| OCR Text |
Show 6.0 Recommendations High Effort - High Impact Recommendation 1: 6.1.6 IRC can instigate the opportunity for family mentors and case managers to have an exchange of information - IRC needs to have a different approach to the family mentor/case manager relationship that they can explain to family mentors, whether it be in training or during the mentoring experience. It seems that IRC avoids discussing the potential relationship that family mentors can have with case managers in order to avoid the result that has occurred in the past where case managers have become overwhelmed by mentor contacts. However, consequently one-third of the mentors of whom I enquired did not even know that each refugee family was assigned to a case manager. If IRC hopes to utilize family mentor feedback on the refugee families, IRC cannot simply focus on keeping family mentors from personally contacting case mangers. Instead IRC needs to focus on how mentors can communicate with case managers through the current communication infrastructure that forwards information from mentors to case manager via the Family Mentor Program staff. Approach the communication infrastructure as the vehicle for mentors to communicate with case managers through consistently soliciting, gathering, and forwarding family mentor feedback to case managers on a monthly basis. Set boundaries for the mentors in training and discuss the reality that case managers are not available for one-on-one consultation unless they instigate it with a family mentor (Goal 3 - Objective 2). Recommendation 2: 6.1.2 Replace activity log with a mandatory, monthly survey that would collect the information IRC needs - I would suggest the soliciting of information on refugee families through a monthly survey, targeting the specific information that case managers are interested in receiving while also providing an opportunity for family mentors to ask questions and give suggestions or ideas. This survey should replace the current activity log. The survey should cover: monthly activities (on-going or not), any progress and/or barriers seen with the families, any accessed community resources by the refugee families, and any emergencies that the families may have had that month. This survey should also designate an area to questions, suggestions, ideas, etc. from the family mentor to IRC. This will provide family mentors with a consistent opportunity to ask for feedback from IRC. Whether family mentors use it or not, will be up to them but, either way IRC will make sure that the opportunity is there. Again, this survey should be sent out at the end of each month via email and if necessary phone calls should be made until the mentors get into the habit of filling it out and returning it, whether they are new or experienced family mentors. This survey could also include a place to report the volunteer hours. It is a lost opportunity when IRC is not able to collect monthly volunteer hours from family mentors, for two main reasons. First, there is not a way to gauge how much time the refugee families are receiving assistance from mentors in general. Second, IRC loses funding because each hour of documented volunteer work is 27 of27 |
