Friends are full-time, trained, paid professional mentors who are hired for their experience and talent for working with high-risk children. Friends receive extensive training (both initial and ongoing) and close supervision and support from staff at Friends of the Children. Their diversity (60% are people of color, half are women), education, experiences, passion, and talent make them the heart of our program.

• Our mentors spend time with children consistently. Even in established and respected mentoring programs, volunteer mentors make only a yearlong commitment and may leave the program suddenly when other obligations take priority in their lives or they experience the burnout common among volunteers. Leaving suddenly can jeopardize the child/mentor relationship, making the child feel resentful and betrayed rather than secure and supported. At Friends of the Children, each child spends time with a Friend consistently throughout his/her twelve-year involvement in the program.
• Our mentors spend time with children frequently. Friends spend 16 hours a month with each child, whereas other prominent national mentoring programs require only two to four visits per month with a child. For high-risk children, that is not enough.
• Our mentors give children their full attention. Friends are not preoccupied with or tired from their “real” jobs because being a Friend is their real job. Friends receive ongoing training, support, and guidance from experts at Friends of the Children to help them cope with the challenges of mentoring. Friends are paid the equivalent of a teacher’s starting salary, and receive excellent medical, dental, and retirement benefits.