The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth is a free information service of the HHS/ACF Family and Youth Services Bureau. Contact NCFY at (301) 608-8098 or ncfy@acf.hhs.gov. If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail, please click here to view it on the web.. |
In This Issue:
- New From NCFY
- Bright Idea
- NCFY Recommends
- Right on the Money
- Primary Sources
- Funding Opportunities
- Contests and Awards for Youth
Know youth workers or other professionals who might enjoy receiving a copy of the monthly Youth Initiatives Update in their inboxes? PASS IT ON! Subscribing is easy. Simply send an email with "Subscribe YIU" in the subject line to ncfy@acf.hhs.gov.
 Celebrate National Mentoring Month by highlighting the good work your program does and by encouraging more adults to become mentors. Here’s how:
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January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month Learn More National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Salvation Army – Promise Initiative Girls Education and Mentoring Services, or GEMS Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Innocent Images National Initiative Get Help Children of the Night 24-Hour Hotline National Human Trafficking Hotline National Runaway Switchboard Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, or RAINN Report the Exploitation of a Young Person CyberTipline |
Former Mentees Give Back
In the newest edition of its Positive Youth Development Podcast Series, NCFY speaks to six high school girls from Baltimore who were mentored through the Mayor’s Young Women in Action Initiative. The six still meet regularly to do community service and keep up with their mentors.
An Essential Tool for Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs
The new “NEORHYMIS Version 2.1 USERS GUIDE” is here! The manual covers every aspect of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System, or RHYMIS, providing information to help grantees use the system to collect data about their programs and submit it to FYSB. Prepared for FYSB by NCFY and Computer Sciences Corporation, the guide can be downloaded as a Word or PDF document.
Mealtime Mentoring Makes for a Good Partnership
One organization offers young people a safe place to go after school. The other matches caring adults with youth who need a positive role model. Join the two approaches together and the result is a site-based mentoring program that combines the strengths and missions of the two organizations.
That’s the thinking behind Mealtime Buddies, a program spearheaded by Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks, in Springfield, MO. College-age mentors meet young people for dinner once a week (for at least a year) at a local Boys and Girls Club or Salvation Army.
The program benefits all involved, says Lisa Slavens, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks. “It provides one-on-one attention for kids at programs strained for money,” she says. At the same time, the program appeals to college students and young professionals who want to volunteer but have busy schedules—because everyone has to eat. And because, mentors and mentees meet at the afterschool program site, where planned activities take place, mentors feel less pressure. “You don’t have to worry about where to go or what to do,” she says.
The simple idea of bringing mentors and mentees together over a weekly meal requires strong collaboration to succeed, Slavens says. In seeking partners, she looked for afterschool programs that meet in the same place every day and have consistent attendance. “We don’t want to make a match if the child isn’t going to be there to participate,” she says.
Slavens shared these additional tips for starting a mealtime mentoring program:
Got a bright idea that you've put into practice? Send it to ncfy@acf.hhs.gov and we may feature it in Youth Initiatives Update.
Mentoring by the Book
The third edition of MENTOR’s “Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring” (2009) includes six evidence-based standards addressing
- mentor and mentee recruitment;
- screening;
- training;
- matching;
- monitoring and support; and
- closure.
Each standard offers benchmarks for day-to-day operations, applicable in stand-alone mentoring programs and in programs where mentoring is one element. MENTOR also offers a toolkit, “How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice,” made up of tools, templates and advice for implementing and adhering to the “Elements of Effective Practice.” The toolkit is available in English and Spanish, and includes a section on mentoring immigrant and refugee youth.
Does Your Mentoring Program Work?
Public/Private Ventures’ “Evaluating Mentoring Programs” (PDF) (2009) guides mentoring programs through the process of evaluating their work. From outcome measures to impact measures, experimental design to comparison groups, the manual explains how to create a solid evaluation study and how to avoid pitfalls and common mistakes in analyzing data.
Coming Soon: Federal Funding to Prevent Adolescent Pregnancy
A new Web site from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is following the development of a new Federal program to promote evidence-based adolescent pregnancy prevention. The site includes information about the availability of competitive grants from the new Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as materials describing effective programs.
Make a Plan for Financial Sustainability in the New Year
The past two years have shown how essential a solid financial strategy can be for nonprofits. New Hampshire’s Child and Family Services, a statewide charity with headquarters in Manchester, has weathered the recession without any layoffs or reduction in services thanks to diverse revenue sources—including an endowment, private and corporate donors, the United Way, and state, local, and federal funding—and staff-wide commitment to financial sustainability.
CEO Michael Ostrowski stresses collaboration and teamwork when formulating and enacting the organization’s sustainability plan, which he uses as a blueprint for keeping the organization financially stable. “A sustainability plan should be a consensus of board and staff about what type of organization you want to be from a funding viewpoint,” he says.
Reaching consensus about long-term, shared goals and how to fund them can make tough financial decisions easier over the years, especially during economic downturns like today’s. Ostrowski outlines a five-step process for implementing a thoughtful financial plan:
Right on the Money is an ongoing series about how to keep the doors of nonprofit organizations open in good times and bad. If there's a topic you'd like us to address here, please e-mail us.
Improving Mentoring Practice
Mentoring from a caring adult may increase children’s opportunities for social and cultural enrichment, decrease behaviors such as drinking and drug use, and improve their sense of self, relationships with family and friends, and school performance. But a bad mentoring experience—one that ends too quickly or does not have consistent or frequent enough meetings—can have the opposite effect. Recent research focuses on improving mentoring practice to better help young people, including children of prisoners.
(Publications discussed here do not necessarily reflect the views of NCFY, the Family and Youth Services Bureau or the Administration for Children and Families.)
Primary Sources is a summary of recent research on youth and families. Got a research topic you want to learn more about? E-mail us and we may feature it in Youth Initiatives Update.
Offender Reentry
Department of Health and Human Services
Application Due Date: January 19, 2010
Research Grants for Preventing Violence
Department of Health and Human Services
Application Due Date: January 19, 2010
State, National and Indian Tribes Planning Grants (PDF)
Corporation for National and Community Service
Application Due Date: January 26, 2010
Coming Up Taller Awards
President’s Council for the Arts and Humanities
Nomination Due Date: January 29, 2010
Disney’s Friends for Change Grants
Disney and Youth Service America
Application Due Date: January 29, 20010
Wireless Innovation Project
Vodafone Americas Foundation
Application Due Date: February 1, 2010
Higher Education Challenge
Department of Agriculture
Application Due Date: February 5, 2010
Recovery Act Youth Conservation Projects
Department of Interior
Application Due Date: March 31, 2010
Social Change Projects
Ben & Jerry’s Foundation
Application Due Date: Rolling
Campaign for Black Male Achievement
Open Society Institute
Application Due Date: Rolling
Disney’s Friends for Change Grants
Disney and Youth Service America
Application Due Date: January 29, 20010
Get Ur Good On
Youth Service America
Application Due Date: February 22, 2010
$500 Disaster Grants
DoSomething.org
Application Due Date: Rolling
$500 Do Something Grants
DoSomething.org
Application Due Date: Rolling
The Youth Initiatives Update comprises links to Web sites with information on programs, organizations, resources, and publications relevant to children, youth, and family issues. Inclusion of this information does not imply endorsement by the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY). Moreover, the points of view or opinions expressed on these Web sites do not necessarily represent the official position, policies, or views of FYSB, HHS, or NCFY.
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