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May 2003
ELLSWORTH AND MACHIAS –
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) has announced
that Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Hancock and
Washington Counties (BBBSHWC), a program of Downeast
Health Services, has been selected to participate in a
three-year comprehensive research study to measure the
effectiveness of school-based mentoring. BBBSHWC will be
one of eight programs nationwide participating in the
two-part project. There are 500 Big Brothers Big Sisters
programs in the United States.
According to Keoki
Hansen, BBBSA Director of Research and Evaluation, Big
Brothers Big Sisters of America has seen tremendous growth
over the past few years in both the number of School-Based
Mentoring (SBM) programs at Big Brothers Big Sisters
agencies throughout the country and in the number of
volunteers and youth engaged in school-based mentoring.
BBBS school-based matches increased from 27,000 in 1999 to
70,000 in 2001, an increase of 259%. The relatively new
enterprise of school-based mentoring is clearly an
important growth area for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and
one that creates a need to understand the role of new
types of partnerships, volunteer sources, programming and
clients, both volunteer and youth. It is also very
important that BBBS understand the effectiveness of SBM
programs as they relate to positive youth outcomes.
Community-Based Mentoring (CBM) programs have been
evaluated and found to reduce the likelihood that mentored
youth will begin drug and alcohol use, skip school or skip
class or hit someone compared to controls. However, such a
rigorous evaluation has yet to be conducted with youth in
SBM programs. This project is designed to fill the void.
While current research
suggests that school-based mentoring may produce positive
outcomes related to the social, emotional and academic
growth in mentored youth, there is a lack of robust
research, utilizing control/experimental groups evaluating
outcomes for youth in SBM programs. Therefore, in order to
determine the efficacy of BBBS Mentoring in Schools, the
experimental research study will be conducted that
utilizes a large sample size and valid and reliable
measures.
“We are pleased to be
selected to participate in this important research,” said
Pat Saunders, BBBSHWC Program Director. “Our anecdotal
evidence and our Program Outcome Evaluations point to
positive outcomes for mentored youth in schools, however
this project will provide solid measurements and help us
understand the impact of variables, such as environment
and length of match, on those outcomes.” Schools in
Hancock and Washington Counties will participate in the
project scheduled to begin this fall.
Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Hancock and Washington Counties provides mentors to
children who could use additional friendship and support.
For more information about being a Big Brothers Big
Sisters mentor or about the research project, contact Pat
Saunders at 1-800-492-550, ext. 239 or 667-5304, or visit
our website at
www.downeastmentor.org . |
