U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
        Here’s how you know
    Goverment symbol**Official websites use .gov**
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
        Lock symbol**Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            A lock (
              A locked padlock
                 ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive
              information only on official, secure websites.
 Skip to main content JoinDonate
    About
    About
          About
        
About menu block one
  

        
        What We Do
                Our Impact
                Agency FAQs
About menu block two
  

        
        Our Team
                Careers
About menu block three
  

        
        Agency Overview
                            Budget and Performance Plans
                Disability and Accessibility
                Federal Register Notices
                Open Government
                Plain Writing
                Privacy Policy
                Strategic Plan

  

  
Serve
    Serve
          Serve
        
Serve menu block one
  

        
        AmeriCorps
                            AmeriCorps NCCC
                AmeriCorps State and National
                AmeriCorps VISTA
                AmeriCorps Seniors
                            AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program
                AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP
                AmeriCorps Seniors Senior Companion Program
Serve menu block two
  

        
        Volunteer
                            9/11 Day
                MLK Day
Serve menu block three
  

        
        Find Your Fit
                Serve FAQs

  

  
Partner
    Partner
          Partner
        
Partner menu block one
  

        
        How it Works
                            AmeriCorps NCCC
                AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent
                AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP
                AmeriCorps Seniors Senior Companion
                AmeriCorps State and National
                AmeriCorps VISTA
                Research and Evaluation
                Volunteer Generation Fund
Partner menu block two
  

        
        Partnerships
                Communities and Initiatives
                Funding Opportunities
Partner menu block three
  

        
        Partner FAQs

  

  
Members & Volunteers
    Members & Volunteers
          Members & Volunteers
        
Members & Volunteers menu block one
  

        
        Your Benefits
                Segal AmeriCorps Education Award
                Education Award FAQs
Members & Volunteers menu block two
  

        
        Alumni
                Members in VISTA
Members & Volunteers menu block three
  

        
        Member and Volunteer FAQs
                Safety and Security

  

  
Grantees & Sponsors
    Grantees & Sponsors
          Grantees & Sponsors
        
Grantee & Sponsors menu block one
  

        
        State Service Commissions
                State and National Direct Grantees
                State Subgrantees
                VISTA Sponsors
                Research and Evaluation Grantees
                Volunteer Generation Fund and Days of Service Grantees
Grantee & Sponsors menu block two
  

        
        RSVP Grantees
                Foster Grandparent Program Grantees
                Senior Companion Program Grantees
                Senior Demonstration Program Grantees
                NCCC Project Sponsors
Grantee & Sponsors menu block three
  

        
        Manage Your Grant
                Grantee and Sponsor FAQs

  

  
Newsroom
    Newsroom
          Newsroom
        
Newsroom menu block one
  

        
        News
                Blog
Newsroom menu block two
  

        
        Stories
                Events
Newsroom menu block three
  

        
        In the News
                Communication Resources



  
Contact
    Contact
    JoinDonate
search Breadcrumb

              Friends of the Children: Social Innovation Fund (SIF) Program Evaluation Final Report
      Back
                Friends of the Children (FOTC) is a Portland, Oregon-based international nonprofit that strives to close the opportunity gap and break the cycle of intergenerational poverty for young people ages 5 - 18+. FOTC targets children facing barriers like systemic poverty, structural racism, childhood trauma, foster care, underfunded schools, and homelessness and matches them with Friends (paid professional mentors). The Friends provide developmentally appropriate experiential teaching and modeling of healthy behaviors, directly coaching children on social-emotional skill development areas, referred to as “core assets” in the FOTC program model. At the close of this study, there were 493 youth still enrolled in FOTC at the seven participating sites across the country.

Study Goals

This evaluation’s three goals were to:

Be an addition to the program’s existing body of evidence. It examined facilitators and challenges to implement the FOTC program in new sites and a new population—youth enrolled through the child welfare system or through referring partner agencies.
	Inform the development of the new quality improvement (QI) system for training, supporting and supervising program staff. This QI system will strengthen service delivery at existing sites and ensure that new sites are set up for success during launch and on-boarding.
	Add to the body of evidence about mentoring programs in general.Research Questions

The evaluation includes research questions for the outcome and implementation. The research questions include:

Outcomes study:
	Does participation in FOTC result in a decreased length of stay in foster care?
		Does participation in FOTC result in a reduced number of placements?
		Does participation in FOTC result in a faster time to permanency?
		Does FOTC participation increase the likelihood of achieving permanency?
		Does participation in FOTC reduce number of re-entries to care?
		Does participation in FOTC reduce number of removals?
	Implementation study:
	To what extent did Friends implement the FOTC program model with program participants?
		Which features of the FOTC settings appear to be associated with the successful implementation of the program model with children?
		Was the Friends’ professional development capacity building (e.g., Friend training and supervision) implemented with fidelity?
		Does participation in FOTC improve parent’s perceptions of gains in children’s socio-emotional learning and their own parenting efficacy?
		What strategies are effective in surveying caregivers of children participating in the program?
		Does participation in FOTC improve parent’s perceptions of family stability?
		Does participation in FOTC improve positive relationship building and self-management?
		Does participation in FOTC improve children’s school behavior as measured by disciplinary incidents?
		Does participation in FOTC improve grade-level academic performance as measured by reading and math proficiency on standardized tests?
		Does participation in FOTC improve school attendance as measured by absenteeism?Findings

The evaluation found the following:

The implementation evaluation found that program sites generally implemented the model with fidelity, with all sites, on average, achieving the targeted number of school and caregiver contacts each month. Sites struggled the most with achieving the targeted number of hours with youth due to COVID-related safety precautions.
	Findings from the caregiver survey indicate that FOTC helped caregivers strengthen family relationships and parenting and connected them to concrete supports that promoted family well-being.
	The child welfare exploratory outcomes study found that program youth (FOTC-enrolled) had a significantly decreased length of stay in foster care (an average of 399 days) compared to the comparison group (an average of 576 days).
	The school study was exploratory and limited due to challenges identifying an appropriate comparison group with administrative data.  Findings confirmed those in FOTC’s randomized control trial (RCT) study namely that the program’s impacts during the early years are not demonstrable using school administrative data. Caregivers’ reports of significant youth progress on key social-emotional skills are aligned with early learning research and are more illustrative of the program’s impact at school in the elementary years.For more information, download the full report, brief, and caregiver report.

Full report

Report brief

Caregiver report

      Full report
      

      Full Report
            FOTC_Final SIF Evaluation Report_508
                  FOTC_Evaluation report brief_FINAL_508-v2
                  FOTC_Final SIF Caregiver Report with appendices_508
        Further information
    



      Program/Intervention
                        One Child At A Time Intervention
  

      Implementing Organization
                        Affiliates - FOTC Seattle, FOTC Boston, FOTC Austin, FOTC San Francisco, FOTC Central Oregon, FOTC Thompson Family Focus, FOTC Los Angeles
  

      Intermediary(s)
                        Friends of the Children
  

      AmeriCorps Program(s)
            Social Innovation Fund
  

      Age(s) Studied
            6-12 (Childhood)
                  13-17 (Adolescent)
  

      Focus Population(s)/Community(s)
            Rural
                  Suburban
                  Urban
                  Low-income
  

      Outcome Category
            K-12 success
  

      Study Type(s)
            Outcomes
                  Implementation
  

      Study Design(s)
            Quasi-experimental (QED)
  

      Level of Evidence
            Preliminary
  

      Researcher/Evaluator
                        ICF International
  

      Published Year
                        2020
  

      Study Site Location (City/County)
            San Francisco
                  Los Angeles
                  Seattle
                  Austin
                  Boston
                  Central Oregon
                  Charlotte
  

      Study Site Location (State)
            California Back to main content Sign up to hear about our latest news, events, and opportunities.
  Sign up for our newsletter
    Footer about
  

        
        About
                            What We Do
                Our Impact
                Our Team
                Careers
                Agency OverviewFooter serve
  

        
        Serve
                            AmeriCorps
                AmeriCorps Seniors
                Volunteer
                Find Your FitFooter partner
  

        
        Partner
                            How it Works
                Funding OpportunitiesFooter Members & Volunteers
  

        
        Members & Volunteers
                            Your Benefits
                Segal AmeriCorps Education Award
                Alumni
                Safety and SecurityFooter grantees & sponsors
  

        
        Grantees & Sponsors
                            eGrants
                History Checks
                LitmosFooter newsroom
  

        
        Newsroom
                            News
                Blog
                Stories
                Events
                In the News
                Communication Resources
      Bringing Americans together to serve communities

Follow us
  
  1-800-942-2677
            
    help@americorps.gov
    USA.gov / Office of Inspector General / FOIA and Privacy Act / Federal Register notices / No FEAR Act/ Employee Whistleblower Rights / Contractor and Grantee Whistleblower Rights / Office of Special Counsel / STOCK Act / Fraud Alert

Accessibility / Privacy policy / Site map / Donate / Join

**AmeriCorps.gov**
An official website of AmeriCorps. Produced and published at taxpayer expense. 
 You are leaving AmeriCorps.gov
 The website you’re going to is not part of the AmeriCorps domain and may not be under AmeriCorps’ control. Its privacy and security practices and policies may differ from AmeriCorps’. AmeriCorps is not responsible for the link, nor does it endorse the content of the third-party website. Click on the continue button to proceed to the external website; otherwise click cancel to stay on AmeriCorps.gov.
 Cancel Continue