Causes: Big Brothers & Big Sisters, Children & Youth

Mission: Kansas big brothers big sisters helps boys and girls, most of whom are considered at risk and live in single parent homes, achieve their full potential through long-term relationships with carefully screened and caring volunteers.

Programs: Community-based mentoring - in our community-based mentoring program, volunteer mentors (bigs) meet with their mentee (little) three to four times a month out in the community participating in an variety of activities. Activities may include going to the park, to a sporting event, out to dinner, or simply to the bigs house to play games. Youth who are served in our community-based program are between the ages of 5 and 18 years and typically come from low-income, single-parent homes. Big brothers big sisters focuses on matching children who are facing adversity so that they are able to reach their full potential in life. These areas include children who struggle in school, have an incarcerated parent, those who have a family history of drug or alcohol abuse, or a history of involvement in the juvenile justice system. As of december 31, 2014, 1,036 youth who were matched in our community-based program for at least one year had the following outcomes: 87% had improved self-confidence, 58% had an improved sense of the future, 70% increased their academic performance, and 55% showed improvements in their ability to avoid delinquency.

site-based mentoring - in our site-based mentoring program, volunteer mentors (bigs) meet with their mentee (little) three to four times a month at the youth's school. Matches are able to meet during the lunch hour or after school. Bigs help their littles with homework, play games, and have a conversation during the 30 to 60 minutes that they are typcially able to spend together each week. Youth who are served in our community-based program are between the ages of 5 and 18 years and typically come from low-income, single-parent homes. Big brothers big sisters often receives referrals straight from the school for youth who are in need of that additional support and one-to-one relationship. As of december 31, 2014, 1,473 youth who were matched in our site-based program for at least one school year had the following outcomes: 81% had improved self-confidence, 38% had an improved sense of the future, 67% increased their academic performance, and 40% showed improvements in their ability to avoid delinquency.

positive pathways program (p3) - p3 focuses on older youth, typically those who are between the ages of 14 to 24 who have been involved in the juvenile justice system. P3 works as a community collaborative, providing youth with wrap-around services including education services, workforce development, case management, and life skills development. P3 engages youth using motivational interviewing (mi) and positive youth development (pyd) which allows the youth to acquire knowledge and resources and learn how to utilize their positive attributes and abilities to make the best decisions for their future. As of december 31, 2014, ksbbbs served 116 youth during the fiscal year. Of those 116 youth, 74 attended high school or entered a ged program and 14 entered into permanent employment. P3 did not have any youth recidivism during this program year.