%0 Journal Article
%T Are youth mentoring programs good value-for-money? An evaluation of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Melbourne Program
%A Marjory L Moodie
%A Jane Fisher
%J BMC Public Health
%D 2009
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2458-9-41
%X Threshold analysis was undertaken to determine whether investment in the program was a worthwhile use of limited public funds. The potential cost savings were based on US estimates of life-time costs associated with high-risk youth who drop out-of-school and become adult criminals. The intervention was modelled for children aged 10¨C14 years residing in Melbourne in 2004.If the program serviced 2,208 of the most vulnerable young people, it would cost AUD 39.5 M. Assuming 50% were high-risk, the associated costs of their adult criminality would be AUD 3.3 billion. To break even, the program would need to avert high-risk behaviours in only 1.3% (14/1,104) of participants.This indicative evaluation suggests that the BBBS program represents excellent 'value for money'.Mentoring involves the commitment of time and specific efforts by a more experienced person to the development of a mutually beneficial, supportive and nurturing relationship with a less experienced person. Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) is a world wide organisation which has operated in Melbourne (BBBS-M), Australia since 1980. Its program matches vulnerable young people (termed "Littles"), who are aged between 7 and 17 years, living in complex social predicaments, are isolated and in need of additional support and friendship, with adult volunteers (termed "Big Brothers" or " Big Sisters" or "Bigs"). The program aims to reduce marginalisation and/or self-destructive behaviours in young people and to foster optimal development and the establishment of confident adult identities.As at November 2003, there were 439 Littles on the database of BBBS-M. Of these, 109 were in active matches with a Big, whilst a further 189 were on the waiting list for a match, and 141 were classified as 'non-active' (most of whom had been in a match which had been completed, the majority through a process of graduation) (see Table 1) [1]. There were more than twice as many girls than boys actively matched, and there were more boy
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/41