Trust is an essential part of any relationship, especially for children whose incarcerated parent(s) may have lessened their ability to trust adults in their lives. It’s important to keep in mind that a relationship arranged through a mentoring program such as Amachi requires that these former strangers lay a foundation of trust first and foremost.
Triple Creeks’ Masterful Mentoring newsletter has dedicated some of their publications to this topic, discussing the three components that they believe are necessary for trust: integrity, competence, and caring. It also provides a practice exercise for mentors and mentees to engage in a dialogue about trust.
Another informative resource is “Building Relationships: A Guide for New Mentors,” which discusses the importance of trust in the first section, along with making it the eighth principle of effective mentoring.
Finally, the Kaplan Newsweek has created the Mentoring Life Cycle, which includes phase one, “Building Trust,” offering another perspective on the topic that is so vital to a healthy and positive mentoring relationship.