August 2010

FYSB Tribal Grantees Speak: Tilllie Black Bear, White Buffalo Calf Woman Society

In this five-part series, we spoke with staff and young people living and working in programs that have received grants from the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Some are Tribal organizations; others are non-tribal entities that serve a large number of Native youth. Here’s what Tilllie Black Bear, executive director of White Buffalo Calf Woman Society on the Rosewood Indian Sioux Reservation in Mission, SD, had to say: 

FYSB Tribal Grantees Speak: William and His Mentor David, Three Affiliated Tribes

In this five-part series, we spoke with staff and young people living and working in programs that have received grants from the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Some are Tribal organizations; others are non-tribal entities that serve a large number of Native youth. Here’s what William, 15, and his mentor, David Williams, both from the Three Affiliated Tribes, in New Town, ND, had to say: 

Bright Idea: Mentoring Programs Do Double-Duty Community Service

Boy and mentor doing community serviceYou operate a mentoring program, matching caring adult mentors with young people who need support and guidance. You serve lots of young people and families, strengthening your community in the process. But have you ever thought about stepping up your program’s efforts to help your community in a whole new way?

Primary Sources: Smoothing the Rough Road to Adulthood

The transitionrough road to adulthood and personal independence can be challenging even for youth with supportive families and a financial safety net. Three recently released studies focus on the specific needs of foster-care youth, homeless teens and high school dropouts.

Right on the Money: Preventing ‘Mission Drift’

men with arrows pointing opposite directions

When Huckleberry Youth Programs in San Francisco lost state funding for a mental health program for youth in crisis, the organization’s first reaction was panic. The group’s leaders felt they needed to save the program at any cost, even though it was serving fewer and fewer teens.

Primary Sources: A National Survey of Adolescents and Parents and a Girls Incorporated Study

parents and daughter talkingYouth attitudes about sex and abstinence are more heavily influenced by parents and peers than by school or educational programs.

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