Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound - King and Pierce Counties Mentoring Programs

This grant program is authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) (the 'Recovery Act'). Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention made awards to support local organizations that develop, implement, or expand local mentoring programs leading to measurable, positive outcomes for at-risk youth. This program furthers the Department's mission by enhancing the capacity of local mentoring programs to develop and implement mentoring strategies to reduce juvenile delinquency and prevent violence.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound will address the problems of juvenile delinquency and gang participation, poor academic performance, and high drop-out rates in King and Pierce Counties, Washington. These problems will be addressed by enhancing the capacity of local efforts to implement their best-practice one-to-one mentoring model and developing strategies to recruit and maintain mentors serving hard to reach populations while ensuring the program's financial sustainability. The program will create positive youth outcomes for children in King and Pierce Counties by 1. improving academic performance in communities with low graduation rates; 2. building emotional self-sufficiency; and 3. helping children make good decisions.

This award will create four new jobs; thus the project achieves the Recovery Act objective of promoting economic recovery by preserving or creating jobs. CA/NCF