Resources: Review - The impact of mentoring on care-leavers' lives

The study uses a mixture of methods including a file search of 181 cases from 13 projects run by both local authorities and voluntary organisations, and a small sample of qualitative interviews of 17 young people, 12 mentors and 10 project co-ordinators. While there are limitations on the variety of sources for the data, the authors' detailed analysis complements an earlier study (Clayden and Stein, 2002, The Prince's Trust) and adds a consideration of the long-term impact of mentoring. It looks at relationships that had started between 2000 and 2002 and includes young people who had been mentored for up to three years. Most of the projects were either based in specialist leaving-care teams or had links with them, and had well-developed systems for mentor selection, support and feedback, as well as being members of a Prince's Trust network that shared a commitment to minimum standards.