Frequently Asked Questions
For more information or additional questions, please contact our office at (765) 284-4141.
Q: What is Big Brothers Big Sisters?A: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware County is a nonprofit youth service organization that has been serving children in this community since 1971. It began as a Big Brothers organization and then in 1974 Big Sisters was added. Soon after, the agency was admitted as a full affiliated member of the national organization of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
The organization is supported through the United Way of Delaware County, fund-raising events, community and individual donations and grants. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a "vehicle for involvement". In other words, a Big's role is to help his/her Little's growth and development, helping them to become competent, caring and confident adults.
The asset approach to prevention is to focus on the positives in a child's life. Asset building doesn't begin with problems or trying to "fix" what is wrong. Assets build up a young person's natural ability to tackle the challenges to his or her well-being. Using the framework of the 40 Developmental Assets by the Search Institute, we focus on assets rather than deficits that each child comes to us with and we work to develop an outcome based service delivery system.
Big Brothers Big Sisters matches children (Littles), ages 6-14, in one-to-one mentoring relationships with screened and trained volunteers (Bigs). The children we serve are not only from single parent families. We have opened up our guidelines, as we know that all children can benefit from adult role models outside the family.
Through activities, conversations and opportunities the volunteer helps the child to develop self-worth, confidence and a sense of direction. This is a broad-based program that focuses less on specific problems after they occur, and more on meeting a child's most basic developmental needs.
Volunteers can be a part of the high school program at age 16 as a junior or senior and when out of high school volunteers start at age 18 and can be in their forties, fifties, sixties and beyond. They can be a student, single, married, divorced, a parent or a grandparent but they all have one thing in common and that is that they care about children in this community and they want to make their caring count.
Q: What is the process?
A: It is the job of professional staff to recruit, screen, train and supervise members of the community to become Big Brother and Big Sister volunteers. The screening process isn't as intrusive as it sounds. It normally includes an orientation, personal interview, background checks, references and training.
The screening process is designed to screen a potential volunteer in, not out. An individual's past may or may not be a factor in his or her appropriateness for program participation.
The interview is also the time to explore with the volunteer preferences regarding the type of child they would work with the best.
Volunteers have input in regard to the child with whom they will be matched. Before being matched the volunteer is presented with a profile(s) of a child based on preferences in age, common interests, personality traits and other factors that the volunteer feels are important.
Some volunteers have had previous experience working with children and some have not. These are issues that are explored before the match is determined. There has to be a commonality between the volunteer and child to make the match a success and for mentoring to take place.
Before being matched the volunteer has the opportunity to meet with the parent/guardian. After the match is made, vital to its success is the match support provided by the staff.
The role of the match support coordinator is to stay in consistent contact on a regular basis with the volunteer, parent and child and to provide direction, assistance, and advise with any questions or concerns that might arise.
An initial match plan is developed specific to each match and the focus in the beginning of the match is to form a relationship, as mentoring will not take place successfully unless a friendship or relationship has been established.
Being a reliable presence to the child is a valued goal of the program. As part of the match agreement the volunteer agrees to communicate regularly with the match support coordinator to provide ongoing feedback.
Q: Who are the Little Brothers and Little Sisters and how are they referred?A: Many of the children served come from single parent families but we also serve children in a variety of other family situations. Research has proven that all children can benefit from adult role models outside the family so our eligibility is open to any child regardless of their family situation.
The main criteria falls with age where the requirement is that the child be between the ages of 6-14 when entering the program. Many children do not participate in other programs and are not comfortable in group activities. Their needs are most suited through one-to-one time and attention. Our agency is prevention focused and research has also proven that mentoring is most effective beginning in the early years and when designed to strengthen the family relationship.
The children come from all backgrounds. Their personalities and interests differ, as do the volunteers. Most of the referrals come from parents but occasionally from schools or other community organizations. Participation is totally voluntary and only a parent/guardian can consent to services. It is important not only that the parent be supportive of their child's involvement but also that the child wants to participate as well.
Q: How much time do I spend with my Little?
A: Time commitment will be explored at the time of the interview. Consistency and quality is more important than quantity of time spent. We suggest that from the onset the volunteer be realistic about the time they have to give. Weekly contact is ideal and for some that is possible. For others contact may be less frequent.
The time that the volunteer and their Little get together may vary from visit to visit. Contact is flexible and can be worked around the volunteer's schedule. Time commitment will also be discussed with the parent at the time of the parent meeting. The volunteer is asked to make a minimum commitment of one year to the program. If for some reason the time commitment cannot be fulfilled it is extremely important to be open and honest with the child and work toward closure.
Q: What is a Big Brother or Big Sister's financial obligation?
A: There are no fees charged to the parent/guardian of the children receiving services. The emphasis on the match relationship is not on spending money but on spending time, which should keep the volunteer's financial responsibility to a minimum. The giving of material or monetary gifts is left to the discretion of the Big Brother or Big Sister.
The volunteer will be expected to finance most activities with their Little. However, if a parent/guardian can assist occasionally in paying for their child's activities then that is between the volunteer and parent. At the time of the match the volunteer will be given a discount card that can be used at several area businesses. This card is to be used with your Little on matched activities and can help with some of the cost. The agency also gets tickets to different events from time to time that we in turn distribute to our matches.
Q: What are some of the activities that we can do together?
A: During your training you will receive information on types of activities. Also, there may be specific activities that both of you already have in common as this is a consideration we use in matching. The activities that the matches involve themselves in are as unique to each match as the volunteer and child involved.
You can really do anything that friends do together. If you struggle with ideas, your match support coordinator will be glad to assist you with some ideas. The agency has a game/activity room that can be utilized during office hours and sometimes on weekends and in the evenings. There will also be ongoing resources provided for you on our website.
In regard to group activities, there are occasional activities where you can meet with other matches. Once or twice a year we also try to plan an all-agency event such as a trip to King's Island and/or a Christmas party. The website and your match support coordinator will keep you informed of new opportunities. Click here to visit the Bigs page to find out what activities are coming up.
The main idea to keep in mind is spending one-on-one time away from the child's home environment and exposing them to a variety of fun activities and positive experiences.
