The overall goal of Big Brothers Big Sisters Amachi Missouri is to build a statewide network of quality one-to-one mentoring services for children of incarcerated parents and change the lives of our Little Brothers and Little Sisters for the better, forever. In partnership with local BBBS agencies and Missouri Department of Corrections, BBBSAM aims to ensure that children, no matter where they live or move, have the opportunity to be matched with a caring and consistent Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor to help them with the ups and downs of daily life.

Building sustainable, reliable, statewide and outcome driven systems is a complex undertaking. BBBSAM brings many unique and “one of a kind” assets to the State of Missouri. In 2007, over 800 Amachi children were matched with a BBBS in Missouri.

1.       BBBSAM is the only mentoring partnership program serving children of incarcerated families in Missouri’s biggest population centers. Offices are located in St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia, Jefferson City, Springfield and Joplin. Each BBBS affiliate is locally owned and operated by a local Board of Directors.

2.       BBBSAM is the only mentoring partnership program in the State of Missouri that has been scientifically researched (both its community based and school based model) and proven to have measurable and positive results.

3.       BBBSAM is the only mentoring partnership program that has a memorandum of understanding with the Missouri Department of Corrections that includes not only working with children of inmates, but also working to support the re-entry of prisoners back into their families and communities.

4.       BBBS is the only mentoring partnership program in the State of Missouri that is identified by the Blueprint for Violence Prevention (study for US Department of Justice) as a best practice program in preventing juvenile delinquency, which is the first step to preventing young people from entering the adult correction system.

5.       BBBS is the only national mentoring program in Missouri with a 100+ year history and the expertise and infrastructure necessary to grow and serve all counties in the State of Missouri – efficiently and effectively.

6.       BBBSAM is the only mentoring partnership program serving children of incarcerated families that has consistently and enthusiastically provided the General Assembly and various state departments with annual and specific performance information – BBBSAM is accountable to the highest standards!

7.       BBBS of Eastern Missouri is a founding agency of Amachi and has been granted, by Public Private Ventures, the right to the Amachi trademark.

8.       BBBSAM is the only statewide mentoring partnership that is working to (1) expand its network of services to all counties in Missouri, (2) recruit volunteers from all sectors of the community – all faith-based organizations, businesses, state and local governments, college and universities, civic groups, etc. (3) build relationships with local school districts to collect critical data on children’s school attendance, behavior and math and reading scores and build community partnerships to help in these important areas.