The program enrolls children aged six years and older who reside in group homes or foster care in the District of Columbia’s Child Welfare System. BEST Kids Mentoring Program works with the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) to identify the children who have the capacity to participate and are most at need. BEST Kids Mentoring Program will provide a well-trained volunteer mentor for each child as long as needed until the child reaches the age of 18 years old.

The mentor’s primary responsibility is establishing a relationship of trust with his or her youth. By devoting at least ten hours a month of contact with their youngsters, mentors have the opportunity to model healthy behavior and nurture the unique talents and individual interests of each child. In addition to stimulating attachment to a caring, consistent adult, our targeted goals include instilling the motivation for improved academic performance.

BEST Kids augments the 1:1 mentoring by providing an experiential-learning peer group program designed to help each youth develop a sense of belonging. Each age-appropriate peer group meeting takes place on the second Saturday of each month and is led by a staff member called a Peer Group Leader. With the support of the Peer Group Leader, each mentor works with his child to set short and long-term goals and reinforce skills introduced in the peer group program. The program encourages these children to maintain high yet achievable individual standards and master certain skills, with an emphasis on academic improvement.

The peer group program draws from the best practices used across the country and creates “ownership” between the mentors and the children. The adults model cooperative behavior so that the children understand how to work together as a diverse team. Through our peer groups, we strive to advance the children’s abilities to socialize successfully and connect with their peers and society.