Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Program Overview and Background

Since 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor- and volunteer-supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better. Partnering with members in the community, Big Brothers Big Sisters carefully pairs children with screened volunteer mentors and monitors and supports them in one-to-one mentoring matches. The organization holds itself accountable for children in the program to achieve measurable outcomes, such as higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships, educational success, and avoidance of delinquency and other risky behaviors.

Program Services

BBBSA’s mentoring programs have the goals of increasing pro-social skills and behaviors, such as school engagement and academic efficacy, and reducing negative outcomes, including involvement in juvenile delinquency, victimization, and substance use. We will meet these goals by expanding and enhancing mentoring programs to reach new, at-risk, victimized, or underserved populations (such as those identified earlier in this proposal), providing tailored services that employ evidence-based effective mentoring practices, and increasing the number of mentors recruited from local community organizations, such as law enforcement agencies.

Target Population

We aim to provide mentoring under this grant to young people with any one or more of the following:

• Single Parent Household
• Juvenile Justice Involvement
• Victimization
• Substance Impact or Misuse
• Rural Location
• Youth with Disabilities

Mentor Recruitment and Training

• 5,000 matches and youth served under this grant
• 5,000 mentors recruited under this grant
• For mentor recruitment, we target Adult Volunteers
• Duration of program services: 12 months or longer
• Expected intensity of match contact: Matched parties (Bigs & Littles) spend consistent, significant time together, which is monitored by professional program agency staff. The specific frequency and intensity is not tracked.
• Expected length of a match: 12 months or longer
• Expected frequency of match contact: Matched parties (Bigs & Littles) spend consistent, significant time together, which is monitored by professional program agency staff. The specific frequency and intensity is not tracked.
• Number of training hours required before a mentor is matched with a youth: 1.5 hours