Youth Application | SITE BASED PROGRAM

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Welcome to the Site Based Program
Welcome to the Big Brothers Big Sisters online application!

This program is available only to participants in designated locations.

In a Site-Based Program, youth will be matched with a Big who shares similar interests and from our affiliated locations.

The role of a Big is to be a friend, coach, and caring adult.

All Matches and Parent/Guardians for youth under 18 years old are supported by a team of BBBS Staff, providing a specialist to answer questions, assist with goal setting, offer advice, and suggest meaningful activities for the mentoring relationship.

As a caring and careful organization, we have administrative requirements for our Bigs, including background checks.

The application process takes around 20 minutes and is the first step to enrolling your child as a Little!
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Youth Information





MM/DD/YYYY





Hold CTRL+F to select multiple


Can't find your child's school? Choose: "School Not Listed"









Guardian Information








  • In addition to contacting you regarding the enrollment process, our program requires that parents/guardians are available to communicate with a staff member once a month to provide match support. Please  provide reliable forms of communication and indicate your preferred method of communication












Type NA if unemployed






Family Information













Emergency Contact
If we can't reach you, who is someone we could call who always knows how to reach you? Please do not enter the same information as the Parent/Guardian. 




Additional Questions






Other Siblings and Relatives in the Program
Please choose this child's relationship to the following people:







Answer N/A if No




























We will make every effort to honor your preferences for your child's mentor. BBBS does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, gender presentation, marital status, sexual orientation, or religion.

Big Brothers Big Sisters and Holy Cross Project Study

Purpose and Background

The purpose of this project is to help Big Brothers Big Sisters learn more about the mentees’ experiences in the program. BBBS partnered with the College of the Holy Cross and Professors Lindsey Caola and Alison Ludden to learn about your child’s thoughts about the BBBS program, their education and career aspirations, perspectives on mental health, substance use, risky behaviors, and family and peer relationships. Information from this project will be used to help BBBS with future plans.


 Procedures

If you let your child participate in the study, we will ask your child to take two surveys about their beliefs, perceptions of mental health, substance use, risky behaviors, and relationships. The first survey will be available in the fall (around October and November), and the second survey will be available in the spring and summer (around May and June). Note these optional surveys are in addition to the surveys your child will complete for BBBS. If your child participates in this research study, they will complete the BBBS surveys with our surveys. If they do not participate in this study, they will complete only the BBBS surveys. 


Place and total time

Each survey will take your child about 15-20 minutes to complete. Children in the school-based program will be invited to complete the survey after school (but not on a day they are scheduled to meet their mentor). Children in the community-based program can complete the survey online at home or in-person at one of BBBS’s community events. Children on the waitlist can complete the survey online at home or in-person at one of BBBS’s waitlist events.  We will not use time dedicated for mentorship to give the surveys, your child will not miss out on this important time.


Risks

We believe there are no known risks associated with this research study; however a possible inconvenience may be the time it takes to complete the study.


Benefits

Being in this study likely won’t have an immediate impact on your child. But we hope that this project will help BBBS learn about their mentees and continue to provide support services that meet the needs of these young people. Matching mentor data to mentee data will help us understand how we can improve mentor training and support to improve BBBS and youth experiences.  We also hope your child will enjoy sharing their opinions with us.


Confidentiality

When researchers (Lindsey and Alison) and our Research Assistants are looking at surveys your child’s name will not be stored with their responses to the questionnaire. Instead they will be assigned an ID number, which will be linked to their data (and any identifying information will be stored separately). We may match your child’s data with survey data from their mentor, we will do so using ID numbers, not participants’ names, which will not be linked directly with survey responses.  If we write up a report or give talks about this research, we will never use names of people who participated as these are confidential as we mentioned. We will only talk about what we learned from all the survey responses put together as a whole. 

Digital copies of parental consent forms and survey data will be stored on password protected computers for five years and then will be permanently deleted.

If your child participates in the study, BBBS will share your child’s demographic information, such as their age, race, and ethnicity, with the Holy Cross researchers. 


Compensation

All families who complete this form will be entered into a raffle to win one of five $50 Amazon gift cards.

Children who complete the survey in-person (after school, at a community BBBS event, or at a waitlist BBBS event) will receive a  $15 Gift Card (to McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts) and a gift bag to thank them for helping us with this project. Gift bags will include snacks and a small toy. Upon completion of the first survey your child will also be entered into a raffle to win one of five available $50 Amazon gift cards, and children who complete the second survey will receive an additional $15 Gift Card and be entered into a separate raffle for a chance to win one of ten available $50 Amazon gift cards.


Questions

Please take as long as you need to review this information before deciding if you would like your child to participate. If you have questions or concerns about your child’s participation in this study, you should talk to Lindsey Caola (lcaola@holycross.edu) or Alison Ludden (aludden@holycross.edu, 508-793-3898). 

If you have questions about your rights as a participant, you may contact the Holy Cross Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is concerned with the protection of participants in research. You can contact the Chair at hsc-irb@g.holycross.edu.

Your child does not have to participate in this study if you don’t want them to and if they participate, they will know that they can skip any questions in the survey they don’t want to answer or stop participation at any time. If you agree but you or your child later changes your mind, they may also drop out of the study at any time by contacting the principal investigator at lcoala@holycross.edu. 


There are no penalties or consequences if you or your child decides to no longer participate.


Photo Consent and Release Form

We request permission from you and your child to use pictures and quotes taken during BBBSCM meetups (with their mentor or in group activities). This permission allows us to include your child in content shared with the community, such as on social media. It covers both the individual content of your child and content where they might appear in a group photo or activity. Allowing us to share this content enables us to share the story of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass/Metrowest and encourage others to get involved.

Rest assured that BBBSCM will never share any content that is not positive or celebratory without both your and your child's approval.

COPPA Parental Consent Form

Notice to Parents In compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), parents (or legal guardians) of children under 13 years of age must consent to collections, uses and disclosures of the personal information of their children collected by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass & Metrowest on Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass & Metrowest and NATIONAL websites, including bbbscm.org, bbbs.org, MatchConnect, bbbsa.force.com, forms.bbbs.org and formstack.io. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass/Metrowest may have collected your online contact information from your child, as well as the name of the child or the parent, in order to obtain your consent. Your permission is required for the collection, use, or disclosure of your child’s personal information. We will not grant your child access to any BBBS website account unless you provide us with permission. BBBS website accounts provide access to BBBS content, materials, and resources relating to BBBS programs and activities, including information pertaining to [MATCHES ETC.] 

You may revoke your consent at any time to refuse further collection and use of your child’s information. If you desire to revoke this consent, please contact our agency at programs@bbbscm.org

Disclosure of Non-Discriminatory Policy

I understand that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass and Metrowest is committed to the inclusion of all people, supporting all identities.

I acknowledge that Bigs and Littles will not be excluded from the program based on race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, or religious preference.

Match Support Specialists may try to accommodate matches based on similar affinities. However, except for matching like gender identities, which is currently a requirement, all Bigs and Littles may be matched with individuals who identify as members of any race, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation, ability, or religious preference.

I recognize that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass and Metrowest prioritizes inclusion as a core value.
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Parent/Guardian Agreement

By checking the box below and providing my signature at the end of this form, I give permission for the following: 1. My child to participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. 2. The volunteer, screened and approved by Big Brothers Big Sisters, to interact with and transport my child to events and match activities, if allowed by program type. 3. The school to provide social and academic information about my child to Big Brothers Big Sisters, such as report cards and behavior reports. 4. My child to participate in an intake interview and complete questionnaires throughout the program to evaluate and improve services. 5. My child to talk with a Big Brothers Big Sisters staff person about personal safety. 6. BBBS staff to provide contact information for me and my child to the volunteer. I understand that the program is not obligated to match my child with a volunteer and that I may be asked to provide additional information through an in-person interview, which will be kept confidential unless required by law. I acknowledge that incidents of child abuse or neglect will be reported to the proper authorities. Relevant information about my child will be discussed with the prospective match, including demographic information, preferences, and child safety and well-being. I certify that all the information on this form is true and correct. I acknowledge that this information may be verified for the receipt of federal funds, and deliberate misrepresentation may result in prosecution under applicable state and federal laws. This information will not affect my qualification for the program. On behalf of myself and my child, I completely release and forever discharge Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass/Metrowest and its employees, agents, volunteers, and all others involved from any claims, liabilities, obligations, damages, actions, causes of action, suits, demands, costs, losses, debts, penalties, fees, and attorneys' fees arising from participation in the program and activities. This release and discharge are intended to provide the broadest release possible permitted by law and may be shared with the school or partnership agencies when applicable. If my child is matched with a Big, I agree to support the match by reviewing program and safety information, communicating with Big Brothers Big Sisters staff as outlined in expectations, and promptly reporting any concerns to Big Brothers Big Sisters staff.
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