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THE APPLICATION PROCESS
Requirements
To be a Big Brother or Sister, you must be at least 18 years old. For the core program you must have either your own automobile or regular access to one, with liability insurance. The time commitment varies. The school mentor meets one hour a week for a semester. In the core program, consistency is important. A volunteer is encourage to meet a few times a month for at least one year.
Application
The first step is to fill out an application form provided by the agency. Here you will be asked to provide the names and updated addresses of four references. The application can be turned in at one of our monthly information meetings.
Information Meeting
Potential volunteers attend one scheduled information meeting, either on a Wednesday evening, or a Saturday morning. The meeting is designed to provide as much information as possible to anyone entering the program. An agency staff member and a guest Big Brother or Sister will host the meeting and discuss the program in detail. Also at the meeting, applications are turned in, along with copies of your driver's license and auto insurance (unless applying for the school mentor program), so that we may begin a file on you. Individual, one-to-one meetings can be scheduled for those who cannot make a meeting on these days. If you can't attend an information meeting, we can schedule a one-to-one meeting with you.
Screening
For the safety of the children and security of the parents, the agency screens all volunteers coming into the program, which consists of a background check, a written personality evaluation, four references, and an interview with a caseworker. The details of the screening process will be discussed further at the information meeting.
Getting Started
The length of time from application to match depends on the availability of the volunteer and the response time on the background and reference checks. The sooner you attend a meeting, and turn in your application, the sooner we can begin to process your file. Click here to fill out an application over the internet.