How Mentorship Reform Helps Institutionalized Youth Build Independent Lives in Ukraine

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/11

Sofiia Yudina (Софія Юдіна) is a Ukrainian mentor and child-and-youth advocacy professional working in the field of mentorship for children and young people without parental support. She is the Mentorship Development Manager at the DIiMO Office and an active mentor; she appeared on the 26 March 2026 Media Center Ukraine briefing on mentorship reform in Ukraine, where I was present. 

In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen discusses speculture, unrealistic expectations, and material dependency. The discussion also examines mentorship reform with Sofiia Yudina, Mentorship Development Manager at the DIiMO Office, for children and youth without parental support in Ukraine. Yudina explains how mentorship helps teenagers in institutional care prepare for adulthood through emotional support, practical guidance, and socialization. She outlines how children and mentors are matched, the screening and training of mentor candidates, and the challenges posed by institutional program growth, UNICEF-backed support structures, mentor supervision, and the broader goal of helping vulnerable young people build stable, independent lives over time. 

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You just gave a presentation at the Media Center Ukraine as a co-panellist. When it comes to mentoring and children who need additional support, how do these children come into your care? What key supports do they need?

Sofiia Yudina: In Ukraine, there is still an institutional child-care system. Foster families are developing, and state policy increasingly emphasizes family-based care, but many children remain in residential institutions. Mentorship is a program intended to support, in particular, teenagers approaching adulthood who may not be fully prepared for independent living.

What we see is that people who pursue adoption or foster-care training often prefer younger children. As a result, older children, teenagers, children with siblings, and children with disabilities are less likely to be placed in families and are more often left to prepare for adulthood within institutional settings. In that sense, mentorship can become an important bridge before they leave care.

I am a mentor to a girl who is now 14; we began when she was 12. In her institution, children typically complete their basic schooling and then move on to further education or vocational study, where they are expected to become more independent. Even for a child raised in a family, that age can be too early to manage a budget, make major life choices, or navigate adulthood confidently. For a child in institutional care—where meals, schedules, and daily routines are organized for them—the transition can be even more difficult.

Mentorship is a volunteer-based program. Social services and institutions identify children who may benefit, but the child’s willingness is also important. In my case, when a social worker contacted me, I was shown two documents. The first was the child’s own application, where she described herself, her interests, and the kind of mentor she imagined. The second was a more detailed profile from teachers and psychologists, outlining her needs in areas such as preparation for adult life, socialization, and emotional support. Based on her needs and on my own profile after I completed the training, we were matched.

Sometimes the process is more organic. Organizations may hold events or activities in institutional settings, and if a volunteer connects well with a child, that volunteer may later be invited to become a mentor.

The needs are highly individual because every child has a different history. For teenagers preparing to leave care, a mentor might help with choosing a profession, selecting a college or vocational path, completing applications, or preparing for exams. For younger children, the support may be simpler and more relational: spending time together, playing, building trust, and offering consistent emotional support. The broader goal is socialization and accompaniment—helping children build the skills, confidence, and relationships they need to participate more fully in society and to avoid repeating cycles of deprivation or exclusion.

Jacobsen: What are the current staff members and volunteers? How many mentors are there currently?

Yudina: As of the end of 2025, there were 103 official mentorship contracts in Ukraine. In the past three months alone, I am aware of around 20 additional contracts, though the total is likely higher since I do not have visibility into all cases. In addition, some mentorship relationships exist informally, without formal contracts, so that the actual number may be closer to 200. For comparison, in 2024 there were approximately 46 contracts, so the number has already more than doubled.

Jacobsen: How many children have been supported since the start of the program?

Yudina: I would need to verify the exact figure. The state mentorship program began in 2018, and the structure has evolved since then. The number is in the hundreds, not thousands, but I prefer to confirm the exact figure.

Jacobsen: What role does UNICEF play in funding or supporting the program?

Yudina: Mentorship in Ukraine is fundamentally a state program. Its roots go back further, as NGOs in cities such as Kyiv and Donetsk region were already implementing mentorship initiatives more than a decade ago. In 2018, it was formalized at the national level, allowing individuals across the country to apply and become mentors. However, for social workers, it often represents an additional responsibility, which has affected consistency.

In recent years, UNICEF has supported local mentorship initiatives. For example, projects such as “United by Mentorship” and programs implemented with organizations like DIMO and the The Coordination Center for Family Upbringing and Child Care Development have received support. Within these initiatives, we have developed communication campaigns to raise awareness about mentorship—what it is, how to join, and what it involves in practice. It is important to emphasize that mentorship is not a full-time role, but rather a commitment of a few hours per week to support a child.

UNICEF has also contributed to training programs for both trainers and mentors. In addition, they have supported supervision structures, including psychological support for mentors. If a mentor encounters challenges—whether related to a child’s behaviour, their own motivation, or uncertainty—they can receive guidance through individual or group sessions with psychologists.

For instance, within the DIMO project, we hold weekly group webinars on topics such as adolescence, communication, and the normalization of difficult emotional experiences for mentors. This support is crucial, particularly because mentors may face challenges within institutional environments—for example, limited staff cooperation or requests for material assistance. Having access to professional guidance helps mentors navigate these situations more effectively.

The system has improved significantly. When I first became a mentor, for six months, no one checked in on how I was doing, which made the experience more difficult. I did not always know whether I was responding appropriately or how to structure my role. Now, the level of support is much stronger than it was even two years ago. I am glad to be part of this development and to be actively involved in the growth of mentorship in Ukraine.

Jacobsen: What challenges do the children face, and what challenges do the mentors face? How do you work with mentors so that their difficulties are reduced, and the children can be supported more effectively?

Yudina: What we do as an organization is provide psychologists and a sense of community. When someone is going through a specific experience, such as mentoring, they may receive encouragement from family or friends, who say they are doing something meaningful, but support groups are important as well. In those groups, people can share their experiences and understand that they are not alone in their difficulties.

As a team, we have built a community and organized online events. Tomorrow, for example, we have an offline event for mentor candidates where we will teach them how to prepare and how to build strong motivation, which helps prevent burnout after only a few weeks.

When it comes to children, the situation is more complicated. They cannot apply for mentorship entirely on their own because their boarding school or institution must also be open to the program. The director or lead teacher has to support it, and sometimes they do not. One of the things we do is train social workers and teachers so that they allow children to participate in the program.

Another problem is insufficient preparation for the children themselves. For example, if a teacher tells a child, “If you behave well, your mentor will adopt you,” that is very dangerous, because it creates unrealistic expectations. When those expectations are not fulfilled, it can become deeply harmful.

Children who are used to institutional settings may also see volunteers mainly as people who bring money or material goods such as phones, tablets, or toys. As a result, they may come to view adults primarily as sources of things. Mentorship is different, and we teach mentors to be very clear with themselves and the child about their motivation and role. Children will often test boundaries to understand whether they can get something extra from the mentor. That is not because the children are bad; it is because the system has taught them that adults often meet only immediate material needs.

I have heard from other mentors that if they agree to buy everything a mentee asks for, the relationship can deteriorate, because it becomes very difficult to teach or guide someone if you are seen only as a sponsor. This is not a problem caused by the child. It is a result of the wider system, in which children often lack a safe, stable adult and instead encounter volunteers who meet only physical needs.

More broadly, Ukraine still has thousands of children in institutional care, especially teenagers who are not placed with foster families. Statistics show that only a small percentage of children who leave institutional care go on to build stable and successful independent lives. That is why mentorship is so important. It helps young people see other ways of living and other models of adulthood beyond what they may have observed from parents, teachers, or other adults around them.

Mentors can also help with practical matters, such as documents, applications, and everyday skills that support a young person in the transition to adulthood. The goal is to help them become independent, stable, and successful.

Jacobsen: Something mentioned in the talk was the importance of ensuring that mentors themselves meet minimum qualification standards. How do you screen candidates to make sure they are a good fit?

Yudina: When we are working with children, we must always act in their best interests. Selecting a suitable mentor requires a structured preparation and screening process.

First, candidates submit documents to a social services center. This includes basic checks such as their health status and a criminal background check to ensure they do not have a history of offences.

Next, all candidates проходят an interview with a social worker. This stage is crucial because it allows us to assess their motivation for joining the mentorship program. Motivation matters a great deal. For example, one woman applied with a very specific set of requirements for a mentee—age, eye colour, hair colour, and certain personality traits. When asked why, she explained that her son had passed away and had those same characteristics. The concern in such a case is that the mentor may unconsciously compare the child to her son, which can be harmful for both. Even when intentions are good, this kind of projection can create serious problems.

During the interview, social workers also learn about the candidate’s family background, profession, and personal circumstances. This information helps later when matching mentors and children, especially if a child has particular interests or needs.

After the interview, candidates participate in four days of in-person training. During this training, they learn about child psychology, including the behaviour of children who have experienced family separation, neglect, disability, or grief. The training includes practical exercises, particularly role-playing scenarios, where participants take on the roles of both mentor and child. Trainers observe how candidates respond to different situations, including emotional challenges and boundary-testing behaviours.

At the end of the training, each candidate receives an evaluation indicating whether they are suitable to become a mentor. The evaluation may also specify the appropriate type of mentoring relationship—for example, working with a child of a certain age or with particular needs. Trainers assess both children’s needs and the mentor’s capacities to ensure a responsible match.

The next stage involves meeting the child. Once a mentorship begins, the mentor continues to receive support. A coordinator monitors the relationship, checking how the mentor is working with the child, how the child is responding, and whether there are any concerns or red flags.

Overall, while there are several screening stages, the most important decisions are made during the training process, where candidates are observed in practice, and their readiness is carefully evaluated.

Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Sofiia.

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