Understanding and Preventing Premature Closures of Youth Mentoring Relationships: Mentor, Parent and Program Staff Perspectives

Youth mentoring relationship endings have received limited empirical attention, despite their frequent occurrence. Many programs hope relationships formed will grow into ties that are sustained indefinitely. However, a third to a half of relationships end before their initial time commitment is met (Grossman & Rhodes, 2002; Bernstein et al., 2009) with evidence suggesting that how the match ends matters (Spencer, et al., 2014). The present study examined the nature of relationship endings in matches made through four affiliates of a national community-based youth mentoring program. Using a systemic model of youth mentoring relationships (Keller, 2005), factors contributing to premature closures were identified, and how such closures were handled and experienced by the participants and program staff were examined.

Participants were the mentor, the youth's guardian, and the program staff representing 24 mentor-youth matches that ended before reaching their 12-month commitment. All completed in-depth, semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews at the time the match ended. Participants were asked to describe why and how the match ended and the impact of these endings. All interviews associated with each case were coded together using thematic analysis by single coders, who then constructed a narrative summary of the case. The coder then met with two master coders to identify patterns using the lens of Keller's (2005) systematic model. Triangles depicting the nature and strength of the relationships between the participants (mentor, youth, guardian, and program staff) as well as personal characteristics and context were constructed and then compared across cases.

Not surprisingly, mentoring relationships tended to end if the mentor-youth relationship was perceived to be weak, and in particular if the mentor felt dissatisfied.  However, even when the pair did connect, some matches ended when other relationships were not sufficiently strong.  Problems in the mentor-guardian relationship were identified, including unrealistic expectations of the other and communication or scheduling challenges, which were taken personally or as an indication of a lack of interest.  Program support of mentors also was implicated, particularly when the youth faced significant challenges.  Several comments by mentors and program staff reflected biases and judgments regarding families related to cultural or socio-economic differences.  Also of note were perceptions by staff that formal closure procedures were not essential when the match was short or they saw little evidence of much connection between the mentor and youth.  When matches ended without a formal goodbye, participants expressed feeling confused, disappointed or even guilty. 

Taking a systemic view of mentoring relationship closures further confirmed the importance of the mentor-youth connection but also illuminated the crucial role that other relationships (parent-mentor, staff-mentor) play. These findings suggest that greater attention to issues such as expectations for the match experience, cultural competency and understanding family stress in training, preparation and support for mentors, guardians and program staff could be helpful. Consistent with previous research examining how matches close, matches that ended without any formal goodbye often had a negative impact on participants, suggesting a need for mentoring programs to devote more effort to facilitating positive closure when relationships do end.