Friends Of The Children Seattle

Programs: Friends of the children is a youth development program breaking the cycle of poverty and violence, preventing school dropout, teen parenting, and criminal activity by selecting youth facing the toughest challenges, and making a commitment to their success. Our model is courageous, unique and proven. We provide each child with a salaried, professional mentor from kindergarten through graduation, at least 12 and a half years no matter what. By selectively hiring experienced professionals we ensure the quality, consistency, and the commitment needed to give the child a new story and break the cycle of poverty. It works because: we select children who face the most challenges in their home and school environments. We start early, in kindergarten or first grade, when the child is eager to learn and grow, but needs the constancy and guidance of a professional mentor. We pair each child with a full-time salaried mentor; each child receives at least four hours of mentoring per week. We stay for the long-term, until they graduate from high school, prepared for college and the workforce, no matter what. The children enrolled in friends of the children are those who face the highest risk of poor outcomes, including school dropout, teen parenting, and criminal activity. Most live in poverty, move frequently, and have experienced trauma. 97% are eligible for free/reduced priced school lunch; 98% were born to a mother who was a teen parent; 55% have a parent who has been incarcerated; 51% have lived with someone other than their parents. Based on most recent program data available, youth made progress toward long-term program outcomes:1) avoid teen parenting - 94% of enrolled youth ages 10-19 avoided early parenthood, while 95% of youth were born to a mother who became a parent as a teen. 2) avoid involvement in the juvenile justice system - 94% of enrolled youth ages 10-19 avoided juvenile detention due to criminal activity, while 54% of youth have a parent who has been incarcerated. 3) graduate high school - nearly all (six of seven) eligible youth graduated high school on time in 2017: four are in post-secondary education; and two are working full-time. The seventh will complete high school in 2018 and plans to attend community college. Among all our enrolled youth, one-third have a parent that did not complete high school. Among program graduates, the majority (84%) have completed high school and 91% are contributing to society (engaged in post-secondary education, work or job training). Additionally, based on analysis of assessment and report card data for the 2015-16 program year (the most recent evaluation report completed by npc research, an independent research firm): the majority of youth met or exceeded standards in reading (74%) and math (74%). Half (51%) attended at least 95% of school days (missed fewer than 10 days of school), and 80% missed fewer than 18 days of school. Almost all (99%) of our youth avoided being expelled and 87% avoided being suspended, including in-school suspensions.