Athletes for Kids, a youth mentoring program that matches children who have special needs with high school athletes in East King County, was named an Expert Partner by Mentoring Works Washington.

Athletes for Kids achieved Expert level through a rigorous, guided evaluation process that is based on over 20 years of national research and experienced practitioner insight. The process includes ongoing assistance from Mentoring Works Washington, to develop and implement a 12-month Improvement and Innovation Plan.

Mentoring Works Washington is one of 28 statewide nonprofits dedicated to expanding the number of youth mentored, building best practices in youth mentoring programs and innovating improvements based on local rigorous research.

This designation means that Athletes for Kids is committed to following quality best practices that help ensure the community’s youth and volunteers are safe and that they experience mentoring relationships that result in positive outcomes.

To achieve Expert status, Athletes for Kids completed the Quality Mentoring Assessment Path and follows 100 percent of its outlined best practices. Out of around 150 mentoring programs in Washington, only six have become an Expert Partner in the first three years of the statewide program.