Break Poverty carried out a 6-month study of young people in the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance system, accompanied by a mentor via the associations of the Collectif Mentorat, to assess the effects of the scheme. The results are striking, and argue in favor of rolling out the scheme to all these young people, as provided for in the February 7, 2022 law on child protection.

A solution with a proven impact on the development and integration of young people in the child welfare system

Inequalities affecting young people seem to be growing in our country, and some of them are particularly affected by social determinism. This is true of the 330,000 young people in the care of the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance, who account for 40% of homeless young people in France. Mentoring, a voluntary support solution that will benefit 150,000 disadvantaged young people by 2022 thanks to the 1 young person, 1 mentor plan, is particularly well suited to the problems faced by young people in the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance scheme.

In order to assess the impact of mentoring for young people in the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance system, Koreils, a social impact consulting and research firm, carried out a study for the Break Poverty Foundation.

More committed, supported and ambitious young people

The study was carried out in 2022, and its results were obtained thanks to the contribution of 163 young mentees, 174 young non-mentees and 202 mentors. It demonstrates the ability of mentoring to alleviate some of the difficulties encountered by young people in the child welfare system, and to prevent the social determinism they face. The results of the study point in this direction on the four dimensions analyzed.

On academic performance : 71% of mentees say that mentoring has strengthened their desire to succeed at school. They were three times less likely to have frequent unjustified absences than non-mentored young people.
Socio-affective situation : Meetings with the mentor improve confidence in the adult. One young mentee in five cites the mentor as someone they can count on.
On ambition : 77% of young mentees say that exchanges with their mentor have helped them to be more persevering.
On everyday life : The mentor can become a resource person for everyday problems. A quarter of young people turn to their mentor for help with administrative formalities; two-thirds of young people mentored for more than six months have obtained advice on health issues from their mentor.

In 2022, fewer than 3,000 young people in the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance system were accompanied by a mentor. This solution, whose effectiveness has now been proven, must rapidly be made available to all these young people. To this end, the associations in the Collectif Mentorat are proposing mentoring programs tailored to their specific needs, and are working with departmental councils to roll them out across the country. A practical guide and a webinar presenting the results of the study are available.