III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 43 

Recognizing January 2017 as National Mentoring Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 

Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. 

CAPITO, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. WYDEN) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing January 2017 as National Mentoring Month. 

Whereas, in 2002, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public 

Health and MENTOR: the National Mentoring Partnership established National Mentoring Month; 

Whereas 2017 is the 15th anniversary of National Mentoring 

Month; 

Whereas the goals of National Mentoring Month are— 

(1) to raise awareness of mentoring; 

(2) to recruit individuals to mentor; and 

(3) to encourage organizations to engage and integrate quality in mentoring into the efforts of the organizations; 

Whereas young people across the United States make everyday choices that lead to the big decisions in life without 


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the guidance and support on which many other people 

rely; 

Whereas a mentor is a caring, consistent presence who devotes time to a young person to help that young person— 

(1) discover personal strength; and 

(2) achieve the potential of that young person 

through a structured and trusting relationship; 

Whereas quality mentoring— 

(1) encourages positive choices; 

(2) promotes self-esteem; 

(3) supports academic achievement; and 

(4) introduces young people to new ideas; 

Whereas mentoring programs have shown to be effective in 

combating school violence and discipline problems, substance abuse, incarceration, and truancy; 

Whereas research shows that young people who were at risk 

for not completing high school but who had a mentor 

were, as compared with similarly situated young people 

without a mentor— 

(1) 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college; 

(2) 81 percent more likely to report participating 

regularly in sports or extracurricular activities; 

(3) more than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team; and 

(4) 78 percent more likely to pay it forward by volunteering regularly in their communities; 

Whereas 90 percent of young people who were at risk for not 

completing high school but who had a mentor said they 

are now interested in becoming mentors themselves; 

Whereas mentoring can play a role in helping young people 

attend school regularly, as research shows that students 


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who meet regularly with a mentor are, as compared with 

the peers of those students— 

(1) 52 percent less likely to skip a full day of school; 

and 

(2) 37 percent less likely to skip a class; 

Whereas youth development experts agree that mentoring encourages smart daily behaviors, such as finishing homework, having healthy social interactions, and saying no 

when it counts, that have a noticeable influence on the 

growth and success of a young person; 

Whereas mentors help young people set career goals and use 

the personal contacts of the mentors to help young people 

meet industry professionals and train for and find jobs; 

Whereas all of the described benefits of mentors serve to link 

youth to economic and social opportunity while also 

strengthening the fiber of communities in the United 

States; and 

Whereas, despite the described benefits, 9,000,000 young 

people in the United States feel isolated from meaningful 

connections with adults outside their homes, constituting 

a ‘‘mentoring gap’’ that demonstrates a need for collaboration and resources: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes January 2017 as National Men3 toring Month; 

4 (2) recognizes the caring adults who— 

5 (A) serve as staff and volunteers at quality 

6 mentoring programs; and 


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1 (B) help the young people of the United 

2 States find inner strength and reach their full 

3 potential; 

4 (3) acknowledges that mentoring is beneficial 

5 because mentoring encourages educational achieve6 ment and self-confidence, reduces juvenile delin7 quency, improves life outcomes, and strengthens 

8 communities; 

9 (4) promotes the establishment and expansion 

10 of quality mentoring programs across the United 

11 States to equip young people with the tools needed 

12 to lead healthy and productive lives; and 

13 (5) supports initiatives to close the ‘‘mentoring 

14 gap’’ that exists for the many young people in the 

15 United States who do not have meaningful connec16 tions with adults outside their homes. 

Æ 


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