youth mentoring programs to acknowledge and receive recognition for what they are doing well. Created in part because programs and funders have requested an objective way to assess program quality, it also helps mentoring programs identify practice areas that could be more effective. This is similar to the assessment process the Memphis Mentoring Partnership (MMP) has followed in the past, but QBM will forge stronger relationships between mentoring organizations and the Partnership and give more meaning to the term “partner.” MENTOR colleagues across the country have adopted this approach to promote and support effective youth mentoring.
Quality-Based Membership
- Provides a meaningful “indicator of quality” for youth mentoring programs;
- Benchmarks program practices against national standards of excellence; and
- Demonstrates your commitment to excellence to potential mentors, funders, parents, and community partners
Mentoring programs can pursue three different levels of Quality-Based Membership
Affiliate: Affiliate members represent a broad range of program models, including those that are newly established within a larger non-profit agency or school, small and/or grassroots mentoring initiatives, or more formal programs that simply need an entry point for membership with MMP.
All new programs start on the road to membership as an Affiliate by completing a QBM application and participating in training and technical assistance to support the path to the Partner level.
Associate Partner: Associate Partner members are formal youth mentoring programs and organizations that have been in operation for at least one year. In addition, they are either in the process of conducting a program self-assessment, or have completed the self-assessment and are actively working to meet designated standards.
Partner: Partner members are formal youth mentoring programs and organizations that have completed a program self-assessment to benchmark their program practices according to the “Elements of Effective Practice.” Partners demonstrate adherence to these standards and have completed all other requirements for membership. These requirements include completing the quarterly statistical reports as requested, follow-up status reports on volunteers referred, and schedules of volunteer mentor training or other program events, as noted in the revised Memorandum of Agreement.
National Standards: The Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring
- Recruitment: Recruit appropriate mentors and mentees by realistically describing the programs aims and expected outcomes.
- Screening: Screen prospective mentors to determine whether they have the time, commitment, and personal qualities to be an effective mentor.
- Training: Train prospective mentors in the basic knowledge and skills needed to build an effective mentoring relationship.
- Matching: Match mentors and mentees along dimensions likely to increase the odds that mentoring relationships will endure.
- Monitoring and Support: Monitor mentoring relationship milestones and support mentors with ongoing advice, problem-solving support, and training opportunities for the duration of the relationship.
- Closure: Facilitate bringing the match to closure in a way that affirms the contributions of both the mentor and the mentee and offers both individuals the opportunity to assess the experience.