Mentoring 4 Georgia - A Collaborative Project Implemented by Four Big Brothers Big Sisters Agencies in Georgia to Provide One-to-One Mentoring to At-Risk Youth in 29 Counties

The Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, Category 3 (Collaborative Mentoring Program) provides funding to support organizations that form a collaborative of at least three and as many as five mentoring organizations in their efforts to strengthen and/or expand their existing mentoring programs to reduce juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, truancy, and other problem and high-risk behaviors. FY 2015 funding will address the factors that can lead to or serve as a catalyst for delinquency or other problem behaviors for at-risk and high-risk youth. This program is authorized by the FY15(OJJDP Ment. Oppor Yth) Pub. L. No. 113-235; 128 Stat. 2130, 2195.

Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Metro Atlanta is a collaborative of Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies in Georgia that have come together to address issues of children living in poverty, high juvenile incarceration rates, truancy rates, a large number of single parent families with very limited support system, among other things. BBBS of Metro Atlanta plans to implement the Mentoring 4 Georgia mentoring program. The collaborative includes BBBS Heart of Georgia in Macon, BBBS Chattahoochee Valley in Columbus and BBBS Northwest Georgia Mountains in Dalton. Each of these agencies have been providing mentoring programs in Georgia for at least 30 years. This collaboration will allow them to share costs related to training, quality assurance, volunteer recruitment and other resources. They have formal MOUs in place for the collaborative. Through this funding, BBBS of Metro Atlanta will be able to expand the number of children served, and enhance the impact of their programs by expanding mentor training and support, providing more structured activities, and engaging parents and families in the program. These enhancements will enable them to deepen the mentoring relationship, resulting in a reduced closure rate and longer matches. Together they will serve 346 matches per year over a three-year grant period, with 534 unduplicated matches served by the grant.
CA/NCF