Report uncovers flaws in youth mentoring

- The Centre for Policy Studies - no friend of this government is it?

It views a lot of current government policy as state interference that undermines parental authority. Introducing "mentors of variable quality" into the lives of troubled young people is viewed as another manifestation of this trend. In the report's foreword, centre director Jill Kirby says mentoring is at best a sticking plaster unless and until government "incentivises marriage and fatherhood and encourages parental responsibility".

- So what kind of things are wrong with how it is being practised?

The report criticises the Approved Provider Standard for mentoring, which it says is far from a rigorous assessment tool and instead a form-filling exercise that allows inexperienced adults to spend large amounts of time unsupervised with troubled adolescents. It also takes issue with the strategic body developing this area, the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, and the emphasis on goal-setting and education or employment outcomes. It claims this is a different agenda to that of most young mentees, who are likely to be seeking consistent support from an adult.