Recruit mentors where hunters and veterans gather

Proposed, for board reviewMonths 4 to 12

Recruit mentors where hunters and veterans gather

Use Oregon Hunters Association chapters, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and American Legion posts, ranges, hunter education instructors and congregations as a recruiting pool for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon (BBBS) and the Deschutes County Sheriff's COPY program, which mentors children with a parent in jail, with site-based matches (mentor and child meeting at a school or community site) in Redmond, La Pine, Prineville and Madras, so gun owners would have a role in the coalition that is about kids, not guns.

Connection is both protection and the detection system. A national study that followed adolescents into adulthood found that those high on school and family connectedness had far lower odds of adult violence, drug misuse and suicidal thoughts. In the Secret Service’s study of averted plots, nearly all were stopped because someone, most often a classmate, came forward. The mentoring evidence is randomized: mentored youth across 17 Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies were less likely to report violence-related delinquency four years later.

The gap here is adults in outlying towns. As of August 2026, 78 Central Oregon children were waiting for a Big Brother or Big Sister, and Jefferson County students report a trusted adult at school less often than students statewide. Hunters, range volunteers and veterans are adults rural families already know, and the Deschutes County Sheriff’s COPY program matches trained volunteer mentors with children whose parent is in jail.

This would give gun owners a role in the coalition that has nothing to do with guns, which is itself a message to families that the group is about kids first. The programs already exist; the group’s job would be to bring the rooms and cover the costs, and to be honest up front that mentoring is about the relationship, with a separate parent-consented outdoor path for mentors who want the woods to be the hook.

Why we think it works

In a randomized trial across 17 Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies, mentored youth reported less violence-related delinquency at four years, 30 percent versus 43 percent. (Arnold Ventures: The results are in, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes a real difference, strong evidence)
As of August 2026, 78 Central Oregon children were waiting for a Big Brother or Big Sister; the article says mentors need no special expertise, only a willingness to show up and spend a couple of days a month together. (KTVZ: Central Oregon youth seek mentors as new school year begins, strong evidence)
Adolescents high on school and family connectedness had 48 to 66 percent lower odds of adult violence, drug misuse and suicidal ideation. (Steiner et al., Adolescent Connectedness and Adult Health Outcomes (CDC Stacks), strong evidence)
The Secret Service study says every plot was averted because members of the community came forward about concerning behavior, and peers made 61 percent of the reports; not every reporter knew the student, and one plot was uncovered by law enforcement. (Averting Targeted School Violence: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Plots Against Scho..., strong evidence)
Only 56.8 percent of Jefferson County students report a trusted adult at school, versus 68.5 percent statewide, and 51.7 percent among 8th graders. (2024 Student Health Survey Data Tables, Jefferson County (Oregon Health Authority), strong evidence)
The Deschutes County Sheriff's COPY program matches trained volunteer mentors with children ages 5 to 15 whose parent is incarcerated. (COPY Program, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, strong evidence)

What we would do

Ask BBBS (run by J Bar J Youth Services) what intake rate it can absorb before recruiting, and offer to fund a share of match-support staff time under the St. Charles Health System youth belonging funding priority so a wave of recruits does not swamp the agency.
Ask BBBS and the Sheriff's COPY program to attend one meeting of each Oregon Hunters Association chapter, one VFW or American Legion post meeting, and one congregation in Prineville, Madras, La Pine and Sisters that asks to host, with a concrete ask: ten new mentors from this room by spring, and the program's rules stated up front.
Offer a second, parent-consented path for mentors who want the outdoors to be the hook: hunter education classes run by the state fish and wildlife department (ODFW) and Oregon Hunters Association chapter youth events, under those programs' own rules; the mentoring programs would keep their no-weapons rules and mentors would sign an acknowledgment.
Cover background check fees and propose site-based, school-year matches in Redmond, La Pine, Prineville and Madras to cut travel; mentors would complete both the agency screening and the hosting district's volunteer checks.
Families would refer themselves to BBBS and COPY; ask counselors to share program information with all families, never a selected list.
Work with the Jefferson County School District (509J), the Warm Springs Tribal Youth Council and Papalaxsimisha (a Warm Springs youth and family organization) before recruiting for Jefferson County, and follow their lead on who mentors Native youth; batch recruited mentors into the gatekeeper trainings (training that teaches adults to notice warning signs and ask directly) the Central Oregon Suicide Prevention Alliance already schedules.
Pair mentor recruitment with the free lockbox table so the same evening offers two ways to help; tell a mentor's story only with that mentor's consent.

How we would know it is working

New mentors recruited from gun-owner, veteran and congregation venues
Children matched, by town, as reported quarterly by BBBS
BBBS waitlist against the 78-child baseline, as reported each quarter
Mentor retention at the end of the school-year term, as reported by the programs
Student Health Survey trusted-adult item in Jefferson and Deschutes, reported each cycle

What could get in the way

A hunter asked to mentor who is then told the relationship cannot include hunting is getting half an invitation, and a mentoring program may reasonably see a mentor who mainly wants to teach shooting as a risk.: State the mentoring program's rules up front, and offer the second, parent-consented outdoor path through hunter education and chapter youth events for mentors who want that.
Flagging mentors who came through gun-owner venues so the coalition can tell the story uses hunters as a prop.: Ask each mentor first and tell the story only with consent.
Seventy-eight waiting children signal a volunteer shortage, but each match needs agency staff time, and 20 to 40 recruits at once can overwhelm the agency; screening would exclude some willing people.: Ask the agency its intake rate, offer to fund match support, and leave screening decisions where they belong; the ones who clear are enough to start.
Site-based matches on campus and a mentor pool recruited at gun-owner venues bring each district's unsettled campus firearm policy into the open.: Ask each hosting district to confirm its policy; BBBS and COPY would apply their own no-weapons rules; mentors would sign an acknowledgment and pass district checks.

Who we would work with: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon (J Bar J Youth Services), Deschutes County Sheriff's Office COPY program, Oregon Hunters Association chapters, VFW Post 1643 and American Legion posts, Redmond Rod and Gun Club and the Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association, Hunter education instructors from the state fish and wildlife department (ODFW), Congregations in Prineville, Madras, La Pine and Sisters, Jefferson County School District 509J, Warm Springs Tribal Youth Council and Papalaxsimisha, Central Oregon Suicide Prevention Alliance (gatekeeper training)