Teen Night Out - Frequently Asked Questions

DECIDE IF THERE IS A NEED – Meet with families, students, teachers and administrators. Decide if there is a need in your area. Are youth connected to activities? Do they make plans and join other teens in group events? Are teens becoming sexually active without safety? Are teens staying home because they lack social skills or opportunities? Are parents isolated and in need of information? Who might benefit and why? What is the justification for the program.

UNDERSTAND THE CONNECTION WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION AND TRANSITION–A social recreation program can lead to achievement of educational outcomes for teens with disabilities by providing motivation, opportunities for learning and a chance to practice. A TNO program can help your school provide related services in a cost effective way. A TNO program may improve parent involvement and build community partnerships with transition providers, employers and other partners. A TNO can assist families in following through with transition planning.

FIND A CHAMPION – Who is interested in starting up a program? Who has the skills and talent to motivate and reach mentors, teachers, students, partners? Is this a natural match for someone’s current job duties? Could the work be shared among two people? Who has the trust and confidence of potential funders? Who has the ingenuity and creativity to get your program off to a good start.

FIND SPONSORS - Successful TNO programs may have several types of sponsors. Administrative: Decide early on if the people supervising the program will be paid (recommended), by whom and how? What policies will be set by your planning team – who will be given or has the authority to run this kind of program. Also think about who will act as a fiscal agent for the project. Who will cut a check when funds are spent or donated? Host: Where will the activities take place or be hosted? Community: Finally think about community sponsors? What can churches, stores and other businesses contribute?

PROMOTION & RECRUITMENT - Start up is a fair amount of work! Finding a sponsor and host, AND recruiting students, mentors, & families all need to happen at about the same time. Life can take on a chicken and the egg quality for a while. Promote your program to families, teachers, providers and businesses. Construct a simple one page who, what, when, where, how, & why flyer in simple language to announce the start up. Make lists of potential groups who might refer students to the program. Plan to start with a small group of students at first and let word of mouth help you with growth. Be sure to recruit enough mentors and volunteers to help you with the size of group you plan to host. In general, you will want one mentor for every 3-5 students and some students may need 1-1 support. Plan to make individual follow up phone calls to each perspective family to work through challenges they face in permitting a son or daughter to participate.