Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2007, $1,000,000)
Amachi Pittsburgh is a faith-based mentoring initiative of the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation (PLF) that provides mentors for children of prisoners in Allegheny County of Pennsylvania. Amachi Pittsburgh works strategically with community partners to ensure that children of prisoners grow to realize their potential through developing their sense of competence, usefulness, belonging, and power. The program targets children and youth age 4-18, residing in neighborhoods with high rates of incarceration, poverty, unemployment and crime. The goal is to implement new mentoring approaches that strengthen and expand mentoring programs through satellite partners, thereby enabling Amachi Pittsburgh to help transform 'invisible' victims of crime into recognized and valued members of their communities. Thus, this initiative promotes collaboration among community agencies and organizations committed to supporting mentoring services. The Amachi Pittsburgh will establish fully functional satellite mentoring programs in 32 additional locations for a total of 52 satellites, each providing mentors to a minimum of 10 youth of prisoners each year. Major focus areas of the outcomes chosen by the Amachi team are school performance, recognizing the need for all youth to develop a positive attitude toward learning, school attendance, and academic performance, appropriate behavior, and the necessary self-confidence and social skills required to do well in life. Other outcomes selected include improved coping and conflict management skills. The mentoring experience and the developmental progress of each child in receiving mentoring services will be tracked through the evaluation partner, the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development. Also, data will be reported on the operation of mentoring program, including how many children have begun matches and how many satellite programs are underway. CA/NCF