Department of Justice Awards $20 Million to Support Mentoring Children of Military Families

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awarded a total of $20 million to nine organizations to support mentoring programs and services for youth with a parent in the military. The Department of Defense provided this funding to OJJDP as part of a joint effort to support military families.

"Children in military families experience unique challenges that other children may never face, such as dealing with their deployed parents' extended absence and anxiety over their safe return," said Jeff Slowikowski, OJJDP Acting Administrator. "These nine programs will provide children of military families a listening ear and caring support during a difficult time in their lives."

The nine organizations include:

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (Awarded: $12,310,000) serves 458,994 youth in 386 youth centers in military communities worldwide, providing mentoring programs and services to children of military families.

Big Brothers Big Sisters (Awarded: $3,310,000) operates the national Military Mentoring Program in more than 50 agencies, pairing youth who have parents in the military with adults in the military, ROTC, or in military school.

National 4-H Council (Awarded: $1,310,000) recruits youth from military families to participate in mentoring programs and will start new program sites near military bases.

KidsPeace (Awarded: $570,000) will establish the Help for Military Families e-mentoring program that will address the emotional needs of youth whose parents are deployed. The program will provide a platform for youth and their parents to openly communicate with e-mentors and with each other to mitigate the child's emotional struggles as a result of a parent's deployment.

Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation (Awarded: $550,000), through a partnership with Child and Youth Programs of the Department of Defense, uses the foundation's Healthy Choices, Healthy Children Curriculum. The program emphasizes living a healthy lifestyle and is intended to be implemented in schools and through local sports organizations.

National Alliance of Faith & Justice (Awarded: $550,000) will implement its "PEN OR PENCIL" (POP) program in selected military communities. POP is a group and peer mentoring program to reduce juvenile delinquency.

Public/Private Ventures (Awarded: $550,000), through its Amachi Multi-State Project, will enhance and expand mentoring services to underserved populations, specifically targeting children from military families.

YMCA of San Francisco (Awarded: $550,000) supports Military Clinical Case Managers serving approximately 30 military families per year. The program recruits youth to participate in mentoring services, develops resources for families with one or more deployed caregivers, and provides comprehensive case management services.

Sea Research Foundation (Awarded: $300,000), through its Immersion Mentoring program, provides a stabilizing influence for military youth and their families. Mentors will help mentees through STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) mentoring programs.

OJP, headed by Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.

SOURCE Department of Justice

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