Kansas Mentors (KM) is pleased to announce more than $45,000 in funding to eleven mentoring programs to help offset the costs of background checks conducted through the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).

In 2012, Kansas Mentors was awarded $100,000 from Volunteer Kansas to distribute funds to Kansas mentoring programs conducting KBI background checks on mentors. KM is distributing $58,000 in funds during 2013.

“Kansas’ mentoring programs are reporting significant declines in funding while an increase in the need for services,” Coach Bill Snyder, chair of Kansas Mentors said. “These funds are a strategic investment to ensure more young Kansans have access to a safe and caring adult role model.”

Background checks are an essential component of the screening process to help ensure the safety of youth involved in mentoring programs. The cost of criminal background checks, however, is substantial considering every mentor should complete and pass a check before they can begin mentoring. This can be a huge funding barrier that can potentially limit the number of young people a program serves or even worse, put youth in danger should a mentoring program forgo the background check because of the cost. This grant serves as an avenue to bridge the gap and encourage mentoring programs to continue doing important checks on potential volunteer mentors.

Kansas Mentors is currently partnered with more than 175 mentoring programs serving all 105 Kansas counties. The organization is committed to providing every young Kansan access to a caring and quality mentor through recruitment, awareness, and training efforts. Funding is still available for this grant. Mentoring programs interested in applying for funding can visit Kansas Mentors at www.KansasMentors.org.