Program sponsor, catholic charities bureau's via affiliate agency, catholic community services, supports a network of community-based human services agencies serving many populations

The purpose of the FGP demonstration project is, using no federal dollars, to demonstrate the impact on at-risk children of opening service opportunities to volunteers who otherwise would not be eligible to serve under current cncs guidelines, specifically those over the income guidelines. Secondly, the program will demonstrate the positive impact on the volunteers themselves with assessments on their mental and physical health. In recent years, the number of potential demonstration volunteers has increased. The program is currently at capacity for demonstration volunteers in minnesota and could reach the limit by the close of 2018 in wisconsin. The mission of the foster grandparent program is to engage low-income seniors in service, and that mission continues even with continued demonstration authority. With demand for service growing, at the same time that recruiting income eligible volunteers faces challenges, IT only makes sense that a modest portion of non-federal dollars will be utilized to expand the pool of potential volunteers. An estimated ten (10) senior demonstration volunteers will serve, all of which will be placed at outcome sites, and the primary focus area of this project is education. Senior demonstration provide the same services as traditional volunteers - tutoring and mentoring children one-on-one or in small groups in child care centers, head start programs and k-12 institutions. At the end of the three-year grant, ten (10) unduplicated volunteers will have served a total of 105 or more children. Sixty-eight (68) will show improved academic performance in literacy and/or math in k-12 settings, and fifty-five (55) will show gains in literacy skills in child care or head start programs. The senior demonstration grant is funded by $47,074 in non-federal resources.