Development and certification of Family Mentors competences using blended technologies

Rapid changes in the world present increasing challenges for families to adapt and find fast solutions. Improvement of economic well-being affects all families unequally, often increasing the gap between urban and rural populations, migrants and the local population, families with different physical and mental health and different level of education. Families need special attention in addressing the problems and challenges they face and in finding the most appropriate solutions to improve their family’s physical, social, and emotional well-being. An educated and trained specialist – Family Mentor enables family to find internal resources, focusing on such areas: information, prevention, navigation, sustainability of family wellbeing, employment, education and social policy. Family Mentor can be a social worker, social educator, educator, adult educator, or other professional who can be a trustee and facilitator for each family, advising on day-to-day concerns and challenges.

Due to the lack of specific training and / or availability, for professionals, some families do not receive the necessary and timely assistance. The biggest impact of projects innovative tools goes to NGOs, as services to families are mainly provided by them. There was a need to improve FM training by strengthening the competences of professionals working with families looking for ways to increase the availability and accessibility of services. Most family support professionals work in the non-governmental sector, therefore, the capacity and the impact of the non-governmental sector family mentoring process necessary to expand. The activities of specialists applying preventive measures and methods are not structured, their level of preparation and competences are not assessed. It is necessary to assess and recognize the specific competences of Family Mentor and to develop methods that motivate the improvement of competences. Purpose of FM MENTORING project was to create upskilling mentoring for Family Mentors, improving and certifying competences by using innovative technologies. To this purpose the FM MENTORING project linked together four partners from Lithuania, Spain, Estonia and Poland, experts in adult education.

The FM MENTORING project is innovative with complementary elements. Learners were professionals in various families’ welfare fields and who wants to become Family Mentor in the community (a social worker, social pedagogue, educator, adult educator, or other specialist who helps the family). Educational innovations included the B-Learning program on family mentoring. Based on Consortium experience, knowledge and feedback from stakeholders and beneficiaries. The Consortium partners developed a tool to help FM upskilling ensured the quality of the process. The Methodological Framework for Quality Assurance of Family Mentors upskilling is dedicated to adult education organizations that raise the qualifications of individuals providing preventive family mentoring services to families. The project applied European frameworks and instruments, like EQF, ECTS, ECVET, EQAVET, EQUASS to promote and boost transparency, recognition, mobility and transferability to other adult education organizations, companies and intermediary bodies in Europe.

Innovative outputs: Methodological Framework for Quality Assurance of Family Mentors upskilling, B-Learning mentorship training course, Guide for Family Mentor Certification and Family Mentors Competences Framework defining levels of competences. Quality Assurance of Family Mentors upskilling, and assessment of Family Mentors competences strengthen the interest and engagement of learners. The Consortium also explored possibilities to adapt the project outputs to new educational sectors, targets users and/or beneficiaries. All outcomes, responding to objectives of strategic framework for EU cooperation in education and training, disseminated throughout international networks to which all partners already belong. Main target of the project sustainability is to engage new stakeholders, adult training associations communities through active dissemination of project results. That gave possibility widely to spread the project's innovative outputs. That helped to build a culture of training and lifelong learning and more effective adult training for professionals - teachers, policy makers, any training providers.