August 8, 2017 by Philip Lewenstein

Big Brothers Big Sisters Is Stronger Than Ever in Serving Minnesota Youth

Finding a path to a positive, productive future can be challenging for any young person but especially for youth facing adverse family situations. Effective mentoring programs, however, can help children overcome obstacles by enabling youth to gain confidence, to avoid negative behaviors, to improve in school, and to plan for the future.

One of the most successful mentoring programs is the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), and the Twin Cities is fortunate to host one of the leading BBBS organizations. I became familiar with Big Brothers about 40 years ago when I joined the St. Paul chapter, serving as both a Big Brother and later as a member of the board of directors.

My interest in the program was renewed recently when I received the 2016 Annual Report, Building Friendships That Matter, published by the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities. I also enjoyed reading the summer 2017 newsletter.

Many changes have occurred in the organization’s structure and programming, but the foundation established more than 100 years ago and positive impact on children have not changed. Big Brothers Big Sisters appears to be stronger than ever in serving youth in our community.

I learned about and signed up for the Big Brothers program in the mid-1970s and was matched with a 10-year-old boy who lived in a St Paul housing project with his mother, a brother, and two sisters. Our one-to-one relationship continued for about eight years until my Little Brother completed high school. We talked or met every week, often playing sports or attending events together. We were selected as guests for the channel 4 noon news to promote the program.

A few years after I joined, the St. Paul Big Brothers Program, under the leadership of Joe Temali and Bob Mitchell, combined with the Big Sisters Program and years later merged with the Minneapolis program. Programming also expanded to include several mentoring options.

The evolution of changes builds on the core foundation of what is called community-based mentoring: providing children facing adversity with strong and enduring one-to-one relationships with caring adults. Big Brothers or Big Sisters (Bigs) and Little Brothers or Little Sisters (Littles) might go for a walk in the park, go to a museum or movie, attend a special Big Brothers Big Sisters event, or hang out and talk. As positive role models, the volunteer Bigs help change the Littles’ lives forever.

Under another program option, the school-based mentoring program, Bigs and Littles (elementary and middle-school students from 15 Twin Cities schools) meet weekly at a match site throughout the school year. At the match sites, typically the Little’s school or Big’s workplace, the Big and Little spend time together doing activities.

The Education and Enrichment Program helps Littles age 12 and over to explore postsecondary options. Teens are introduced to college access, workforce readiness, and healthy lifestyle topics. Further, the BBBS offers the Federated Challenge Scholarship exclusively for Littles and high- school Bigs. Recipients can receive up to $5,000 annually to use toward tuition, books, and other educational expenses to pursue an apprenticeship, certificate, or associate degree.

What distinguishes Big Brothers Big Sisters from other mentoring programs is its positive impact on children. To its credit, BBBS has thoroughly tested and evaluated its model. A landmark study by Public/Private Ventures, an independent Philadelphia-based national research organization, was published in 1995.

The study found that after 18 months of spending time with their Bigs, the Little Brothers and Little Sisters were 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs than unmatched children, 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol, 52 percent less likely to skip school, 37 percent less likely to skip a class, and 33 percent less likely to hit someone. Researchers found that the Littles were more confident of their performance in schoolwork and were getting along better with their families.

Subsequent national surveys by Civic Enterprises and Harris Interactive confirmed the significant, tangible effects of BBBS on the lives of youth in increasing their self-confidence, making better life choices, and valuing education.

These program benefits were clear to me from my experience. My Little Brother had a brother, one year younger, who was not matched in the program. The differences in their behavior and school performance were evident and likely due to my Little having an adult mentor. At program events such as the annual holiday party, I observed the joy and happiness of Littles from their relationships with their Bigs.

Data reported by the Twin Cities Big Brothers Big Sisters are consistent with the national surveys. In the Twin Cities, 91 percent of Littles improved or maintained their scholastic competence, 79 percent have higher-educational aspirations, 91 percent are less likely to engage in risky behavior, and 73 percent improved or maintained grades in school. Eighty-four percent of youth paired with a mentor during their freshman year and still matched at the start of their senior year graduated from high school.

In 2016, the Twin Cities program served 2,396 youth. Seventy-four percent were from non-two-parent families, 86 percent qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, and 15 percent had an incarcerated parent or family member. Forty-four percent were Little Brothers and 56 percent were Little Sisters.

Of youth served in the Twin Cities in 2016, 49 percent were African American, 14 percent were Caucasian, 16 percent were multirace, 11 percent were Hispanic/Latino, 4 percent were Native American, 4 percent were Asian, and 2 percent were classified as other.

The key to the program’s success has been the effective matching of boys and girls with a volunteer adult. Dedicated professionals work with Bigs and Littles and their families to keep matches going strong. The average match length is 34 months in the Twin Cities compared to 29 months nationally. Longer matches are the key to strong relationships and more positive outcomes.

Big Brothers Big Sisters began in 1904 when a New York court clerk, Ernest Coulter, was seeing more and more boys come through his courtroom. He recognized that caring adults could help many of these kids stay out of trouble, and he set out to find volunteers. About the same time, members of a group called Ladies of Charity were befriending girls who had come through the New York Children’s Court. That group would later become Catholic Big Sisters. In 1977, Big Brothers Association and Big Sisters International combined to become Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Big Brothers Big Sisters operates in all 50 states and in 12 countries.

In Minnesota, the organization has been matching kids with mentors since 1920. Almost half a million Twin Cities kids have benefited from the program. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Twin Cities is the largest and oldest mentoring agency in the region. It ranks in the top 10 percent of BBBS agencies in the nation. The Minnesota Philanthropy Partners in 2013 ranked the agency among the top three most effective organizations in Minnesota serving at-risk youth.

Strong financial support is important to program success. When I served in the St. Paul program, United Way was the largest source of funding, but the size of that grant began to decrease, and fund-raising became a major focus of the board.

Today, corporate and foundation contributions (58 percent) are almost five times more than the United Way grant (12 percent), the second-largest funding source. The largest sources after the United Way grant are individual contributions (10 percent), government grants (10 percent), and special-event revenue (6 percent). In the 2016 annual report, I counted about 180 contributions from corporations, foundations, and other organizations. And I counted about 1,760 individual donors. Further, the Twin Cities program estimates that 92,980 hours were volunteered in 2016, the equivalent of $2,145,049.

Fund-raising is an ongoing priority because demand for BBBS services exceeds the program’s capacity to meet the needs for mentoring. Thus, all these funding sources are important for the BBBS to maintain and expand. The cost of creating and maintaining a match is $1,000 to $1,500.

BBBS has had a positive impact on my life. Participating in the program helped satisfy my desire to serve the community, especially to help those less fortunate than me. Involvement as a Big Brother helped me prepare for parenthood. Familiarity with the one-to-one mentoring model helped me in my professional life. Evidence from the BBBS experience and other research convinced me to use this approach as the basis for creating Minnesota’s early-college-awareness program.

Mentoring youth is a proven approach to helping children find their way, and BBBS, as practiced in the Twin Cities, is arguably the best example of this community service model.