Surry/Stokes Friends of Youth

Program Overview and Background

SFOY was started in 1976 as a mentoring program for at-risk youth. The organization at large has expanded its capacity and program offerings to include counseling, anger management, community service, mediation, life skills and parent trainings, substance abuse prevention education, and substance use disorder screening and treatment. The newest program is Enhanced Mentoring for Substance Abuse-Affected Youth (SEMSAY). This will provide mentoring, parent aide support, substance abuse prevention education and treatment for youth, and help with navigating families to treatment resources.

Program Services

SEMSAY will provide highest-risk youth with intensive mentoring three hours per week for one year. Parents of these highest risk families may be given weekly in-home parent aide support to improve their parenting abilities and help steer them toward sobriety via referrals, education, and transportation assistance. Lower risk youth will be provided with enhanced mentors one hour per week for one year. Highest-risk youth are defined as those involved with Juvenile Justice and/or Child Protective Services hailing from families with known substance abuse problems.

Target Population

SEMSAY serves youth aged 6-17 who have been impacted by substance abuse. This impact may come from family members’ substance abuse problems and/or the youth’s own substance abuse.