Friends of the Children tells Senate committee long-term mentoring improves outcomes and reduces costs

Representatives of Friends of the Children briefed the Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health on May 6 about their long-term professional-mentoring model and local outcomes.

Rachel Cardwell, who leads the Central Oregon chapter, described the program and its target population. "The number 1 thing that we can do to help kids like Holly is to connect them with a stable and caring adult for the long term," Cardwell told the committee. She explained the model enrolls children between ages 4 and 6 and provides one-on-one mentoring at a dosage of four hours a week, every week, for up to 12.5 years.

Hannah Garcilazo, a program manager in the Portland chapter and a former mentor, shared an individual youth story about a mentee who struggled with housing instability, family loss and school disengagement and later graduated on time,…