Past Show: Raising Assertive Children

   Organization Web Sites - Alaska

 www.akinfo.org

www.akinfo.org

This website contains a statewide directory of Alaskan human services providers, searchable by category or by borough/region.

Alaska Health Organizations
http://www.theagapecenter.com/Organizations/Alaska.htm

www.theagapecenter.com

Big Brothers/Big Sisters - Anchorage, Fairbanks and Southeast Alaska
http://www.bbbs-anchorage.org/
http://www.bbbsfairbanks.org/index.php
http://www.southeastbigs.org/
Tierney, Grossman and Resch (1995) evaluated the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, a mentoring intervention in the community domain.? The study addressed nine positive youth development constructs, including social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral competencies, positive identity, bonding, resiliency, self-efficacy, and prosocial norms.
The intervention model featured positive youth development strategies that did not include a specific skills training component, but rather, targeted systemic change in the child's social domains as a function of bonding with a healthy adult.? The core strategy in Big Brothers/Big Sisters is to have youth use the program structure and resources to establish a mentoring relationship with prosocial adults.? The minimum time commitment required of mentors was several hours, two to four times a month for at least a year.? More than 70% of matches in this study met at least three times a month for more than three hours each time, and nearly half met once a week and had an average total exposure of 11 months.? The one-to-one mentoring was based on careful matching of adult mentors and children on backgrounds, preferences, and geographic proximity.? National standards were implemented for volunteer and youth screening, training, matching, meeting requirements, and supervision.