Vision

1

• Vision
• To become a culturally competent, cost efficient
  organization that reaches every person diagnosed
  with a mental illness who wants and needs a
  friend.
• Mission
• Through the use of community volunteers in
  supportive friendships, Compeer helps people
  diagnosed with mental illnesses live happier and
  more productive lives.

2
History of Compeer

• Founded in 1973 in Rochester, NY as ADOPT-a
  PATIENT at the Rochester Psychiatric Hospital.
• With the de-institutionalization movement of the
  70s Compeer became community based.
• NIMH funding in 1982 helped to disseminate the
  Compeer Program. Today there are nearly 100
  chapters across the US and Australia.
• 1987 NYS OMH provided funding for the Compeer
  Youth Program to serve Seriously Emotionally
  Disturbed Children

3
Compeer Services and Programs
Adult Services

• 11 Community Based Adult matches
• Compeer Calling
• Compeer on Campus
• Skill Building

4
Youth Services
Volunteer Services
Stipend Services

• 11 Community Based Mentoring by an adult mentor
• Mentoring Children of Promise
• Skillbuilding

• Recreation Mentoring
• Juvenile Drug Court
• Juvenile Justice Initiative

5
Mentoring Works!

• Research indicates that youth who participate in
  mentoring relationships experience a number of
  positive benefits

Better attendance attitude toward school
Less drug alcohol use
Improved social attitudes relationships
More trusting relationships
Better communication with parents
Better chance of going to college
6
Research

• Johnson, Amy W., Sponsor-a-Scholar Long-Term
  Impacts of a Youth Mentoring Program on Student
  Performance, The Commonwealth Fund, December,
  1999.
• LoSciuto, Leonard, Amy K. Rajala, Tara N.
  Townsend, Andrea S. Taylor, An Outcome
  Evaluation of Across Ages An Intergenerational
  Mentoring Approach to Drug Prevention, Journal
  of Adolescent Research, 1996, vol. 11, pp.
  116-129.
• Tierney, Joseph P., Jean Baldwin Grossman,
  w/Nancy L. Resch, Making A Difference An Impact
  Study of Big Brothers/Big Sisters,
  Public/Private Ventures, 1995.
• Grossman, Jean Baldwin Eileen M. Garry,
  MentoringA Proven Delinquency Prevention
  Strategy, U.S. Dept. of Justice Office of
  Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention, April,
  1997.

7
Mental Health Equation

• Mental health treatment (therapies and
  medications)
• Supportive Friendship and Social integration
• Mental Health and Recovery

8
Compeer Youth Target Population

• Ages 6-18
• Youth in Mental Health Treatment
• ADHD
• Disruptive Behavior Disorders
• Anxiety Disorders
• Mood Disorders
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Eating Disorders
• Youth that would benefit from an adult mentor

9
Youth Demographics

• 65 come from families depending on public
  assistance
• 54 are male
• 43 are female
• 72 are from urban neighborhoods
• 41 African American
• 39 Caucasian
• 15 Hispanic
• 5 Asian or Native American

10
2005 Compeer Youth Outcomes
11
Compeer Process

• Recruitment
• Inquiry and Orientation
• Screening
• Training
• Meeting with Mental Health Professional
• Meeting with Parent/Guardian
• Meeting with Youth
• Ongoing support, recognition and monitoring
• Evaluation and continuous improvement

12
Prolific Mentoring Model

• Stay true to your mission
• Know your customers
• Youth and family
• Volunteers
• Community partners
• Meet the community need

13
Challenges to Mentoring youth with Mental illness

• Lack of Volunteers willing to make a long term
  commitment.
• Lack of ongoing funding for Mentoring
  organizations.
• Stigma of Mental Illness

14
Compeer, Inc

• Dana Frame
• Executive Director
• 259 Monroe Avenue
• Rochester, NY 14607
• dframe_at_compeer.org
• www.rochester.compeer.org