Mentoring Programs (Child & Adolescent)

Fostering Healthy Futures - Preteen (FHF-P) is a mentoring and skills group program for preadolescent children (ages 9–11) who have current or previous child welfare involvement due to one or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). These ACEs may include the experience of maltreatment; out-of-home placement; instability in housing, caregivers, or schools; and/or parental substance use, mental illness, or incarceration.

Skills Groups: Children attend skills groups which meet for 1.5 hours/week for 30 weeks. The groups follow a manualized curriculum that combines cognitive-behavioral strategies with activities designed to help children process experiences related ACEs. For example, topics include: emotion recognition, problem solving, anger management, cultural identity, change and loss, and peer pressure. Multicultural stories and activities are integrated throughout.

Mentoring: Children receive 30 weeks of 1:1 mentoring (2-4 hours per week). Mentors work to: 1) create relationships with children that serve as positive examples for future relationships, 2) advocate for needed services, 3) help children generalize and practice skills learned in group, 4) engage children in educational, social, cultural, and recreational activities, and 5) promote positive future outlooks.

FHF-P targets risk and protective factors that have been identified as strong predictors of adolescent mental health problems, risk behaviors and associated outcomes.

The purpose of My Life is to support young people in learning how to direct their lives and achieve their educational and transition to adulthood goals. Grounded in self-determination enhancement, My Life provides youth with 9-12 months of:

• Youth-directed relationship support
• Coaching in applying achievement, partnership, and self-regulation skills to identify and reach goals (e.g., set goals, problem-solve, find information and help, negotiate, find allies, focus on accomplishments, manage discouragement)
• Support for experiential activities aimed at goal achievement and guided skill practice
• Workshops that bring together participants and successful near peers who also have lived experience in foster care, for learning, peer support, and networking

Each youth identifies and works towards self-identified educational and/or transition goals, shares his or her goals and support needs with important adults during a youth-led meeting, and develops at least one individual plan for future support with a trusted adult.

The purpose of Better Futures is to support young people in exploring their postsecondary interests and opportunities, and in preparing them to participate in postsecondary education, including college and vocational training programs. Grounded in self-determination promotion, and developed as a postsecondary-focused adaptation of the My Life program, Better Futures engages youth in a four-day postsecondary immersion experience along with the following supports that are provided for 9 months after that experience:

• Youth-directed relationship support from a coach who is currently in postsecondary education and who has personal life experience in foster care
• Coaching in applying achievement, partnership, and self-regulation skills to identify and reach postsecondary and related youth-chosen goals (e.g., dream, set goals, problem-solve, schmooze to reach out to allies, negotiate, appreciate accomplishments, hang tough against stress)
• Support for experiential activities aimed at career and postsecondary exploration and preparation, along with related goal achievement
• Workshops that bring together participants, coaches, and successful near peers (i.e., peers currently in postsecondary education and who have lived experience in foster care) for learning, peer support, and networking

Each youth identifies and works towards self-identified postsecondary and related goals. The youth is supported to carry out a series of postsecondary exploration and preparation activities (e.g., review high school transcript, interview/shadow someone in a career or with a degree of interest, visit a college or vocational program, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA], explore housing options) and to develop at least one individual plan for future support with a trusted adult ally.

Across Ages is a school- and community-based substance abuse prevention program for youth ages 9 to 13. The unique feature of Across Ages is the pairing of older adult mentors (55 years and older) with young adolescents, specifically those making the transition to middle school. The overall goal of the program is to increase protective factors for high-risk students to prevent, reduce, or delay the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and the problems associated with substance use.

Each youth is matched with a carefully screened and trained volunteer adult or high school mentor, and matches typically meet once a week at a school or other location (site-based program) or in community settings (community-based program). Matches can spend their time together talking, doing homework, participating in crafts, and/or playing games or sports. In community-based matches, they also spend time doing activities in the community like attending cultural events, going to restaurants or movies, or exploring other interests. Independent Big Brothers Big Sisters of America agencies provide support, ongoing training, and resources to the mentor (Big) and mentee (Little) to enable development of a positive and trusting relationship. Agencies may also organize activities or events for matches to attend. Agencies are responsible for obtaining their own funding and implementing their program based on the national Standards of Practice and Service Delivery Model. In addition to the foundational mentoring program, agencies may offer programs designed for special populations (such as Hispanic Mentoring, Native American Mentoring, Bigs in Blue (recruiting law enforcement officers to serve as Bigs), Military Mentoring, and/or mentoring for children of incarcerated parents or focused on particular activities or skill-development (such as workplace mentoring and/or Sports Buddies).

Friends for Youth's mission is to create quality mentoring relationships for youth who need them most. The Friends for Youth 1 to 1 Mentoring program creates and sustains community-based, long-term, one-to-one relationships between trusted adult volunteer mentors and youth who lack a positive adult relationship. This relationship exposes youth-in-need to new opportunities for learning and growth, with an emphasis on positive youth development, academic achievement, health and wellness, prevention services, and critical skills for future self-sufficiency.

Friends for Youth 1 to 1 Mentoring integrates outcome measures for the youth (e.g., academic achievement, wellness, skills development) into ongoing operations. Data is gathered during the intake interview of the mentee, three months after being matched with a mentor, and at the one-year mark, then analyzed. The data is then used to see how the youth has progressed.

Friends for Youth's core values are:

• Belief in the power of human relationships
• Uncompromising program excellence
• Leadership in the mentoring field
• Community impact
• Integrity

Friends of the Children (FOTC) provides children and families with intensive, individualized service from full-time, highly trained, salaried mentors (called Friends) for 12+ years, from kindergarten through high school graduation. In partnership with child welfare systems, community partners and schools, FOTC pro-actively selects children ages 4–6 facing the most significant barriers to future success. FOTC intentionally and simultaneously works with youth and caregivers in their lives together. Each Friend works one-on-one with 8–10 youth for 3–4 hours per week in school, at home, and in community. Friends provide a consistent caring relationship to: (1) engage youth and model strength-based social emotional development for caregivers; (2) foster healthy attachments and intrinsic motivation for goal achievement; (3) strengthen access to concrete supports and social networks; and (4) promote self-advocacy in school and other systems. FOTC stays with youth and their caregivers for 12+ years, supporting positive development and helping navigate life’s challenges.

The Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model was developed for working with youth and young adults (14-29 years old) with emotional/behavioral difficulties (EBD) to: a) engage them in their own futures planning process; b) provide them with accessible, developmentally appropriate, nonstigmatizing, culturally competent, trauma-informed, and appealing services and supports; and c) involve the young people, their families (of origin or foster), and other informal key players, as relevant, in a process that prepares and facilitates their movement toward greater self-sufficiency and successful achievement of their goals. Youth and young adults are guided in setting and achieving their own short-term and long-term goals across relevant Transition Domains, such as: employment/career, educational opportunities, living situation, personal effectiveness/well-being, and community-life functioning. The TIP Model is operationalized through seven Guidelines and their associated Core Practices that drive the work with young people to improve their outcomes and provide a transition system that is responsive to them and also to their families.