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EU MEGAN Project. Final Conference – September 2014, Brussels. Bettina Crossick – Project Director (NOMS) Lauren Small – Project Manager (Inclusion). MEGAN Project - Background. Follow on from MOMIE project – Models of Mentoring for Inclusion and Employment
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EU MEGAN Project Final Conference – September 2014, Brussels Bettina Crossick – Project Director (NOMS) Lauren Small – Project Manager (Inclusion)
MEGAN Project - Background • Follow on from MOMIE project – Models of Mentoring for Inclusion and Employment • Next step project - Mentoring Excluded Groups And Networks (MEGAN) • Funded by DG Employment, Inclusion and Social Affairs - PROGRESS (Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity) • November 2012 – October 2014
Why mentoring? • The effective engagement of vulnerable people including offenders is an important factor in terms of improving employment prospects, increasing integration and reducing re-offending, and mentoring can play a key part in delivering this engagement. • Support from a positive role model, particularly if provided through a quality mentoring or a one-to-one support scheme and as part of a package can help vulnerable people with for example the transition of offenders back into the community; access to employment services, education, accommodation.
What is the evidence? • Mentoring schemes are difficult to evaluate, because the nature of the mentoring can vary enormously. • Few mentoring programmes have been robustly evaluated for their effect on reducing re-offending or other outcomes. • Those that have been evaluated have shown mixed results, and there is little conclusive evidence about the impact of mentoring on reoffending levels.
Evidence of impact on outcomes • The best available evidence indicates that mentoring projects are associated with improvements in mentees’ employment outcomes, and can improve engagement in other programmes and interventions • More tentative evidence suggests an association with improvements in mentees’ housing situation and reducing their substance misuse. • Mentoring schemes are more likely to be most successful in when used as part of a package of interventions • Mentoring schemes appear to be more successful where mentors and mentees spend more time together at each meeting, and where they meet at least once a week.
MEGAN project and mentoring excluded groups • No good quality evidence exists about the impact of peer mentoring • Need to understand factors and issues that make a real difference to the lives of individuals • We need to support innovative projects • Rigorous evaluation to measure the outcomes of MEGAN is critical in order to continue our work
MEGAN Project - Aim “To pilot and evaluate mentoring as a means of facilitating the social inclusion of vulnerable groups including Roma, migrants, young people, women, long term unemployed and offenders”
MEGAN Project – Main Partners • National Offender Management Service (UK) – lead applicant and project management • Inclusion (UK) – evaluation • London Probation & Praxis (UK) – mentoring pilot with migrant offenders • Aproximar (Portugal) – migrant and long term unemployed • SCMA (Portugal) - migrant and long term unemployed • BAGazs (Hungary) – Roma • Ioan Durnescu -
Mentoring migrant groups Different demographics (age, gender, ethnicity) Different cultures/ backgrounds Different social environments UK Portugal How can mentoring help? Hungary
Project partnership established Project partner training Policy Reference Groups established Mentors trained • Policy meetings held quarterly • Policy groups updated with project progress • Conferences held as part of each partner board meeting visit • Progress and policy implications discussed • Minimum 60 participants selected • 30 to be mentees • 2 mentees per mentor • 6 months of mentoring • Weekly contact mentors/mentees • mentor support network • Mix form of contact (1-2-1 and group sessions) Baseline measured Progress Measured Do not complete mentoring Complete mentoring • Plans and next steps discussed at final conference • Presentation to key stakeholders and Commission Outcomes measured Project model
MEGAN Project Outcomes • Demonstrate impact of mentoring on hard outcomes such as increased participation in employment activities for adults • Demonstrate impact of mentoring on improved soft and hard skills • Demonstrate impact of mentoring on social integration including improved access to core services • Explore best practice in pilot programmes to inform a European common framework for designing and delivering mentoring • Begin the process of embedding and upscaling of mentoring programmes at a national level • Inform the development of policies for supporting vulnerable groups through mentoring
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