Break Poverty Alliance Mentorat ASE
At Fondation Altitudes, we are convinced that action is needed to improve the educational success of young people in the Child Welfare System (ASE), who number 400,000 in France today. These young people face multiple and cumulative challenges: their lives are marked by instability and hardship, 30% live with a disability, and 70% have no diploma. A mentor is a volunteer adult who commits to supporting a young person for more than six months—with their studies, career guidance, professional integration, or cultural development.
Child Welfare System
Mentoring
Mentoring: A Proven and Effective Measure
Since 2022, mentoring has been a legal right in France. Yet today, only 1% of young people in the Child Welfare System (ASE) benefit from the support of a mentor—even though mentoring directly addresses their need for social connection, guidance, and the presence of a stable adult figure as they grow into adulthood.
It offers:
- a reliable, caring adult,
- regular and meaningful interactions,
- a stable point of support,
- access to professional networks and opportunities.
Mentoring is a low-cost, easy-to-deploy intervention with high social impact.
Why create an Alliance ?
In 2021, Break Poverty Foundation launched a pilot program to connect young people in ASE with volunteer mentors. The impact measurement results were striking:
- 95% of young people reported that mentoring strengthened their motivation to succeed in school
- 82% said mentoring helped them regain confidence in themselves
- 40% stated that mentoring helped them stop harmful or risky behaviors
Building on this demonstrated impact—and in order to meet the challenge of supporting thousands of young people in the Child Welfare System—Break Poverty decided to create a national alliance by bringing together several expert mentoring organizations (Proxité, Chapitre 2, AFEV, Entraide Scolaire Amicale, IM’PACTES…) as well as the Collectif Mentorat, with the goal of scaling up the pilot.
The objective is to
multiply by 10 the number of ASE youth benefiting from a mentor, reaching 7,200 supported young people by 2028
A Gradual Rollout Across Several Departments in France
Break Poverty has signed agreements with several French départements responsible for the Child Welfare System (ASE). These départements must offer young people aged 11 to 21 the opportunity to be matched with a mentor, to support their autonomy, development, and transition to adulthood.
The ASE Mentoring Alliance will be deployed in 10 départements starting in September 2026.
Each year, 10 new départements will join the Alliance, reaching 30 départements by 2028.
Each year, 10 new départements will join the Alliance, reaching 30 départements by 2028.
The Support of the Altitudes Foundation
The Altitudes Foundation supports the success of the ASE Mentoring Alliance by providing operational assistance for the creation of a dedicated training program for mentors.
This training aims to equip mentors with key principles and best practices, particularly regarding the specific needs and profiles of young people in the Child Welfare System.
The development of this training is coordinated by the Altitudes Foundation, with support from Break Poverty, IM’PACTES, the expert L&D for Good collective (through skills-based volunteering), and the other stakeholders involved in the project.
Other collectives
Fondation Altitudes is under the aegis
of Fondation Caritas France
of Fondation Caritas France