Grant Central
Winter 2016-17
volume 9 • issue 4
Club Mentoring Spotlight:
SPRINGFIELD BOYS & GIRLS CLUB FAMILY CENTER SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Boys & Girls Club Family Center launched its Mentoring at Boys & Girls Clubs program in February 2016. Club members and their parents attended an orientation where they met mentors from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department and learned what the Club’s mentoring program has to offer. The program, funded by Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), utilizes mentoring as a way to help prevent at-risk youth from academic failure, substance abuse and involvement in delinquent activities, including gangs. In partnership with the Springfield Police Department and Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, the Springfield Boys & Girls Club Family Center uses mentoring to demonstrate the importance of fitness, forming positive relationships with law enforcement, and practicing healthy habits. The Club’s mentoring program is an extension of the recreational activities that the Club offers youth through sports and play during the school year and summer. The program targets a minimum of 75 youth from the community. Participants enjoy a variety of activities, all in a safe, affordable and accessible environment. During the program sessions, mentors emphasize the development of critical character traits as well as the importance of building strong relationships with family and community partners. The BGCA Triple Play program serves as the program’s healthy habits component. Triple Play, BGCA’s first comprehensive health
and wellness program, strives to improve the overall health of Club members by increasing their daily physical activity, teaching them good nutrition and helping them develop healthy relationships. Mentors conduct two programs based on health and nutrition as well as sports and recreation. They coach youth in athletic competitions to develop their coordination and leadership skills. These interactions, along with organized social activities, strengthen character, increase confidence and enhance Club members’ ability to relate well with members of law enforcement. Project Learn, an OJP approved evidence-based program which reinforces the academic enrichment and school engagement of young people, is the second point of emphasis. Through Project Learn, mentors engage youth with homework help and targeted academic tutoring, high-yield learning and team building activities, leisure reading, incentive-based writing, and creative games that develop cognitive and analytical skills.
DID YOU KNOW? Starting in 2011, OJP contracted with an independent evaluator to administer a nationwide, three-year longitudinal study of 311 Boys & Girls Clubs to evaluate the efficacy of group mentoring. The study concluded in 2015 with a total of 236 Clubs, 5,010 Club members and 1,003 mentors having participated. The Clubs participated in a quantitative study of mentee academic and behavioral performance and attitudes, along with an indepth case study of group mentoring practices. The study resulted in two key takeaways: 1. The Boys & Girls Club group mentoring approach enhances the Club environment, resulting in a positive effect on youth’s social skills. 2. The Clubs’ mentoring approach has the potential to reduce taxpayer costs for at-risk youth. The analysis showed that every participating Club potentially saved taxpayers and businesses money by preventing at-risk youth from pursuing delinquent behavior. The average savings per Club was $375,622, and the average amount per youth was $4,921 for a total maximum potential savings of $110,891,000. Group mentoring in Clubs demonstrated benefits not usually achieved through a traditional, one-on-one mentoring model. For example, group mentoring: 1. Provided a social environment for the youth to interact; 2. Allowed mentees to see that their problems were not unique; and 3. Allowed mentees to form closer friendships between one another. Mentees reported learning the following as a result of being mentored: 1. Positive social skills
IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS DATE
ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
01/01/2017
January is National Mentoring Month! Plan an Event to Recognize Mentors at Your Club!
01/06/2017
Final OJP 2015 National Mentoring Programs Reports: Program and Performance Measures Reports for activity from Oct. 1, 2016 – Dec. 31, 2016 are due.
01/17/2017 & 01/18/2017 Positive Action Evidence-Based Program Orientation Webinar for Clubs (10 a.m. Jan. 17 & 3 p.m. Jan. 18 EST). 01/25/2017
OJP 2016 Mentoring Programs Administration, Grant Activation & Financial Reporting Webinar for Clubs (10 a.m. & 2 p.m. EST).
01/26/2017
OJP 2016 Mentoring Programs Administration, Program and Performance Measures Reporting Webinar for Clubs (10 a.m. & 2 p.m. EST).
01/31/2017
Final OJP 2015 National Mentoring Programs Financial Report due.
02/01/2017 - 02/03/2017 National Mentoring Summit-Washington, D.C. 04/07/2017
First OJP 2016 National Mentoring Programs Reports: Program and Performance Measures Reports for activity from Jan. 1 – March 31, 2017 are due.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Federal Grants Administration Learning Opportunities: Information about Federal Grants administration webinars, trainings, compliance requirements, resources, and other special notices are regularly updated on the Federal Grants page of BGCA.net.
2. Anger management 3. Conflict resolution 4. Respect for others 5. Leadership We want to thank all of the Clubs that participated in this study. These great outcomes have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice in support of BGCA’s group mentoring approach, and also supported BGCA’s $25 million OJP FY 2016 award. Just as important, it deepened the understanding at the federal level of the Club Experience and that positive outcomes for youth aren’t tied to a single outcome-based program, but to the relationships, support and high expectations Clubs set for young people.
This project was supported by Federal Award Number 2015-JUFX-0017 administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) through Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA). Points of view or opinions contained within this document do not necessarily represent the official position, or policies, of the U.S. Department of Justice.
MENTORING AT BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS IN ACTION:
NEW AND ENHANCED MENTORING PROGRAM PLEASE SHARE YOUR RESOURCES NEW - Orienting and Training Boys & Girls Clubs BEST PRACTICES Mentors is now available. WITH BGCA! The BGCA Federal Grants Department seeks mentoring best practices from Clubs. We strive to share “the best of the best” and communicate how BGCA National Mentoring Programs funding impacts Clubs and communities. We want to share success stories and best practices throughout the Movement. Please complete the Best Practices Form and submit your best practices today!
WANT TO SEE YOUR CLUB FEATURED IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF GRANT CENTRAL? Are you doing great things with OJP National Mentoring Programs funding received through BGCA? If so, please tell us about it! We may include your success story as a feature on BGCA.net or in an upcoming edition of Grant Central. Please visit the Federal Grants page on BGCA.net for details, or email Amber Ward at award@bgca.org or Marie Gordon at mgordon@bgca.org.
Reminder: Participation in the Mentoring at Boys & Girls Clubs distance learning course is required for all OJP FY 2016 grant recipients and should be completed early in the grant period. The Club professional responsible for administering the mentoring programs at each OJP-funded Club site is required to complete the distance learning course, and to record participation in the quarterly online grant program reports submitted to BGCA. Failure to complete this required training can adversely affect your organization’s eligibility to receive current and future OJP National Mentoring Grants. To learn more about this course, click here.
This course helps Club mentors successfully impact the opportunities, challenges, issues and situations that commonly occur within a mentoring relationship. By completing this training, you will be able to: 1. Identify qualities and expectations aligned to roles of a mentor in a Boys & Girls Club. 2. Create a plan to appropriately use strengths and growthmindset based approaches to positive youth development among your mentees based on their stages of development. 3. Create a plan that indicates how you will adapt your skills, knowledge and behaviors in each of the four stages of youth development to support your mentoring relationship. 4. Identify questions you need answers to from the mentor program coordinator in order to garner ongoing support to successfully mentor youth in Clubs.
Enhanced – SMART Leaders Curriculum is now available. In 2016, students from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University created new activities to support the SMART Leaders program. These activities replaced videos that were no longer available. In addition, there is now a facilitator feedback form to evaluate the activities at the end of each session. SMART Leaders is an OJP-approved, evidence-based life skills program for teens that uses small-group discussion to increase youth knowledge and develop resistance skills related to drug and alcohol use, and early sexual activity. Participants have opportunities to lead prevention activities for their peers and become positive community role models. Each session’s format was restructured to include: •
A comprehensive overview of the session
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Specific learning objectives
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Estimated preparation and session time
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Materials needed
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Session outline
To learn more, please visit www.bgca.net.
COMPLIANCE CORNER YOUR BGCA FEDERAL GRANTS SPECIALISTS! NE REGION Name Melanie Alexander Federal Grants Specialist State Assigned CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, PR, RI, VT Telephone 404-487-5985 Email malexander@bgca.org
PAC & SE REGION Name Toni Holland Federal Grants Specialist State Assigned AZ, OR, ID, MT, NV, UT, WA, DC, FL, VI, VA Telephone 404-487-5882 Email tholland@bgca.org
SW REGION
SE REGION
Name Cherie Boone Federal Grants Specialist State Assigned AR, CO, KS, NM, OK, TX, WY Telephone 404-487-5753
Name Leith Smith Director, Federal Grants State Assigned AL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN Telephone 404-487-5749
Email cboone@bgca.org
Email lsmith@bgca.org
PAC REGION
MW REGION
Name Naverne Coke Federal Grants Specialist State Assigned AK, AS, CA, HI Telephone 404-487-5715
Name Lisa Wilson Federal Grants Specialist State Assigned IA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI, WV Telephone 404-487-5886
Email ncoke@bgca.org Name Debra Springette Lead Federal Grants Specialist Telephone 404-487-5829 Email dspringette@bgca.org
Email lwilson@bgca.org
THE OJP FY 2016 GRANT CYCLE IS JAN. 1 – DEC. 31, 2017 The primary role of your BGCA Federal Grants Specialists is to assist in ensuring that your OJP grant is administered in a manner compliant with federal regulations and BGCA policies and procedures, thereby supporting the efficacy of the federal passthrough grant funding. Your assigned Federal Grants Specialist is responsible for reviewing and approving all documents and reports that you submit to the Federal Grants Department. This includes approving proposed budgets and authorizing reimbursements to your Club upon the approval of properly submitted and adequately documented financial reports. Your Federal Grants Specialist is also responsible for monitoring your Club’s progress toward meeting the program requirements specified in grant Letters of Agreement through review of the quarterly program reports. Please contact your Federal Grants Specialist any time that you have questions concerning: • Allowable and unallowable costs • Reporting requirements • Status of reports and payments • Information on completing Letters of Agreement and accompanying forms • Proper documentation of expenditures • Changes in your budget • Proposed budgets • Activity reports • Grant forms
Do you have ideas for future Grant Central topics or questions about the newsletter? If so, please contact Amber Ward at award@bgca.org. National Headquarters 1275 Peachtree St. NE • Atlanta, GA 30309 (404) 487-5700 • www.bgca.org © 2017 Boys & Girls Clubs of America • 2937-16