Program
Program Description
Through an extensive selection process, we seek out the children that are most vulnerable to school failure, abuse, neglect, juvenile delinquency, gang and drug involvement, and teen pregnancy. Friends NY gender matches 8 children with one carefully screened, stable, paid professional mentor, called a Friend. Friends spend 2 to 3 hours with each child at least twice a week, in and outside of the school setting.
Friends of the Children NY is unique because we:
- Employ carefully screened, full-time, paid professional mentors
- Match each Friend with 8 children
- Provide our mentors with continuous support and training
- Maintain high retention rates among both staff and children
- Establish and maintain working relationships with schools and families
- Select severely at-risk children through an intensive 6-week assessment process
- Intervene early at ages 5-7 and continue through high school graduation
- Commit to a long-term unconditional relationship with each child
- Spend extensive time in a one-on-one nurturing role modeling relationship
Long-Term Outcomes
We have the following Long-Term Outcomes for each of our children:
- Graduate from high school with a plan for the future
- Avoid involvement in the criminal justice system
- Avoid teenage parenthood
Rave Reviews
Since we began in 2001 we have continually collected data, and evidence in school and at home indicates that participation in the Friends NY program is having a positive impact in the lives of our children. Our second Third-party evaluation covering the first five years shows that Friends NY is:
"an invaluable presence in the lives of the children and families that they serve. Children report doing better in school since having a Friend, and teacher ratings of student progress, particularly in the area of attendance support this claim."
Teachers tell us student behavior also improved. As one teacher said:
"children felt they didn´t want to disappoint their Friend so they behaved better. This change in behavior was not only visible in the students, but it also improved the overall environment of their classrooms."
Parents appreciate Friends´ impact, as exemplified by one parent telling our evaluator:
"For him to have a person who gives him the attention he´s looking for, it´s great. It´s like they have someone special just for them, and they get to share a lot with them. They become part of your family because they´re involved with a great deal of things with the child."
What progress has been made?
Social and Emotional Development
- As reported by their Friends, over the time of their participation in the program, Cohort One participants (those children involved since initiation of the program) improved their social skills, such as making friends easily and getting along well with other children.
- Similarly, Friends reported that Cohort One participants increased their self-esteem and self-confidence, but for many of the children maintaining a positive self-image remains an ongoing challenge.
- Teachers indicate improvements for Cohort One in social contacts with peers, particularly in socializing and interacting with classmates and having lots of friends.
Making Good Choices
- Friends Assessments indicated that incidents of violent and/or illegal behavior have decreased among the Cohort One participants over time. Given that aggression and anger were two of the most prominent characteristics found among the children at the time of selection into the program, and given that many of the participants have family members with criminal involvement, the fact that these behaviors have decreased among Cohort One participants is striking.
- Another area in which improvements over time for Cohort One children were found was authority acceptance in the classroom, particularly breaking things and property damage. All teachers that were interviewed also noted the positive difference that the program has on the participants’ behavior in the classroom.
School Success
- While teachers said that the majority of the Cohort One children were easily distracted in class, over time, their reports indicated that participants improved their ability to complete assignments and work well alone.
- The majority of participants in Friends NY scored at Level 2 or 3 on the English Language Arts assessment in 2006. Overall this is slightly better than students at PS 241 (the original partner school from which children were selected into the program).
- On the 2006 Mathematics assessment, Friends NY participants again scored slightly better than students at PS 241, and notably, 40% of Friends NY participants scored in Level 3.
- English Language Arts assessment performance level movement data from Spring 2005 to Spring 2006, demonstrate that fewer Friends NY participants moved down one or more performance levels than students at PS 241. The majority of Friends NY participants maintained their performance level.
- Analysis of performance level movement on the Mathematics assessment from Spring 2005 to Spring 2006 showed that the movement was very similar between Friends NY participants and students at PS 241.
- Attendance is one important area in which Friends NY participants are doing exceedingly well. Friends NY participants had a mean attendance rate of 91.73, with Cohort One participants having an even higher rate of 94.76.
- In their most recent assessment, teachers rated the overall progress of all students in Cohort One between fair and excellent, with no students rated as poor or failing.
Download a PDF version of the complete Friends NY 2003 Evaluation.
Download a PDF version of the complete Friends NY 2006 Evaluation.