The Youth Offender Program’s Inside Peer Mentor Training Program closed its fourth and final cohort after graduating 43 residents.
The program aims to provide instruction on effective mentorship and group facilitation to eligible Peer Mentor candidates.
At designated YOP institution the teachers of the Every Student Succeeds Act, or designee, train YOP Peer Mentors utilizing a curriculum consisting of seven modules in 26 sessions. Once the training is completed, the peer mentors participate in a 500-hour internship, where the candidates provide tutoring and mentorship to incarcerated youth assigned to education and other work training assignments. Once the 500-hour internship is completed, the YOP Peer Mentor candidate shall be certified and assigned as a YOP Peer Mentor, according to Undersecretary of Operations Tammy Foss.
Candidates must have their Central file and ERMS reviewed and approved by a correctional counselor prior to the interview process. Peer Mentor candidates must:
- Have at least one year remaining on their current sentence and not endorsed for transfer.
- Have no serious disciplinary infractions within the past 12 months.
- Provide a verifiable high school diploma or GED (or enrolled in an equivalent learning course).
- Express a willingness to sign a contract acknowledging full participation and agreement to the code of conduct.
Candidates at the 80-hours classroom instruction phase of training are called Youth Mentor Trainee.
“The best part of the classroom experience was learning motivational interviewing and OARS,” said Peer Mentor Jorge Lopez.
OARS is an acronym for open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections and summarizing. OARS is a motivational interviewing tool designed to facilitate effective communication.
YMT candidates will be placed on a wait list to begin a 500-hours internship after the classroom instruction phase.
The mentor intern receives both a new assignment card and a laminated pass, and is called Youth Mentor Intern.
The YMI’s daily responsibilities include building a trusting relationship with mentees by maintaining confidentiality, modeling appropriate behavior, record keeping, attending all meetings and training and other work related tasks as assigned.
Once all criteria of the YOP Mentorship has been met, a certification is issued to the YMI from the Robert E. Burton Adult School.
The certified YMI receives both a new assignment card and a laminated pass, and is then promoted to Peer Mentor Trainee, or simply Peer Mentor.
Peer Mentors and interns are assigned no more than three mentees. PMT pay scale is PIA DOT 4 and earn between 50 – 60 cents an hour. The work hours are flexible and Peer Mentors often work well beyond the designated 7:30 – 10:30 am framework.
YOP Mentorship three legacies are simple: Community, service and vision. YOP trainee/intern/mentor(s) must comply with all CDCR rules and YOP agreements at all times. The actions and attitudes of those elected to
represent the YOP dramatically affect the attitudes of others towards the program. Any YOP personnel who willfully violates the spirit and word of the Operating Guidelines and Procedures and By-Laws will be terminated immediately if the violation is severe in nature. To date only two YMIs have been terminated from the training program for a serious RVR.
“The tools that I learned in the YOP mentor training program are very accurate,” said Youth Mentor Trainee Antonio Silva. “When I take these tools with me [home] and communicate with people in society, I’ll be more effective in all aspects of relationships.”
