Youth-Initiated Mentoring Promoting and improving the social networks of youth with complex needs in the Netherlands

Youth-Initiated Mentoring (YIM) is a novel approach in which youth nominate a natural mentor from their existing social network. This person is positioned as a YIM, who can function as an ally to the youth and a partner for parents and professionals working with the youth. The YIM approach can be considered as a hybrid approach integrating formal and informal child educators, in which the focus is on empowering the juvenile's network through the positioning of and collaboration with an informal mentor, designated as a YIM. This informal mentor is a person (e.g. relative, neighbour, or friend) adolescents nominate from their own social network, who functions as a confidant and spokesman for the adolescent, and as a cooperation partner for parents and professionals. This chapter describes the YIM-approach, the theoretical model, different applications, and preliminary support for its effectiveness.