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 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Mentoring Programs
Investing in Our Nation’s Youth, Investing in Our Nation’s Future
What we know
Nearly 22% of our nation’s youth –16.1 million children from all
backgrounds– live in poverty.¹ One in 5 students does not graduate
from high school with his or her peers in four years.² The violence taking
place in communities large and small too often involves youth as both
the perpetrators and the victims. The bullying that we read about
involves youth who feel isolated from their peers in a society racked by
persistent unemployment and economic uncertainty.
America is at a crossroads.
An urgent need
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is the nation’s oldest and largest mentoring organization. Our communityand site-based mentoring programs serve 200,000 at-risk youth, 200,000 families and 200,000 volunteer
mentors through 340 affiliates across the country.
Working with African American, Hispanic, Native American, military and LGBT advisory councils, we are
strengthening our cultural competencies in working with the youth we serve through our mentoring
programs. But 30,000 children remain on our waiting list for our professionally managed, one-to-one
mentoring services, and 15 million children in the U.S.³ lack a formal mentor in their lives.
We produce positive outcomes
National research has shown that positive relationships between Littles and their Bigs have a direct
and measurable impact on children’s lives. Landmark research conducted by Public/Private Ventures
found that Littles, when compared to their non-mentored peers, are:
• 52% less likely to skip school
• 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
• 33% less likely to hit someone
The 2013 Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth Outcomes Survey Report found that for youth enrolled in our
Community-Based, one-to-one mentoring program:
• 94% maintained or improved in their attitudes toward risky behaviors
• 88% maintained or improved in parental trust
• 85% maintained or improved in their educational expectations
For youth enrolled in Big Brothers Big Sisters’ School and Site-Based mentoring program:
• 90% maintained or improved in social acceptance
• 87% maintained or improved in their educational expectations
• 84% maintained or improved in their grades
The path ahead
We have a unique opportunity to expand our mentoring programs to impact more at-risk children in
meaningful, substantive ways that are proven to produce positive results. Greater financial resources will
enable us to match more one-to-one volunteer mentors with the thousands of children who are enrolled
and waiting to be matched with their Bigs, as well as to recruit and successfully match more volunteers
with more children.
With the help of our partners and volunteer mentors, we’ve started something amazing. But there is so
much more that must be done.
Our youth hold America’s future in their hands.
¹ 2011 Census Bureau data
² U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics (2013)Public School Graduates and Dropouts
from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2009-10
³ 2013 MENTOR research data