Mentoring as a new inclusion model for young migrants

In 2022, the project ‘Coming of Age. Mentoring as a new model of community-based inclusion for young migrants’ with the aim of promoting the knowledge of mentoring as a tool to support the social inclusion of young migrants who arrived in Italy as minors, without reference adults.
In partnership with Refugees Welcome Italia, the initiative took the form of the publication of a position paper on the topic, to promote the sharing of national and European experiences and good practices, to acquire greater knowledge of the needs and requirements of young migrants and young adults and of the mechanisms for involving civil society. The result is a document that, combining scientific rigour and qualitative-narrative elements, speaks to different target groups: Third Sector organisations, practitioners and scholars, social workers and service officials.

The research path that led to the drafting of the position paper was supported and validated by a scientific committee consisting of profiles from academia, the third sector and institutions: Stefania Congia, manager at the D.G. Immigration and Integration Policies of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies; Francesca Campomori, lecturer at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; Joelle Long, lecturer at the University of Turin; Ivan Mei, responsible for Child Protection programmes in Italy at the UNICEF Office for Europe and Central Asia; Viviana Valastro, project manager of Never Alone; Liviana Marelli, member of the CNCA National Executive with responsibility for Childhood, Adolescence, Youth, Families; Raffaella Milano, director of the Italy-Europe programmes of Save the Children; Rodolfo Mesaroli, scientific director of Civico Zero ONLUS; Mario Mattioda, member of the Hapax Foundation Board.

Another objective of the project is to create a national and European network to support the inclusion of young adults who have arrived alone in Italy. The research activity is accompanied by moments of confrontation and dissemination with key stakeholders, public and private, national and European, who can create a community of practices on the topic.

The project stems from the awareness that the transition to adulthood represents a real challenge within a challenge for unaccompanied foreign minors and new adults. As highlighted by various research studies, to the traditional criticalities and difficulties of growing up there is a further double transition: the cultural one linked to the acquisition and interpretation of codes profoundly different from the culture of origin and the one linked to overcoming the traumas that these people have experienced. Difficulties that do not disappear with coming of age, but which, paradoxically, risk becoming more acute as the guarantees and protections reserved by our legislation for minors lapse, and as they leave the reception system.

From this perspective, in continuity with the spirit of the Zampa Law and the introduction of the figure of the voluntary guardian, initiatives have emerged in recent years that aim to involve active citizens (social tutors, mentors, inclusion tutors, buddies, etc.) in supporting young migrants. «These are a series of interventions, based on a community-based approach, which are in many ways still not yet codified, but which have attracted the attention of scholars, organisations and institutions for their ability to renew inclusion processes, which cannot disregard the involvement of civil society» said Fabiana Musicco, director of Refugees Welcome Italia.

«Currently in Italy different forms of mentoring are already widely practised and valorised, but there is a lack of a reference literature that provides a shared horizon of meaning and supports their development and dissemination. The aim of this project is to initiate a systematisation of mentoring and also to foster dialogue in the community of practice» concluded Giulia Savarese, who run the program at its beginning.

The project ended with the presentation of the results on 25 May 2023. The initiative was an opportunity to animate dialogue in the stakeholder community and to expand the network of actors in the field of inclusion for young people with a migration background.

In 2022 the Mentoring program launched activities to strengthen the processes of inclusion of young immigrants.

The first action dealt with the consolidation of the knowledge and the experiences on the subject of inclusion of young migrants throughout Italy. In particular, with the project ‘Coming of Age. Mentoring as a new model of community-based inclusion for young migrants’ we  collected the experiences and theories on the practice of mentorship. In partnership with Refugees Welcome Italia, this initiative managed to publish a scientific document able to outline a detailed and exhaustive reference model on the practice of mentorship. The purpose of the publication was to offer a solid theoretical foundation and a coherent framework for this practice.

Alongside this project, we organized a series of initiatives for the dissemination of knowledge in the field so as to help animate the dialogue between the stakeholders involved.

A second line of activities concerned the design of training courses dedicated to those engaged in supporting the integration and social inclusion of young migrants. In particular, the Mentoring program worked on outlining specific training modules aimed at strengthening the skills of those involved in a helping relationship.

Finally, in the course of 2022 we further strengthened our fundraising activities in order to promote projects for the integration of young migrants former UASCs. This line of action included forms of direct intervention to support social inclusion, through projects and partnerships that supported the strengthening of the personal tools of young migrants, training courses, study and work grants, as well as the promotion of foster care in the family as well as housing inclusion.