The Training Center, which is responsible for the management of Youth Futures’ knowledge resources, provides constant professional training to the staff across all the cities and enables maintaining and distributing the knowledge accumulated by the program. The training center operates in a dynamic manner, providing the appropriate professional responses for the changing needs of the staff and program beneficiaries.

The role of the Mentor as a “significant adult” in the life of the child is a complex and multi-dimensional role. The requirements for this role are interrelated and require training that will provide the Mentors with tools from a number of disciplines – education, psychology, social work, sociology, mediation and a variety of professional skills within the sphere of training and providing guidance to others. The Mentor training program provides the elements related to the various aspects of working with children in elementary school, middle school and with children and families in differing instances of risks.

The program staff on the different levels receive comprehensive training in various spheres:

• Training courses for new employees – a training course for new Mentors, a training course for regional managers and for community and family coordinators in the various cities the program operates.
• On a local level – routine individual and group training for the different staff levels – Mentors, managers, and community and family coordinators.
• On a regional and national level – monthly study days and annual seminars for Mentors, coordinators and managers.

The training and guidance processes of the staff are accompanied by an organizational portal that constitutes an intra-organizational communications space for the purposes of keeping up to date and sharing professional information. The portal incorporates professional libraries containing content appropriate to the different individuals in the organization. These libraries are updated on a regular basis, and they enable sharing of information and communications among staff across Israel.