Starting a program to mentor those in reentry can be a daunting task. While some volunteer mentors may have lived experience, others may have never previously met anyone who’s been incarcerated.
To be effective, mentors need to understand where people in reentry are coming from. That awareness helps prevent false assumptions and prepares the mentor to support their mentees as they navigate the many challenges of building a new life.
Fortunately, two excellent handbooks – one from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and another from the Idaho Department of Correction – offer practical tools, exercises and advice for individuals or organizations looking to establish or strengthen a reentry mentoring program.
Each guide has its own angle, but if you read them both, you’ll pick up plenty of practical tips to make you a more effective mentor.
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod manual
The first, the 157-page Mentoring a Returning Citizen Facilitator’s Guide, is published by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and downloadable for free.
In addition to some religious references, the manual provides clear, practical advice on what mentors should consider in getting to know the person they’re mentoring. It explains how they’ll need to consider the mentee’s background, their family history and how they’ve been affected by the “prison mentality.”
It also explains in detail how to determine the challenges those in reentry are expected to face and the needs they might have. The handbook highlights areas in which the mentees will need support. For example, they may have to learn to trust people. They may need assistance in figuring out how to reconnect with their family and society. Or they may require help in making decisions.
A series of exercises helps potential mentors understand where their future mentees are coming from. They also teach mentors how to be able to prepare their mentees to best meet the situations they will encounter in their new life.
Another section focuses on how to listen – really listen – and observe the mentee, their attitude, grooming, demeanor, body language and other subtle cues, just about everything about them. It explains how to ask the right questions, the type of questions that help mentors truly understand the person and what they’re dealing with.
Once mentors learn how to get to know their mentee and get them to open up, it’s time to understand the process of building an action plan that will help the mentee set and achieve goals and be accountable.
One of the final “lessons” concerns how to run effective meetings with the mentee and the steps mentors must undertake in order to do so.
This manual provides an excellent introduction to the lives and way of thinking of those who have been incarcerated, especially for mentors who have not had any previous exposure to people with that type of experience.
Idaho Dept. of Correction Community Mentor Program Handbook
The Idaho Dept. of Correction has created a Community Mentor Program Handbook as part of its Free2Succeed initiative.
The handbook explains in detail the process that both the mentor and mentee undergo to participate in the program, which could give other organizations ideas on how to establish a program of their own.
It also delves into the details of how mentors can learn to:
- Create the right environment, both emotionally and physically.
- Develop self-awareness.
- Establish self-regulation.
- Set ground rules.
- Deal with “new match,” anxiety, (i.e., anxiety about their new relationship with their mentee).
- Handle unrealistic mentor expectations.
- Build a relationship with a mentee.
- Distinguish between a friendship and a mentoring relationship.
- Effectively communicate.
- Establish trust.
- Maintain confidentiality.
- Create boundaries.
Final Thoughts
Read together, these two manuals complement each other. The Wisconsin guide digs into the mindset of returning citizens and the skills needed to connect with them, while the Idaho handbook shows how to structure a mentoring program and guide mentors through common challenges.
For churches, corrections departments, community groups or volunteers considering a mentoring role, these resources provide a strong foundation for helping people in reentry succeed.
