Friends of the Children - SW Washington

Our mentoring model is distinct, courageous and proven. 

Our mission is to impact generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors, for 12+ years, from kindergarten through high school graduation, no matter what. All of the children and families in our program are navigating intergenerational poverty and complex economic, social and system challenges. Our professional mentorship model provides 3-4 hours per week of direct support to each child, supporting them to achieve academic and developmental goals, while simultaneously empowering caregivers through skill-building, systems access and navigation support (education, healthcare, etc.), and ensuring basic needs are met. This model recognizes that consistent, long-term support is crucial to effectively address the complex challenges faced by underserved youth and families, and our approach has a 30-year track record of helping youth and families break the cycle of poverty.

THE MODEL

We select children who could most benefit from a relationship with a long-term professional mentor.
Like all children, the youth we serve have unique talents, varied interests and big dreams. Unlike other programs, we exclusively focus on children who are also facing systemic obstacles and who have lived through a lot of trauma. Our youth have experienced multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) by the time they reach kindergarten. We partner with community organizations, schools and foster care systems to help us identify children ages 5 to 6 who could most benefit from a relationship with a Friend.

We hire and train full-time paid professional mentors called Friends.
Our Friends' full-time job is to empower and support youth and their caregivers. Moving mentorship out of the volunteer realm is key to getting the quality, consistency and commitment our children and their families deserve in the relationship. Each Friend works with eight to ten youth, spending three to four hours every week with or on behalf of each child.

We commit for the long term.
We commit to every child for the long term, from kindergarten through graduation. 12+ years, no matter what.

Our work is relationship-based, individualized and intentional.
Each child gets a dedicated, one-on-one Friend who spends a minimum of 14 to 16 intentional hours per month with them. Friends and youth set goals and design activities that advance those goals and build life skills. Friends create meaningful experiences to explore each child's unique talents and interests. Friends of the Children has developed nine research-based Core Assets, which are specific qualities we focus on to ensure the social and emotional development of our youth.

We work with youth in school, at home and in the community.
We take a whole-child approach because we understand that lived experiences, home environment, systems, community and culture shape how a child develops and learns. Friends serve as a link between the different areas of a child's life to create stability and consistency – spending time in school as an advocate and support; time in their neighborhood to build connection and community; and time at home, becoming a trusted resource to the youth and their caregivers.

We evaluate, measure and improve.
We are equal parts head and heart. Data from Friends, youth and caregivers help us continuously improve and do our best day-to-day work. Ongoing third-party research and evaluation drive program improvement and innovation. Right now, our model is the focus of an ongoing longitudinal randomized-controlled trial–the longest of its kind–run by researchers from the University of Washington and New York University.