Independence Chapter: Serving Southeastern Pennsylvania & Southern New Jersey
Your CASA child may be eligible for a Big Brother/Big Sister! Talk to the CUA worker. Here are the instructions for things to consider before making a making a referral and how the CUA worker can make the referral.
CUA Referral Tips
- The youth needs to WANT to be in the program or have a mentor, or at the very least to open to trying it. The relationship will not work if the youth refuses to go out with their mentor.
- The P/G needs to be capable of returning phone calls once a month and being aware of what is going on in the match. They MUST be active during the enrollment process to get that one and done interview.
- Our staff will try to reach the family to schedule the interview three times, and if they don’t respond we will close them. We can only reschedule their interview twice.
- A youth may not be a good candidate if they are constantly in and out of psychiatric facilities and have severe mental health problems because it could make it impossible for the match to get together and our volunteers are not trained mental health specialists.
- If a youth is a danger to others or has severe unpredictable behaviors, we cannot put them in a match due to safety issues. They may need more intense supportive services.
- The more information the case manager can give us in the referral the better – family situation, placement details, behavioral issues, etc.
Overview of BBBS Mentoring Program:
- Littles are aged 7 and above.
- Mentors and youth meet one-on-one, 2-4 times each month, on the evenings and on the weekends.
- BBBS Match Support calls parents, mentors, and youth once a month to check in.
- Parents and Guardians schedule outings with mentors and return Match Support calls promptly.
- Mentors and youth do things together like explore the city, do arts and crafts, play sports, bake together, and attend special events.
Contact Information:
Katie Hanford, Community Engagement Coordinator, BBBS
Phone: 484.482.1432
Email: khanford@independencebigs.org
Michael Rice, Community Engagement Liaison, DHS
Phone: 215.683.5645
Email: Michael.Rice@phila.gov