From: Barbara Mooney, Project Director

To:

From: Barbara Mooney, Project Director

National Peer to Peer ROMA Training Project

RE: Invitation to become a Mentor

I would like to invite you to participate in our Mentorship model for training and certifying new ROMA Trainers. Your experience as a Trainer makes you a prime candidate for becoming a Mentor. This is a volunteer position.

As a Mentor you would sponsor a Candidate for ROMA Trainer Certification.

This would involve the following:

1. -- Writing a letter of recommendation, in which you agree to act as the Candidate’s Mentor, and in which you provide your first hand knowledge of the Candidate’s skills and experiences.

2. – Supporting and encouraging Candidates as they complete the e-course prior to the Train-the-Trainer classroom session

3. -- Attending the classroom session in a location yet to be selected. (All of your expenses for this session will be paid by the project.) The sessionwill include sessionswith other Mentors, which will provide you with training on observation, coaching and evaluation, and opportunities to practice evaluating the candidates(who will be practicing presenting the material for the first time -- just as you did in your training).

3. – Conducting Practice Sessions with your Candidate(s). These would be trainings in your state, sponsored by your Association or State office, which is a benefit to your state as well as an opportunity for your Candidate to practice.

4. – Communicating your observations and evaluations of the Candidate’s performance to the CAAP Training Director.

This translates into a commitment of at least8 days (1 day prior and 4 days on site for the classroom session, and 3 days for the practice training, with preparation and follow up).

The Candidate will be involved in an on-line course with an on-line instructor, and I expect that the Candidate will want to talk to you about what he/she is doing. You will NOT be expected to assist the candidate in the actual course work, you will, however, be expected to encourage and support the candidate during this phase. You will be provided with a pass-code so you can access the on-line course, for your own information.

Finally, the Candidate will participate in an Internship with another Candidate. The logistics of that Internship will be the responsibility of the Candidate (in conjunction with the state office and the association) and the training project. Your role in this event will be to provide encouragement and brainstorming to assure the Internship is well organized. It may involve your efforts to assure collaboration with the state CSBG or Association staff as well as with a Host agency.

Here are what I hope to be some selling points:

The Candidate will be someone with whom you will be working following his/her Certification, and who will share the training load in your area. So, it must be someone who is in a position in your state to assist in the on-going training and implementation of ROMA. Therefore, it is likely that the Candidate will be someone with whom you have regular contact in the course of your work.

The Practice Sessions which your Candidates facilitate will be events that you may already be conducting in your state as a regular part of ROMA implementation.

The Mentorship process is a way for states to increase their available Certified Trainers in the course of existing ROMA training activities.

If you are interested in becoming a Mentor, please respond by e-mail to me at or call me at 724-852-2272.