Big Brother and Big Sister Programs

Introduction

Dedicated to ensuring the youth are empowered to realize their full potential (Alfonso et al., 2019).

Founded in 1913.

Centered on individual and group mentoring programs.

Mentors are recruited through face-to-face, social media, websites, and newspaper posts.

Introduction

The Big Brothers and Big Sisters is dedicated to ensuring the youth are empowered to realize their full potential. Its main mission is to enable life-changing mentorship programs that would ignite the potential in youth. The program was founded in 1913, making it one of the oldest mentorship programs globally. The program serves youth in all settings, with the largest percentage being urban youth. According to the program heads, more than half of the youth in the program are from environments that affect them negatively. This includes fostering and encouraging drug and substance abuse, increased crime, and unemployment. The program has absorbed more youth and introduced them into social services and others in public mental health concerns.

The organization is centered on individual and group mentoring programs. The programs are unique because the mentors and mentees choose the programs and activities according to their interests. The mentors are recruited through face-to-face, social media, websites, and newspaper posts. The mentors are 18 years or above and must have excellent knowledge of the youth’s matters and the organization fosters inclusion and diversity by accommodating mentors and mentees from a wide range of nationalities. Youth are required to become mentees voluntarily. Some young adults are referred to the program from various schools depending on their behaviors or needs. Three main categories of development relations programs are available in the organization.

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Weaknesses of the Program

Insufficient funds have generated challenges in the performance of BBB programs.

Budget cuts have ripple effects and can translate to fewer volunteer opportunities.

BBB’s growth is dependent on volunteers and grants.

Decisions are highly influenced by the donors and volunteers.

https://dufferincommunityfoundation.ca/big-brothers-big-sisters-big-bunch-program/

Weaknesses of the Program

Insufficient funds have generated challenges in the performance of BBB programs. A lack of enough funds can undermine the operations of the mentoring program. BBB has over 300 agencies and supports over 170,000 children annually. The huge numbers of children require higher funding. BBB depends on donations, which mostly do not meet the financial needs of the organization. This has induced budget cuts across BBB programs. Budget cuts have ripple effects and can translate to fewer volunteer opportunities for mentors and the youth who need mentorship. This compromises the performance of the organization and reduces the effectiveness of the services offered. BBB’s growth is dependent on volunteers and grants. Most of its operations are run by volunteers, and the organization uses grants and donations. This reduces the options for the organization in obtaining resources. It also leads to inefficient mechanisms of allocating the resources provided since the decisions are highly influenced by the donors and volunteers. BBB needs to diversify and diversify its funding sources to support sustainability and meet its growth objectives. This will improve the sources of funds and increase the strategies in allocations.

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Inadequate Oversight of BBBS

Inadequate oversight and false claims have been a challenge for the organization and need resolutions. The program does not have adequate oversight of its grants which might undermine the trust of those who make donations. Inadequate oversight is harmful to the health of the organization because it may lead to misuse of organizational resources leading poor performance and ineffective outcomes of the programs. This may be caused by the inability of mentors to reach their mentees or inadequate resources that facilitate mentorship activities such outdoor equipment and tools, literature resources, and other essential assets. Inadequate oversight may also contribute to lack of accountability, which makes it difficult to hold individuals accountable for their misconduct. This may lead to trust issues between the donors and the leaders of the organization. A compromised trust may lead to a decline in the funding for the organization. It may also develop negative publicity that may affect the reputation of the organization. False claims lead to fines which reduce funds available for its operations. This weakness has caused the failure of many mentorship programs, and BBB would need to develop strategies to mitigate it. It is essential that the organization develops policies that improve oversight and accountability to promote the success of the programs.

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The program does not have adequate oversight of its grants

This might undermine the trust of those who make donations

It may also develop negative publicity.

False claims lead to fines which reduce funds available for its operations

Weaknesses caused by the Pandemic

Challenges with the one-on-one meetings between the mentors and the mentees.

Matching mentors to mentees has posed an increased challenge for the organization (DOJ., 2017).

Difficult for the organization to enroll and recruit mentors and mentees for across all the agencies.

It is also harder to find male volunteers.

BBBS has faced covid-19 related challenges which indicate weaknesses in administration and planning. This includes challenges with the one-on-one meetings between the mentors and the mentees. Due to the policies on containing covid, matching mentors to mentees has posed an increased challenge for the organization. This is because the organization’s administration does not have adequate strategies that would foster continued mentorship even during disasters. For instance, the organization does not have adequate facilities to offer remote and virtual mentorship programs. It has also been difficult for the organization to enroll and recruit mentors and mentees across all the agencies. This is also attributed to poor administrative roles and inadequate project management skills among the leaders. Children and youth have been at home and they needed more attention from the mentors. Adequate planning would have increased mentorship activities during such times because it posed more risks for the youth and children because they were mostly idle at homes. The organization has limited resources to facilitate recruitment and enrollments during situations such as in a pandemic. This may pose more threats to potential youth who may be left unattended leading to bad influence. It is also harder to find male volunteers, which has caused an increased waiting list for the mentees. This is clear evidence that the organization has not conducted effective promotional activities to instill awareness to the public.

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Other Weaknesses

In conclusion, the main issues that BBB needs to address are funding constraints, dependency on volunteers and donations, and poor adverting. This is because insufficient funding undermines the program’s effectiveness and reach. Overreliance on volunteers and donations undermines the program’s reliance and sustainability, and ineffective oversight limits the program’s ability to convince potential donors and grow funds. As indicated in previous slides, the organization may face adverse impacts if they fail to address these weaknesses. The impacts may include, loss of donors and volunteers due to negative publicity, which may be caused by inadequate oversight, misappropriation of resources, and poor administrative roles. The organization may also face increased competition from emerging mentorship organizations that are focused and adopted technological facilities to enhance reliability even during hard times. The inability to attain mentors may kill the morale and motivation of mentees who may have witnessed long waits before attaining matching mentors. It may also increase the social problems caused by bad influence, or mental health issues to mentees who have not obtained mentors.

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Challenges in addressing funding constraints.

Dependency on volunteers and donations (Separ, 2013).

Poor adverting.