Childhood trauma and adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can impact many areas of life, from educational attainment to health outcomes, including disease, disability, and early death. Building resilience is one way to improve outcomes and counter ACEs. This initiative builds resilience by providing a mentor to support children who experience ACEs from Kindergarten through High School graduation.
"Working with Friends of the Children is a wonderful experience for our family. The mentor our child was matched with was a stable, positive role model that consistently supported and encouraged him. His mentor not only helped him manage himself at school, both academically and socially, but also helped him explore outside interests as well. Having the connection to a mentor was an invaluable resource to us” -Foster Parent
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- This project aims to provide age-appropriate supports to children with high levels of adverse childhood experiences to help them achieve the best outcomes possible.
- The program was implemented by Friends of the Children.
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The project attempted to:- Serve a greater number of children with high levels of adverse childhood experiences.
- Provide age-appropriate support for positive social/emotional development and school success, enabling long-term program goals.
- Ensure youth make annual progress on seven out of nine core social and emotional assets.
- Serve a greater number of children with high levels of adverse childhood experiences.
All children enrolled in Friends of the Children have roadmaps that measure their social-emotional learning.
All 48 children have achieved their short-term goals.
Friends of the Children monitors ACE scores and works closely with TRACES and OSU Cascades to measure growth on a quarterly basis
Children gained skills to build resilience to overcome ACES impacts.
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- Friends of the Children Central Oregon has been a success, especially given the additional supports that the program provided to children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the target metrics were altered to accommodate the changing needs of children and families.
Friends of the Children Central Oregon grew from zero children to 48 children during the three-year grant period.
Our model is based on serving children who face the greatest obstacles. Those obstacles grew during the pandemic. We pivoted to a full family service model to better deliver on our commitments.
By serving almost 250 family members, youth were provided security and basic needs while outside of the school systems.
Volunteers provided basic needs, food, rental assistance, utility payments, hot spots, technology, and distance mentoring during the pandemic.