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Fostering Healthy Connections Through Peer Mentoring: Foster Youth Give Each Other a Helping Hand
Request for Proposal
The Child Welfare League of America, in partnership with FosterClub, has secured funding from the New York Life Foundation to launch a three-year initiative, Fostering Healthy Connections. This is a unique peer mentoring program in which former foster youth mentor children and youth currently in the foster care system.
This initiative seeks to support eight CWLA member agencies, in geographically diverse areas, in developing or enhancing peer mentoring programs. These peer mentoring programs will be aimed at preparing current and former foster youth to develop healthy connections to
- improve educational and behavioral outcomes and
- strengthen the quality and number of interpersonal relationships.
Target Population
The target populations for this initiative are youth formally involved with the foster care system, who will serve as the mentors, and youth currently involved with the foster care system, who will serve as the mentees.
Eligibility Criteria
- Grantees must be a CWLA member agency in good standing.
- Priority may be given to CWLA member agencies located in the NY Life Foundation's primary target areas: Atlanta, Cleveland, New Jersey counties of Clinton/Hunterdon and Parsippany/Morris, Dallas, Minneapolis, New York City and Westchester County of New York, Tampa, and Westwood/Boston.
- Grantees must be classified as tax-exempt under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and be a foster care, mentoring, or independent-living agency and provide services.
- All grantees must present a plan for bringing new financial resources into years two and three of this project, as they must provide a 1:1 funding match in year two and a 2:1 funding match for year three or show substantial progress. The funding match may not be met by such in-kind contributions as space, equipment or computers, nor may it be met by shifting existing resources.
- Grantees may develop a local partnership(s) with an agency(ies) that also provide foster care, mentoring, or independent-living services.
Selection Criteria
CWLA will seek to support at least four new peer mentoring programs and enhance at least four existing mentoring programs. Proposals will be reviewed by a committee that will include field experts and former foster youth. Although sites will have some local flexibility, the overall structure of CWLA peer mentoring program elements will be consistent across sites. For example, sites may choose to focus on a specific population within foster care, such as pregnant and parenting teens, LGBTQ youth, or supervised group activities versus unsupervised one-on-one activities.
Preference will be given to grantees who submit proposals that demonstrate abilities in the following program elements:
- Capacity for and commitment to youth/adult partnerships throughout all aspects of the Fostering Healthy Connections program.
- Capacity to attract required matching funds and develop sustainability during and beyond the duration of the initiative.
- Capacity for and commitment to peer mentoring, including the ability to recruit former foster youth as mentors and current foster youth as mentees.
- A plan for developing successful mentor/mentee matches and for supporting mentors and mentees to process and cope in the event of an unsuccessful match.
- Capacity to support the mentor and mentee relationship through various methods, such as mentor-only and mentor/mentee together meetings, activities, resources, and ongoing outreach and communication.
- Commitment to respecting each mentor and mentee as an individual and evaluate each match on a case-by-case basis.
- Capacity for and commitment to cultural competence regarding the experience of foster care, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, nationality, and sexual orientation.
- The resource and leadership capacity required to manage the grant.
- High potential for achieving positive outcomes for mentors and mentees by augmenting existing services and cultivating strong youth/adult partnerships.
After selection, agencies will enter into a subcontract agreement with CWLA that will define all terms and conditions.
Proposals must include the following:
- A description of the lead agency's history of working with former or current children and youth in care or involvement in mentoring activities.
- A description of any partnerships that will be developed, including the role of each agency and the effect the collaboration will have on the mentoring program, as well as memoranda of understanding from all partners verifying their role in the project.
- A description of the proposed peer mentoring program, describing activities and timelines.
- Proposed three-year program budget, budget narrative, and plan for staffing all activities, with resumes from the proposed project managers.
- A copy of the current IRS tax-exemption determination letter.
- List of Board Members with terms.
- Most recent annual report.
- Most recent organizational audit and Management Letter, and IRS Form 990.
All proposal submissions will become the property of CWLA.
Total Awards
CWLA will seek to support four new peer mentoring programs and enhance four existing mentoring programs.
Sites developing new peer mentoring programs will receive $20,000 the first year, $10,000 the second year, and $7,000 the third year.
Sites enhancing existing mentoring programs will receive $15,000 the first year, $7,500 the second year, and $3,500 the third year.
Funds may not be used for equipment, computers, office space, or other capital outlays. Indirect costs may not exceed 12.5%.
Key Dates and Deadlines
- September 17, 2007, 4:00 p.m. ET
Conference call to discuss Fostering Healthy Connections and answer any questions.
For call-in number and participant pass code, contact Kerrin Sweet at 678/749-4158 or ksweet@cwla.org.
 Conference call agenda
- October 19, 5:00 p.m. ET
Deadline for receipt of electronic copy of proposal at CWLA. All proposals must be submitted in electronic format to Foster Care Program Manager Kerrin Sweet, at ksweet@cwla.org. If necessary, background information may be submitted in hardcopy, however it must be accompanied by a proposal and submitted to CWLA by 5:00 p.m. ET, October 19, 2007.
Selected sites will be notified by November 9, 2007.
The Initiative
During Phase I of Fostering Healthy Connections, CWLA and its partner, FosterClub, formed a Peer Mentoring Workgroup comprising experts in the fields of mentoring and foster care and former foster youth. With the insight of this workgroup, curricula were developed for training former foster youth to serve as mentors and foster youth to serve as mentees in a peer-to-peer mentoring model.
CWLA member agency Father Maloney's Boys' Haven was selected as the pilot site for testing these curricula and the CWLA peer mentoring model. The curricula were successfully implemented via an adult/former foster youth cotrainer team. Seven mentors and five mentees completed the training and provided positive, useful feedback. Following the training, Boys' Haven completed six months of Fostering Healthy Connections. With encouraging results and positive evaluations from the mentors and mentees, Boys' Haven demonstrated the potential for this initiative to be replicated nationwide.
During Phase II of Fostering Healthy Connections, CWLA and FosterClub (with insight from Boys' Haven and the Peer Mentoring Workgroup) will support eight CWLA member agencies in developing and enhancing peer-mentoring programs. Four new peer-mentoring programs will be supported, and four existing mentoring programs will be enhanced over a three-year period.
CWLA will act in an intermediary grantmaker role and assist member agencies by providing some funding, consultation, and technical assistance, as well as support in developing a strategy for program sustainability, resource development, and fundraising approaches.
Grantees must provide a 1:1 funding match in year two and a 2:1 funding match for year three or show substantial progress. Sites developing a new peer mentoring program will receive $20,000 the first year, $10,000 the second year, and $7,000 the third year. Sites enhancing an existing mentoring program will receive $15,000 the first year, $7,500 the second year, and 3,500 the third year.
Grantees will select one adult and one youth from their agencies who will travel to the offices of CWLA for a two-day train-the-trainer session. In addition to the grant, the adult and youth trainer teams' travel costs (up to $400 per person) and hotel and per diem (up to $275 per person), as well as youth trainers' stipends ($100.00 per person for two days) will be covered by Fostering Healthy Connections. Grantees will receive a mentor and mentee curriculum, a Peer Mentoring Implementation Guide, and youth-friendly online resources and materials. Following the training, the Foster Care Program Manager will travel to each agency to attend the mentor/mentee trainings led by the agencies youth/adult cotrainer teams.
Fostering Healthy Connections defines peer mentoring as a form of mentoring that takes place between a young adult (peer mentor), who is at least 18 years old and currently or formerly involved with the foster care system, and a youth (mentee), who is between the ages of 10 and 15 and currently involved with the foster care system. Each year, at least 10 mentor/mentee matches must be made at each program. A total of 240 mentor/mentee matches will have been made by end of this three-year project. Each mentor/mentee match must make a commitment of at least one year to the program.
CWLA will assist those agencies wishing to develop local press releases announcing the program implementation.
Throughout the implementation phase, grantees will participate in monthly collaborative conference calls to discuss progress and challenges, and learn from CWLA, Boys' Haven, and each other. Grantees will have access to an extranet that will be used solely by the agencies implementing the peer mentoring program. This will be a members-only password-protected site where grantees can post documents, have online discussions, and share information.
Grantees will be required to develop a support network for mentors and mentees in the form of mentor and mentee appreciation activities and additional peer mentoring group activities. Grantees will also be required to provide brief monthly online reports describing the work of their site.
Any tools, resources, or processes created by grantees' sites will be shared with CWLA and, at CWLA's discretion, may be posted on the CWLA website for use by other communities.
Use of Grant Funds
All grant funds must be used for the initiative, with the majority of funds used toward activities for mentors and mentees. Funds may not be used for equipment, computers, office space, or other capital outlays. Indirect costs may not exceed 12.5%
Initiative Outcomes
- Each year, at least 10 mentor/mentee matches must be made at each program.
- Each mentor/mentee match must make a commitment of at least one year to Fostering Healthy Connections.
Mentor Outcomes
- At least six hours of face-to-face contact with mentee per month.
- At least two hours of face-to-face contact with other mentors per month engaging in activities supportive to the mentor/mentee relationship.
- Every mentor has the opportunity to provide input regarding mentor/mentee activities and mentor activities.
Mentee Outcomes
- At least six hours of face-to-face contact with their mentor per month.
Evaluation and Monitoring
Fostering Healthy Connections increases healthy connections and social support networks for current and former foster youth to improve their educational and behavioral outcomes and to strengthen their interpersonal relationships. To assess the benefit of curricula and training materials, CWLA will employ qualitative methods through pre- and post-tests. CWLA will assist grantees and provide survey materials for surveying caseworkers and caregivers to assess changes and the ease of application of skills in the lives of mentors and mentees. CWLA will also conduct follow-up telephone interviews with mentors and mentees.
CWLA will provide some standard evaluation forms and program satisfaction reports to be completed by mentoring project staff, mentors, and mentees at specific times during the project.
Reporting Requirements
Grantees are required to provide brief monthly online narrative and financial reports. The reporting format will be provided, and reports must be received by the published due date. Failure to provide these reports may compromise continued participation in this project.
Grant Payments
Grants will be paid in yearly installments, subject to the satisfactory progress of the grantee and the timely submission of monthly reports. The first payment of either $20,000 or $15,000 will be made by December 2007; the additional annual payment dates will be December 2008 and December 2009. Grantees must demonstrate a match commitment or show substantial progress before December 1 of each year; funding will not be dispersed until the matching funds are committed for that year.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact CWLA Foster Care Program Manager Kerrin Sweet at ksweet@cwla.org or 678/749-4158.
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