Program Statistics speak for themselves!

Program Statistics:

Big Brothers Big Sisters’ school-based mentoring has been proven to have a significant, positive impact on the children in the program. According to the result of a major study, teachers reported:

• 64 percent of students developed more positive attitudes towards school
• 58 percent achieved higher grades in social studies, languages, and math
• 60 percent improved relationships with adults, and 56 percent improved relationships with peers
• 64 percent developed high levels of self-confidence
• 62 percent were more likely to trust their teachers
• In addition, 77 percent of teachers, parents, and volunteers involved in the pilot program reported increases in students’ self-confidence. These students were also less likely than their peers to repeat a grade, and their average number of unexcused absences decreased.

Source: BBBS School-Based Mentoring: Evaluation Of Five Pilot Programs

Children Supported by Parents, Guardians or Caring Adult More Likely
to be Hopeful about School and Life

New Gallup Student Poll Supports Importance of Big Brothers Big Sisters
In Communities and Classrooms

Philadelphia, PA, May 7, 2009 -- A nationwide Gallup poll released this week finds children who have support from their parents, guardians or another caring adult are more likely to be hopeful, engaged and positive about their future well being educationally and socially.

The Gallup Student Poll, released by Gallup, America’s Promise Alliance, and the American Association of School Administrators, measures the hope, engagement and well-being of students in grades 5–12 through a new, groundbreaking survey administered anonymously in America’s schools. Gallup will conduct the poll twice annually, in March and October. The national results will be used by America’s Promise Alliance, and others in designing appropriate responses that support youth.

Half of the children surveyed indicated they are not hopeful, with one-third indicating that they are stuck and 17 percent reporting they feel discouraged. While 95 percent of the children believe they will finish high school, current graduation trends reveal that only one in three is likely to graduate on time. Those students surveyed who indicated they feel hopeful and believe they will graduate were also more likely to say they have caring parents or another supportive adult in their lives.

“This poll supports what independent research tells us about children who have Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors; that they are more likely than their peers to be successful students, to be close to their parents and guardians, and resist negative temptations, such as violence, crime and drugs. Long-term mentoring matches that are monitored and supported yield stronger results,” said Big Brothers Big Sisters of America President and Chief Executive Officer Judy Vredenburgh.

The nation’s largest donor supported volunteer mentoring network’s 255,000 community- and school-based mentoring matches are monitored and assisted by professionals who depend on donations to recruit, carefully match and screen volunteers and provide ongoing support to the mentors, children and their families.

“When more than 1.2 million young people drop out of high school every year, everyone needs to work together to address the crisis – educators, parents, business and community leaders,” said Alma Powell, chair of America’s Promise Alliance. “For too long the voice of youth has been missing from the national dialogue. This poll gives insights into the daily experiences, challenges and aspirations of our young people, so that we can better identify ways to meet their needs and help them be successful.”

“Research shows that the more support young people have, both inside and outside of the classroom, the more likely they are to stay in school and succeed in life,” said America’s Promise Alliance President and CEO Marguerite Kondracke.

Breakthrough Study Finds Adults Mentored as Children in Big Brothers Big Sisters are Better-Educated and Wealthier than Peers.

Miami, FL, June 16, 2009 -- A study conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters finds adults mentored as children through Big Brothers Big Sisters are more likely than peers with similar backgrounds but who were not involved in the program to have a four-year college degree and incomes of $75,000 or more. They also report strong relationships with their spouses, children and friends.

Big Brothers Big Sisters released the findings this week during its National Conference. The 2009 conference is being hosted in Miami and is sponsored by Comcast.

“The children we serve are among America’s most vulnerable, whether they have one parent, live in households experiencing poverty or have a parent who is incarcerated,” said Judy Vredenburgh, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America President and Chief Executive Officer. “Independent research has told us for some time that Big Brothers Big Sisters improves the odds that children we serve will succeed educationally and socially. This is our first large-scale examination of the long-term benefits, suggesting we have the potential to break cycles too often associated with family and community poverty.”

The cross-sectional study was commissioned by Big Brothers Big Sisters to gather evidence that its long-term structured mentoring program’s effects reach far beyond the time that children are enrolled in the program. The nation’s largest donor supported volunteer mentoring network’s 255,000 community- and school-based mentoring matches depends on donations to recruit, carefully match and screen volunteers and provide ongoing support to the mentors, children and their families.

Among the study’s specific findings:

• Alumni were 75% more likely than non-alumni to have received a four-year college degree (28% of alumni vs. 16% of non-alumni).
• Alumni were 39% more likely than non-alumni to have current household incomes of $75,000 or higher (46% of alumni vs. 33% of non-alumni).
• A majority of alumni are extremely or very satisfied with their relationships to friends (72%), family (65%) and spouses (62%).  Fewer non-alumni report the same level of satisfaction (46%, 50% and 40%, respectively).
• Approximately two in three (64%) alumni are extremely or very satisfied with life compared to just over one in three (35%) non-alumni.
• A majority of alumni (62%) perceive themselves to have achieved a higher level of success than their peers who were not involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters. Furthermore, this is twice as many as the 31% of non-alumni who report being more successful than other people they grew up with.
• Adult Littles are more likely than non-alumni to be engaged in their community over the past 12 months, particularly  when it comes to volunteering (52% vs 35%, respectively) and holding a leadership role in an organization working on an issue (29% vs. 16%, respectively).

A little more than half of the alumni Littles who participated in the study grew up in single-parent homes (52%) and described their childhood financial situation as worse off than the average American household (51%). The Big Brothers Big Sisters alumni reported that having a “Big” in their lives positively influenced their self confidence, provided stability and changed their perspectives on life, taught them new things, influenced aspects of their education, pushing them to set higher goals and make better decisions.

Methodology

Between March 3 and April 16 2009, Harris Interactive conducted an online survey of 449 adults, 200 of whom participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters as “Littles” for at least one year during their childhood and 249 who never participated in the program. Alumni Littles were sampled from a combination of Harris Interactive’s panel of respondents and Big Brothers Big Sisters lists. All 249 of the non alumni were sampled from the Harris Interactive panel of online respondents. The non-alumni segment allows for a comparison between Big Brothers Big Sisters alumni and adults who had a similar profile as youth but who did not have a Big Brother or Big Sister as a youth.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Dorado County was founded in 1977 and helps local children beat the odds through youth mentoring programs. The organization depends on donations to help recruit, train and match Mentor volunteers with youth in at-risk environments. Says Executive Director Deborah Jones, “Once a mentor match is made, our professional staff continues to supervise the match relationship to ensure child safety, the development of a meaningful friendship, engagement in positive activities and healthy outcomes for youth. This study just substantiates what we already knew – a meaningful relationship with a positive adult role model changes lives for the better.”

If you would like to get involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters locally, call Krysti or Amber at 530-626-1222.