Only programs recognized by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) as affiliates are eligible for funding. BBBSA affiliates are 501c3 nonprofit organizations with their own staff, budget and board of directors. The national organization, sets program standards and provides fundraising, volunteer recruitment, seed capital and supporting services to its affiliates. Affiliates in Pennsylvania can apply for funding.

Although BBBS is delivered as school-based or community-based mentoring, PCCD only funds community-based mentoring, the model that has been researched and recognized by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) as a Blueprints Model Program. The school-based mentoring approach is coordinated around school structures and calendars, which limits the approaches ability to generate close, long-term relationships and it has not been proven to lead to high quality mentoring and impacts that endure.