Program Goals and Objectives

The Friends in Action Family Mentoring Program (FIA) was developed in Montgomery County , Maryland in 1986. FIA’s objective is to help families realize maximum independence and reach their goals by linking teams of three-ten volunteer mentors with low-income families for one year to provide friendship, mentoring, advocacy, tutoring, and other needed support.   Families and mentors work together to develop family plans with benchmarks for achieving the family’s desired goals. Families also receive case management from the program’s two full time case managers to set goals and address barriers they may face in working to achieve their goals. Over the last year, FIA has begun to administer the Interfaith Housing Coalition to place homeless families in a three-year transitional housing program.

Profile of Families Served

Mentoring and Family Support Services serves approximately 52 families per year with referrals coming primarily from the Department of Health and Human Services and Montgomery County Public Schools . Families are also referred to the Interfaith Housing Coalition by local shelters, other social service agencies, private organizations and local congregations. Prior to being paired with a team of mentors, FIA staff conducts a thorough psycho-social assessment of each family member in the home.  

Families served by the FIA’s mentoring program have a wide variety of goals, including parenting, household management, budgeting, continuing education, tutoring, enrichment activities, employment, and much more.   Family needs are addressed through specialized workshops, tutoring, individualized attention, and other approaches.   Families and mentors are supported by two full time caseworkers.

Family demographics:

• Race: 67% Black; 18% Hispanic; 8% Other; 7% White
• Sex: 58% Female; 42% Male
• Age: 33% Adults; 67% Children

Profile of Mentors

Mentors must be adults who are willing to make a one year commitment to a supporting relationship with a local family and must pass the background check for child neglect and abuse.

Mentor demographics

Total Mentors: 300

• Sex: Female, 71%; Male, 29%
• Race: Of the 86% of mentors who reported their race,
• 79% are White, 20% are Black, and 1% are Hispanic
• 14% of mentors did not report race
• Age: Of the 78% of mentors who reported their age,
• 68% are over age 50 and 32% are under age 50
• 22% of mentors did not report their age

Mentors complete five hours of formal, interactive training before being linked with a family.   Training addresses crisis intervention, helping vs. enabling, cultural sensitivity, resources, team building and more.   Mentors are also counseled on risk management.

Community Partnerships

Partnerships with local businesses and community organizations are essential to the everyday operations of the program. Local businesses create mentoring teams among their employees.   Additionally, community organizations work with FIA to provide fun enrichment outings for families such as live theater productions and major league sports games.  

Program Evaluation

The program undergoes a process evaluation by the Evaluation Program Committee of the Community Ministry of Montgomery County Board of Directors to ensure that the program follows best practices and to make recommendations for improvements.   

Contact

Monica Barberis-Young

Director, Mentoring and Family Support Services

114 W. Montgomery Avenue

Rockville , MD 20850

(301) 315-1003

mbarberis-young@communityministrymc.org