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, secured full-time work and planned to attend college. "You are the reason why I'm here," Garcilazo said the graduate told her when offered a graduation ticket.

Matt Springer, executive director of the Lane County chapter, described behavioral-health rationale and local results, saying trauma-impacted children are often in a fight-or-flight state that limits access to executive functioning. He said Friends of the Children—s relationship-first model helps children regulate and then catch up academically: in Lane County the group recorded 8,832 mental-health interventions in a recent year and reported standardized-score improvements and increased school attendance among participating children.

Program details provided to the committee included a long list of outcomes tracked by the organization: Friends of the Children reports a 31-year local track record in Portland with a high-school graduation rate of 83 percent among participants, 92 percent going on to education, enlistment or employment, 93 percent not involved with juvenile justice, and 98 percent not becoming teen parents. Cardwell said an economic analysis with the Harvard Business School Association of Oregon estimates a community savings of $971,000 per child when outcomes such as graduation and reduced juvenile justice involvement are realized.

Financial and operational notes: Chapter mentors are full-time, salaried employees with benefits and paid time off; a Central Oregon chapter budget was cited at about $2 million serving roughly 100 children. Funding is a mix of private foundations, individual donors, events and some public funding; the speakers said public revenue is the smallest funding bucket but noted one chapter recently gained recognition as a behavioral-health provider and received its first state payment.

Committee members asked about locations, referrals and partnerships. Speakers said there are five chapters in Oregon with multiple sites in some counties and that selection partners include CASA, relief nurseries, Head Start and school districts. The national agency—s capital request for the Friends of the Children National Center for Mentoring Excellence was mentioned; the presenters asked lawmakers to consider that request in broader discussions about scaling and sustainability.

Why it matters: Committee members noted potential long-term cost savings of upstream interventions and discussed the program—s role in supporting school attendance, literacy and behavioral health for high-risk children. The committee took no formal action; the presentation was informational.