Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Program Overview and Background

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) provides mentoring to youth ages 6-17 through the Mentoring at Boys & Girls Clubs (MBGC) program. BGCA is uniquely positioned to drive positive outcomes for young people in diverse communities throughout the country. The MBGC approach is comprehensive and cost-effective, leveraging BGCA’s nationwide Club network to connect at-risk youth with mentors, skill-building prevention programs, and positive youth development. These risk factors include involvement in the juvenile justice system, as well as individual, family, and environmental risk factors for substance abuse.

Program Services

Program services for youth include relationships with one or more mentors and engagement in two prevention programs, including at least one evidence-based program. Three prevention strategies, social and emotional development, bullying prevention, and intensive mentoring with case management, are utilized by mentors to meet specific mentee needs. Families are engaged throughout the program and supported with referrals to community partners as needed.

Target Population

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

• Single-parent Household
• Academic Challenges
• Facing Discrimination based on Race, Ethnicity, or Gender
• Juvenile Justice Involved • Victimization • Substance Misuse or Impact
• Rural Location
• Youth with Disabilities
• Native
• Military

Mentor Recruitment and Training

• 27,577 youth served under this grant
• 7,905 mentors recruited under this grant
• 27,577 matches
• Peer Mentoring included in programming
• For mentor recruitment, we target Peers (Youth), College Students, Adult Volunteers, Athletic Coaches, Law Enforcement Officers, and Program Staff
• Duration of program services: Varies
• Expected intensity of match contact: Minimum of 4 hours per month
• Expected length of a match: Minimum of 9 months
• Expected frequency of match contact: Minimum 4 times per month
• Number of training hours required before a mentor is matched with a youth: 3 hours