Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta

Our Community-Based mentoring program is implemented following national evidence-based best practices, including: thorough screening and training of volunteers; in-depth interviews with children and parents; and ongoing professional monitoring, support and resources for the duration of the mentoring match. The program is individualized for each child to meet their social, emotional and academic needs. The Big Brother/Sister and Little Brother/Sister spend quality time together engaged in educational, recreational and cultural enrichment activities at times that are most convenient for them and their families, most often on weekends. In 2022, we served 892 children and youth ages 8-18 in our 1:1 Community-Based program: 82% came from low- or very low-income families; 82% qualified for free or reduced lunch programs at school; 71% lived in single-parent households and 27% had at least one parent who had been incarcerated; 98% were people of color (85% Black/African-American; 5% Hispanic; 7% other race/ethnicity; 1% Asian).Big Futures is an important enhancement to our mentoring program that is designed to support our high school Littles as they prepare for the next step after high school graduation. The Big Futures program aligns with the four Es outcome measures-Education, Enlistment, Employment and Entrepreneurship-and serves as a resource for high school students as they plan for the future. We provide every high school student with a grade-specific College Prep roadmap at the start of each school year, in addition to resources about other life paths. The roadmaps provide a month-by-month list of action items with links to online resources such as the FAFSA, online SAT and ACT prep and practice tests, career assessment tools, templates for creating a resume, financial aid and scholarships. The roadmaps help students stay on track to graduate on time and to prepare for post-secondary educational opportunities. They also help Bigs and parents/guardians support and advocate for success. One element of our Big Futures programming targeted to high school Littles is Beyond School Walls, our workplace mentoring program which is described in 4b. In 2022, we served 466 high school Littles through all of our Big Futures programming. We are very proud of the 2022 outcomes our children and youth were able to achieve, at school and in the community. o 98% were promoted to the next grade on time o 98% did not become involved in the juvenile justice system o 98% of high school seniors graduated on time o 76% of graduating seniors reported plans to pursue post-secondary education or the military The majority of our 2022 graduating seniors who did not have immediate post-secondary college or military plans reported that they intended to work so they could save enough money to enter college in the future, largely as a result of the financial hardship imposed on their households because of COVID.

Our Site Based Mentoring program has two models: School-Based (corporate and community volunteer mentors meet with middle school students at school twice a month over a three-semester period), and Beyond School Walls (mentors and high school students meet together regularly at the mentor's workplace). We have a dedicated Site-Based team that facilitates and supports mentoring matches at each location. Students are referred to our program by school counselors and teachers; parents/guardians and youth also learn about the program by word of mouth from other students and parents. Mentoring relationships are created and supported adhering to the same evidence-based best practices as those in our Community-based program. In 2022, we served 54 through this program at Sutton Middle School and Martin Luther King Middle School. In the Beyond School Walls program in the 2022-2023 school year, we are serving 100 students through three partnerships between local corporations and specific high schools: Cox Enterprises and Chamblee High School; UPS and Therrell High School; and Chick-fil-A and South Atlanta High School. In 2022, we launched a new Expanded Middle School Mentoring pilot program that was created in direct response to needs expressed by principals, counselors and administrators for trained positive adult role models to provide consistent and direct mentoring, as students have been exhibiting classroom disruptions, student conflicts and other behaviors at unprecedented levels. During the 2022-2023 school year, we are serving 292 students through this program at three APS Title I middle schools: Luther J. Price and Jean Childs Young Middle Schools and Herman J. Russell West End Academy. The program is designed to start with 100 6th grade students at each school as students make the difficult transition from elementary school to middle school (75 at Price MS which has a smaller student population).We will continue to serve this cohort of students through 8th grade when possible, while adding a new group of 100 6th grade students each year. This program utilizes paid BBBS Lead Mentors who are based at each school, providing 1:1 or small group mentoring depending on the individual needs of each child.