The White House visits Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas to highlight agency successes.

On October 2, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Jedd Medefind, and the Assistant Secretary of Department of Health & Human Services, Daniel Schneider joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas CEO Denise Barkhurst to spotlight the agency’s success in matching children of incarcerated parents.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas was chosen from hundreds of Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCOP) programs across the country for the outstanding work provided to this extremely vulnerable population of children. Children who have a parent or significant family member incarcerated are 7 times more likely to become incarcerated themselves. Having a mentor can help break the cycle of incarceration. Big Brothers and Big Sisters help children develop the skills they need to make the choices to avoid the destructive behaviors can lead to incarceration.

According to Assistant Secretary Schneider, the South Texas agency stands among the finest in the nation: "Out of 440 grantees nationwide, we’re only visiting the best ones. This program is one of the finest in the whole country. It shows how valuable one-on-one mentoring is", said Schneider.

"We are extremely honored to be chosen for this visit," says Denise Barkhurst, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas. "We appreciate the recognition of our organization, particularly our local San Antonio office, as a model for meeting the critical needs of children affected by incarceration."

Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas was originally awarded its first 3 year MCOP contract through the Department of Health and Human Services in 2003. The contract provides funding for several BBBS agencies across the state including the Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington, Houston and Austin area agencies, but is administered out of the San Antonio office. Funding was renewed for an additional three year period in 2006.