Families are also invited to regular parents support groups and special events. The mentors are recruited from the neighborhood in which families live, are carefully screened, trained, and then matched with a compatible family. A Homefriends match is expected to continue as long as it remains satisfying to the mentor and family.
Mentors visit the same family every week.
They engage children in fun and educational activities, company the family on doctor visits, teacher meetings, and family outings. Parents may talk with the mentors, or take a nap, read a book, or run errands while the volunteer visits. The mentor helps the caregiver with their parenting, budgeting, scheduling, transition to work, or other goals for which the caregiver asks assistance. The majority of SCAN families live in West and Southwest Philadelphia. Only a few Homefriends matches are outside these areas.