BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERSM OF EASTERN MISSOURI WINS 2009 ANNIE E CASEY FAMILY STRENGTHENING AWARD

St. Louis, MO (August 31, 2009) – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri is one of ten Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies to receive the 2009 Annie E. Casey Foundation Family Strengthening Award for “engaging parents as partners” to help children improve their odds for success.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri is one of the national donor-supported volunteer mentoring network of nearly 400 agencies serving children of single, low-income and incarcerated parents, with a focus on breaking negative cycles. Big Brothers Big Sisters’ professional match coordinators (case workers) provide ongoing support to volunteer “Bigs,” “Littles,” and their families - creating positive, productive bonds between them while achieving sustainable positive academic and social impacts.

“We value Casey’s position that ‘children do well when families do well – and families do better when they live in supportive communities.’  The awards bring to light that through careful recruiting, matching, monitoring and ongoing support of Bigs, Littles and parents, children are improving in school and avoiding destructive behaviors,” said Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri Chief Executive Officer Becky James-Hatter. 

This year’s winners are recognized for specific areas of pace setting success:

• Effective engagement of parents/guardians as partners in the mentoring process: in the goal-setting for the child and the mentoring match, in helping the child towards the match goals, and in providing feedback on the progress of the child during the match period
• Involving parents in changes to or developments in programming
• Including parents and families in agency-specific activities
• Building an effective resource/referral system for agency families to link with community resources
• Provision of key and relative staff development opportunities that will benefit the families they interact with
• Securing co-investment resources to support their family-strengthening efforts and work

As one of the 10 award winning agencies, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri will receive $12,500 awards and share their best practices with other Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies.