Johnson County Extension will cut ties with Big Brothers Big Sisters — ending decades of sponsorship — after its insurer says it won’t provide coverage because of one-on-one mentoring that is part of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The Johnson County Extension Council voted Tuesday night to disaffiliate from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County effective Dec. 31.
While the youth mentoring organization can continue to use office space in Extension buildings at the Johnson County Fairgrounds — which were built with a block grant that provided use of the space through 2031 — Extension no longer will provide insurance, payroll and budgeting and no longer will let the program use its tax-exempt status.
“It's those infrastructure functions we have benefited from being a part of Iowa State Extension,” the organization’s Executive Director Daleta Thurness said Wednesday. “The program will continue and be strong. It's just a challenge right now with this decision.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a national youth mentoring program created in 1904 that matches adult volunteers (bigs) with children (littles) ages 6 through young adulthood to create mentoring relationships. In the year that ended June 30, the Johnson County program matched 262 children with 249 adults. More than 100 kids were waiting to be matched in June 2022.
The one-on-one time bigs and littles spend together is at the core of the program.
“That's our mission, to provide professionally-supported one-on-one mentoring,” Thurness said. “We've been doing that for 47 years and we've never had a claim.”
The program vets adults with state and federal background checks, reviews their driving records and social media posts and requires references.
The genesis of the break was a question raised last spring about whether the liability insurance provider for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, of which Johnson County Extension is part, covered one-on-one mentoring provided by the program, according to notes from Extension’s presentation to the Big Brothers Big Sisters advisory board Monday night.
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“Our insurance provider did not realize that Johnson County Extension was the sponsoring agent of BBBS and had a 1-on-1 mentoring program,” the notes state. “Our underwriters will not allow for that type of coverage.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters found only one company that would provide liability insurance, but that was limited and cost nearly $44,000 a year.
“Johnson County Extension explored many different companies and underwriters to find coverage that would allow us to continue in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County,” Katharinna Bain, ISU Extension regional director, wrote in an email to The Gazette Wednesday. “After searching all possible solutions and consulting with the county insurance provider and legal counsel, Johnson County Extension Council made the difficult decision to end the affiliation.”
Bain said it was too expensive and the “risks associated with being the sponsoring agent are greater than what the Johnson County Extension Council can support.”
She said ISU Extension was required to provide only a 30-day notice of disaffiliation, but instead gave 10 weeks’ notice. She did not answer a question about how much money Extension will save by cutting the ties.
“Youth programming remains an important part of Johnson County Extension’s offerings, with 4-H Youth Development clubs, after-school programs, camps, events, and other programming focused on healthy living, leadership and civic engagement, science and technology, and communication and the arts,” Bain said.
Big Brothers Big Sisters now is considering becoming a stand-alone organization with its own 501(c)(3) status, merging with another Big Brothers Big Sisters group or finding a new sponsoring agent. Thurness said she favors becoming a stand-alone organization so it doesn’t have to face this sort of upheaval again.
Janet Martin, who helped found Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County in the 1970s when she was a 4H development specialist with ISU Extension, said she is sad to see the sponsorship end.
“It was a way for 4H to reach a diverse audience of youth,” she said. “That's one of the responsibilities of Johnson County Extension, to reach a diverse audience of youth. It seems unfortunate to me there wasn't a way we could discuss the situation and come to an agreement.”
www.thegazette.com
The Johnson County Extension Council voted Tuesday night to disaffiliate from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County effective Dec. 31.
While the youth mentoring organization can continue to use office space in Extension buildings at the Johnson County Fairgrounds — which were built with a block grant that provided use of the space through 2031 — Extension no longer will provide insurance, payroll and budgeting and no longer will let the program use its tax-exempt status.
“It's those infrastructure functions we have benefited from being a part of Iowa State Extension,” the organization’s Executive Director Daleta Thurness said Wednesday. “The program will continue and be strong. It's just a challenge right now with this decision.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a national youth mentoring program created in 1904 that matches adult volunteers (bigs) with children (littles) ages 6 through young adulthood to create mentoring relationships. In the year that ended June 30, the Johnson County program matched 262 children with 249 adults. More than 100 kids were waiting to be matched in June 2022.
The one-on-one time bigs and littles spend together is at the core of the program.
“That's our mission, to provide professionally-supported one-on-one mentoring,” Thurness said. “We've been doing that for 47 years and we've never had a claim.”
The program vets adults with state and federal background checks, reviews their driving records and social media posts and requires references.
The genesis of the break was a question raised last spring about whether the liability insurance provider for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, of which Johnson County Extension is part, covered one-on-one mentoring provided by the program, according to notes from Extension’s presentation to the Big Brothers Big Sisters advisory board Monday night.
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“Our insurance provider did not realize that Johnson County Extension was the sponsoring agent of BBBS and had a 1-on-1 mentoring program,” the notes state. “Our underwriters will not allow for that type of coverage.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters found only one company that would provide liability insurance, but that was limited and cost nearly $44,000 a year.
“Johnson County Extension explored many different companies and underwriters to find coverage that would allow us to continue in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County,” Katharinna Bain, ISU Extension regional director, wrote in an email to The Gazette Wednesday. “After searching all possible solutions and consulting with the county insurance provider and legal counsel, Johnson County Extension Council made the difficult decision to end the affiliation.”
Bain said it was too expensive and the “risks associated with being the sponsoring agent are greater than what the Johnson County Extension Council can support.”
She said ISU Extension was required to provide only a 30-day notice of disaffiliation, but instead gave 10 weeks’ notice. She did not answer a question about how much money Extension will save by cutting the ties.
“Youth programming remains an important part of Johnson County Extension’s offerings, with 4-H Youth Development clubs, after-school programs, camps, events, and other programming focused on healthy living, leadership and civic engagement, science and technology, and communication and the arts,” Bain said.
Big Brothers Big Sisters now is considering becoming a stand-alone organization with its own 501(c)(3) status, merging with another Big Brothers Big Sisters group or finding a new sponsoring agent. Thurness said she favors becoming a stand-alone organization so it doesn’t have to face this sort of upheaval again.
Janet Martin, who helped found Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County in the 1970s when she was a 4H development specialist with ISU Extension, said she is sad to see the sponsorship end.
“It was a way for 4H to reach a diverse audience of youth,” she said. “That's one of the responsibilities of Johnson County Extension, to reach a diverse audience of youth. It seems unfortunate to me there wasn't a way we could discuss the situation and come to an agreement.”
ISU Extension breaks with Big Brothers Big Sisters Johnson County
Johnson County Extension will cut ties with Big Brothers Big Sisters — ending decades of sponsorship — after its insurer says it won’t provide coverage because of one-on-one mentoring that is part of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
www.thegazette.com
