Evaluating a mentorship program focused on meeting the needs of immigrant children and refugee youth in Winnipeg

Abstract

This study was undertaken in part to fulfill requirements of the master’s degree program in Sociology at the University of Manitoba. The broader applied purpose of the study is to generate baseline data that will be used to evaluate a youth mentorship program at the NEEDS centre agency in Winnipeg, Canada. This evaluation-based study also seeks to provide the management team with a program description, a literature review revolving around notions of resilience and risk, positive youth development, youth development programming, youth mentoring and delinquency prevention as well as mentoring immigrant children and refugee youth. The youth mentorship program is designed to help immigrant children and refugee youth ages 6-18 years to help them settle in Canadian society. The aim of the program is to enable children and youth to build relationships with mentors who take them out in the community to engage in recreational and educational activities. This study seeks to capture a clear picture of the services and support that newcomer children, youth and their families receive in Winnipeg. The study will generate knowledge that will help to guide the development of appropriate services to best meet the needs of program participants. The study will also address this knowledge gap through a qualitative examination of the experiences of individuals and their families seeking help. This was achieved through Zoom based one-on-one interviews firstly with program staff, secondly with mentors and thirdly with parents of program participants. These interviews will form the backbone of the needed firsthand experiences of key stakeholders required in order for the NEEDS centre to more fully assess and potentially make needed changes to its youth mentorship program. Interviews with program staff and mentors focus on programming and organizational activities. Interviews with parents of participants focus on the needs of their children and families.