Mentoring Youth to Inspire Meaningful Employment
Program overview
Employment preparation program with mentorship-centered model: Mentoring Youth to Inspire Meaningful Employment (MY TIME) is a career readiness program for foster youth. MY TIME aims to alleviate the barriers to employment faced by foster care youth and does this through two key program elements: workforce readiness training and ongoing mentorship.
Serving foster care youth under contract with the local DCFS: MY TIME operates through a partnership with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. While DCFS is the program's primary source of referrals, schools and local nonprofits can also refer participants to the program. MY TIME serves young people aged 18-24 (previously, 17.5-21) who have an open child welfare case in the county in which the program is operating.
Targeted training to assist in the employment process: MY TIME features a five-day training series aimed at helping participants succeed in the job search process and in future employment. These small-group sessions are interactive and cover topics like career exploration, resume writing, workers’ rights, taxes and budgeting, and mock interviews.
Involved mentors to help support the process and facilitate participant success: Participants are first assigned to an employment mentor to help guide them through the program. Mentors typically remind participants of training and meetings, help them fill out job applications, prepare them for interviews, offer transportation to and from interviews and the first day of work, and identify potential employers that would be a good fit for their interests. Most importantly, mentors foster genuine relationships with the participant and their support systems (foster and/or biological parents, friends, and case workers).
Continuing engagement after the end of the program: Participants move into a stage called “aftercare” if they have been employed for 90 days, quit their job without apparent reason, or have not made reasonable progress in their job search as determined by their employment mentor. During aftercare, MY TIME staff do not actively work with participants, but the program continues to send them information on job fairs and hiring events, as well as invites to MY TIME events to maintain community and monitor wellbeing.
A single study with a less rigorous design suggests that MY TIME is a promising strategy for improving employment outcomes for foster care youth.
- A 2021 program evaluation found that increased engagement in the program was generally associated with higher application completion and attainment of employment. The study separated participants into four quartiles according to the number of contact activities, and took a random sample of ten participants for each quartile. Participants in Q1 (1-8 contact activities) had 0 completed applications and only one person hired, while participants in Q4 (40-110 contact activities) had 100% of its sample participants complete an application and attain employment
Prioritizing relationship-building through mentorship with ongoing contact: MY TIME’s key feature is its mentorship program, which ensures each participant has a stable and committed adult figure helping them on their career path. Mentors prioritize contact with participants, ensuring their mentees always feel supported and connected with their mentor. Establishing these genuine relationships is crucial for program success – and the more contact a mentor has with their client, the more successful their outcome is expected to be.
Establishing a safe space for participants to use: The nonprofit that operates MY TIME in Illinois provides a physical space that participants are welcome and encouraged to use. This building offers meeting spaces for participants and mentors, a kitchen to prepare food, and free to use computers to conduct their job search, submit applications, and check their email. It also serves as a space for participants to spend time with each other, building connections with fellow foster care youth and MY TIME staff. Organizations considering a replication of this model may consider providing a similar resource for participants and mentors.
Offering professional clothing: Since the lack of professional clothing is often a barrier to employment for foster care youth, MY TIME maintains a closet of donated professional and business casual clothing, allowing participants to look their best for interviews and work. If the closet does not have the needed size options, mentors take their participants to a local thrift store to fulfill this need. Offering these clothing options contributes to the success of the program.
Providing transportation support: Foster care youth often face difficulties accessing reliable transportation to the workplace. To address this, MY TIME provides participants with transit passes for their first month of work, in addition to mentors offering rides to and from interviews and the first day of work. MY TIME may also provide additional funding for transportation costs like a driver’s license exam. This support is important for youth without reliable access to transportation trying to successfully enter the workforce and should be an aspect of any replication of the program.