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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Indian River County, CSAC "Jump into Reading" Program C. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (Entire Section C, I — 6, not to exceed two pages) 1 . List Priority Needs area addressed. Focus III- Childcare Access and Focus I-Mental Wellness Issues . 2 . Briefly describe program activities including location of services. (Taxonomy # PH 150 . 50040+) Big Brothers Big Sisters provides role models for young children in Indian River County who are at risk. The CSAC Jump into Reading mentoring program is school-based . It revolves around one-to-one reading mentoring to promote school success, improve literacy and increase socialization skills . Mentoring services are generally delivered in the media center; however, volunteers have the option of working in the classroom . Activities related to mentoring and family literacy services involve : client referral from teachers ; parent permission; client interview; pre-testing; volunteer recruitment ; background screening ; volunteer training to promote best practices in mentoring that support the social development strategy model ; one-to- one mentoring; case management with volunteers, clients, teachers and parents to promote school success and healthy lifestyles ; family literacy ; post-testing ; evaluation & assessment; reassessment of need; client satisfaction survey; case closure ; referral and follow-up . Intended outcomes revolve around on-grade level promotion, enhanced literacy skills, academic improvement, consistent school attendance, increased self-esteem, enhanced emotional-social skills and the ability to build positive relationships to promote healthy lifestyles and increased resiliency . 3 . Briefly describe how your program addresses the stated need/problem. Describe how your program follows a recognized " best practice" (see definition on page 12 of the Instructions) and provide evidence that indicates proposed strategies are effective with target population. Mentors make a commitment to be a dependable, steady presence in a child ' s life . They meet with their student, one hour per week in two, 30 minute sessions and provide protective factors that help build resiliency and limit exposure to risks . Time together is spent building a relationship, reading aloud, responding appropriately to a child' s reading, promoting writing, praising efforts and making reading fun ! Mentors learn to build personal connections to books to promote academic success . They are urged to make stories come alive and share related experiences that can broaden the child ' s world of knowledge . Volunteers reinforce the association between oral and written language while emphasizing good attitudes about learning. Mentors utilize Book Buddies activities to reinforce phonemic awareness, phonics , fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. This source was designed for volunteer use and is based on a balanced reading approach adopted at the state level by Department of Education. Each match session includes work with familiar books , word study (word bank, alphabet basic phonics and phonemic awareness) , writing and new books . Keep-It Books are sent home with the student on a weekly basis . Parents are encouraged to read aloud with their children at home to reinforce reading skills . The Case Managers supervise and support matches ; assist in ongoing goal setting ; monitor school performance ; expedite other referrals when appropriate ; and act as a facilitator among key stakeholders . Follow-up continues on a bi- monthly basis for a period of 8 months after they have exited. Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) is a structured mentoring program that has been acknowledged, as a "best practice", by such reputable independent researchers as Public Private Ventures ( 1994, 1996, 1999) and Communities That Care Prevention Strategies: A Research Guide to What Works, ( 1996) for its ability to promote healthy beliefs, clear standards and bonding. According to these resources, 6