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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Indian River County, CSAC "Jump into Reading" Program BBBS mentors help fight risk factors such as early academic failure, lack of commitment to school, alienation, rebelliousness, early and persistent anti-social behavior and early initiation of problem behavior. Resiliency research — the study of youth who have "beaten the odds" — points to the presence of a caring adult as the pivotal reason why children who should have succumbed to deleterious life circumstances instead thrive as a result of mentoring (Public/Private Ventures, 1999) . Empirical reading research supports the use of Book Buddies, with volunteers, as significant improvement has been demonstrated with emergent and early readers (Morris, Shaw & Perney, 1990 ; Juel, 1991 & 1996 ; Invernizzi et al. , 1997; Wasik, 1997) . Studies indicate that the best results are achieved when students are identified early and enrolled in prevention programs in primary school before they have a chance to fail (Farrington, 1991 ). "Jump into Reading" places a strong emphasis on early prevention targeting Kindergarten through 2nd graders. 4. List staffing needed for your program, including required experience and estimated hours per week in program for each staff member and/or volunteers (this section should conform with the information in the Position Listing on the Budget Narrative Worksheet). Staff includes an Executive Director (8 hrs), a Case Manager (40 hrs), a Volunteer Recruiter ( 15 hours), and a Program Manager (20 hrs) . Case Managers must have a minimum of a Bachelor' s Degree in Social Work (BSW) or related field with experience in social work or education. A Master' s Degree is preferred for the Executive Director. The Volunteer Recruiter must have a minimum of an Associates Degree with experience in public relations, marketing and sales. Program Manager must have a minimum of a Bachelor' s Degree and 3 years of experience, How will the target population be made aware of the program ? The target population includes teachers, children, parents and volunteers. Teachers are given an orientation in the Spring of each year as they are a critical part of the referral process. Outreach to new teachers is done at the start of school. Parents are informed about our program through a letter sent by the school . When necessary, there is follow-up by the teacher or a school social worker. Parents complete an application/release form and return it to the school. Contact is then initiated by the BBBS Case Manager. The children are interviewed on the school grounds by BBBS staff. Pre- testing is done just prior to matching. Volunteers are recruited through corporations, city and county government, small business, clubs, civic organizations, state agencies, fund raisers, churches, condo associations and retirement communities. Big Brothers Big Sisters also builds collaborative relationships with businesses and other non-profits such as RSVP to increase our visibility and help us better serve the target population. How will the program be accessible to target population (i.e., location, transportation, hours of operation)? Our program is highly accessible to the target population. Services will provided to Highlands, Vero Beach Elementary and Citrus through this funding source, based on need relative to FCAT results . Transportation is not an issue as mentoring is offered during the school day on campus. Client referral and scheduling are at the teacher' s discretion. This valuable tutorial/mentoring service is provided at no cost to the school or parent. Ease of accessibility, case manager support and capable, trained volunteers keep the referrals coming and the parents satisfied with the service. 7