BEST Kids
Program/Intervention Name
Category
Child Supports and community connections, Mentoring Programs, Social/emotional functioning
Program/Intervention Description
What: BEST Kids seeks to promote better futures for youth in the District of Columbia’s child welfare system by developing and supporting one-on-one mentoring relationships between the youth and caring, consistent adults. How: All mentors are required to spend at least ten hours a month and make weekly contact with their mentee. Peer Group activities are monthly and are usually 3-5 hours long. The recommended average length of contact for the individual matches is 15 minutes for phone interactions and 3-5 hours for in-person interactions. Ideally, mentors are not only making weekly contact, but are making weekly in-person contact. Mentors commit to a minimum of one year. Nearly all of the mentor/mentee matches are sustained for at least 12 months; many matches continue well beyond this one-year time period, and a new match is established whenever a departing mentor must be replaced.
Intervention Target Population Identified (Age Group)
6-12, 13-17
Program Goals/Outcomes
1) Improving academic achievement, 2) Building emotional and social well-being, 3) Decreasing participation in risky behaviors, 4) Increasing independent living skills and career readiness
QIC Target Group
Both Target 1 and Target 2
QIC Adoption/Guardianship Relevance Levels
LEVEL 3: Replicated Without Adaptation for Adoption or Guardianship
QIC level of Evidence
LEVEL 5: Better Practice
Intervention Web Site/URL
Contact Person/Purveyor
Agency/Affiliation
Contact Email
Contact Phone
External Links (Registry/Other Catalog)
- California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse: www.cebc4cw.org/program/best-kids/
