II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 65 

To amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 

2006 to give the Department of Education the authority to award competitive grants to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support schoolbased mentoring programs to assist at-risk students in middle school 

and high school in developing cognitive and social-emotional skills to 

prepare them for success in high school, postsecondary education, and 

the workforce. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25, 2023 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to give the Department of Education 

the authority to award competitive grants to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring programs to assist at-risk students in middle 

school and high school in developing cognitive and socialemotional skills to prepare them for success in high 

school, postsecondary education, and the workforce. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mentoring to Succeed 

3 Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

5 The purpose of this Act is to make assistance avail6 able for school-based mentoring programs for at-risk stu7 dents in order to— 

8 (1) establish, expand, or support school-based 

9 mentoring programs; 

10 (2) assist at-risk students in middle school and 

11 high school in developing cognitive and social-emo12 tional skills; and 

13 (3) prepare such at-risk students for success in 

14 high school, postsecondary education, and the work15 force. 

16 SEC. 3. SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING PROGRAM. 

17 Part C of title I of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 

18 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2351 et seq.) 

19 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 136. DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FOR SCHOOL-BASED 

21 MENTORING PROGRAMS. 

22 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) AT-RISK STUDENT.—The term ‘at-risk stu24 dent’ means a student who— 

25 ‘‘(A) is failing academically or at risk of 

26 dropping out of school; 


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1 ‘‘(B) is pregnant or a parent; 

2 ‘‘(C) is a gang member; 

3 ‘‘(D) is a child or youth in foster care or 

4 a youth who has been emancipated from foster 

5 care, but is still enrolled in high school; 

6 ‘‘(E) is or has recently been a homeless 

7 child or youth; 

8 ‘‘(F) is chronically absent; 

9 ‘‘(G) has changed schools 3 or more times 

10 in the past 6 months; 

11 ‘‘(H) has come in contact with the juvenile 

12 justice system in the past; 

13 ‘‘(I) has a history of multiple suspensions 

14 or disciplinary actions; 

15 ‘‘(J) is an English learner; 

16 ‘‘(K) has one or both parents incarcerated; 

17 ‘‘(L) has experienced one or more adverse 

18 childhood experiences, traumatic events, or 

19 toxic stressors, as assessed through an evi20 dence-based screening; 

21 ‘‘(M) lives in a high-poverty area with a 

22 high rate of community violence; 

23 ‘‘(N) has a disability; or 


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1 ‘‘(O) shows signs of alcohol or drug misuse 

2 or abuse or has a parent or guardian who is 

3 struggling with substance abuse. 

4 ‘‘(2) DISABILITY.—The term ‘disability’ has the 

5 meaning given the term for purposes of section 

6 602(3) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

7 Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)). 

8 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en9 tity’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means a high-need local educational 

11 agency, high-need school, or local government 

12 entity; and 

13 ‘‘(B) may include a partnership between 

14 an entity described in subparagraph (A) and a 

15 nonprofit, community-based, or faith-based or16 ganization, or institution of higher education. 

17 ‘‘(4) ENGLISH LEARNER.—The term ‘English 

18 learner’ has the meaning given the term in section 

19 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

21 ‘‘(5) FOSTER CARE.—The term ‘foster care’ has 

22 the meaning given the term in section 1355.20(a) of 

23 title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc24 cessor regulation). 


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1 ‘‘(6) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN2 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 

3 means a local educational agency that serves at least 

4 one high-need school. 

5 ‘‘(7) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘high6 need school’ has the meaning given the term in sec7 tion 2211(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6631(b)). 

9 ‘‘(8) HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS.—The 

10 term ‘homeless children and youths’ has the mean11 ing given the term in section 725 of the McKinney12 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 

13 ‘‘(9) SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING.—The term 

14 ‘school-based mentoring’ means a structured, man15 aged, evidenced-based program conducted in part16 nership with teachers, administrators, school psy17 chologists, school social workers or counselors, and 

18 other school staff, in which at-risk students are ap19 propriately matched with screened and trained pro20 fessional or volunteer mentors who provide guidance, 

21 support, and encouragement, involving meetings, 

22 group-based sessions, and educational and work23 force-related activities on a regular basis to prepare 

24 at-risk students for success in high school, postsec25 ondary education, and the workforce. 


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1 ‘‘(b) SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING COMPETITIVE

2 GRANT PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

4 grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to 

5 establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring 

6 programs that— 

7 ‘‘(A) are designed to assist at-risk students 

8 in high-need schools in developing cognitive 

9 skills and promoting social-emotional learning 

10 to prepare them for success in high school, 

11 postsecondary education, and the workforce by 

12 linking them with mentors who— 

13 ‘‘(i) have received mentor training, in14 cluding on trauma-informed practices, 

15 youth engagement, cultural competency, 

16 and social-emotional learning; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) have been screened using appro18 priate reference checks and criminal back19 ground checks, in accordance with the re20 quirements of paragraph (3)(B)(v)(ii); 

21 ‘‘(B) provide coaching and technical assist22 ance to mentors in each such mentoring pro23 gram; 

24 ‘‘(C) seek to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) improve the academic achieve2 ment of at-risk students; 

3 ‘‘(ii) reduce dropout rates and absen4 teeism and improve school engagement of 

5 at-risk students and their families; 

6 ‘‘(iii) reduce juvenile justice involve7 ment of at-risk students; 

8 ‘‘(iv) foster positive relationships be9 tween at-risk students and their peers, 

10 teachers, other adults, and family mem11 bers; 

12 ‘‘(v) develop the workforce readiness 

13 skills of at-risk students by exploring paths 

14 to employment, including encouraging stu15 dents with disabilities to explore transition 

16 services; and 

17 ‘‘(vi) increase the participation of at18 risk students in community service activi19 ties; and 

20 ‘‘(D) encourage at-risk students to set 

21 goals and plan for their futures, including mak22 ing plans and identifying goals for postsec23 ondary education and the workforce. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award 

2 grants under this section for a period not to exceed 

3 5 years. 

4 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under 

5 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

6 Secretary an application that includes— 

7 ‘‘(A) a needs assessment that includes 

8 baseline data on the measures described in 

9 paragraph (6)(A)(ii); and 

10 ‘‘(B) a plan to meet the requirements of 

11 paragraph (1), including— 

12 ‘‘(i) the targeted outcomes, mentee 

13 age and eligibility, mentor type, and meet14 ing frequency for the program; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the number of mentor-student 

16 matches proposed to be established and 

17 maintained annually under the program; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the capacity and expertise of the 

19 program to serve children and youth in a 

20 way that is responsive to children and 

21 youth of color, expectant and parenting 

22 youth, indigenous youth, youth who are 

23 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or 

24 queer, and youth with disabilities; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) actions taken to ensure that the 

2 design of the program reflects input from 

3 youth; and 

4 ‘‘(v) an assurance that mentors sup5 ported under the program are appro6 priately screened and have demonstrated a 

7 willingness to comply with aspects of the 

8 mentoring program, including— 

9 ‘‘(I) a written screening plan that 

10 includes all of the policies and proce11 dures used to screen and select men12 tors, including eligibility requirements 

13 and preferences for such applicants; 

14 ‘‘(II) a description of the meth15 ods to be used to conduct criminal 

16 background checks on all prospective 

17 mentors, and the methods in place to 

18 exclude mentors with convictions di19 rectly related to child safety that 

20 occur during the mentor’s participa21 tion in the program or in the 10-year 

22 period preceding the mentor’s partici23 pation; and 

24 ‘‘(III) a description of the meth25 ods to be used to ensure that the 


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1 mentors are willing and able to serve 

2 as a mentor on a long-term, con3 sistent basis as defined in the applica4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients, 

6 the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that— 

7 ‘‘(A) serve children and youth with the 

8 greatest need living in high-poverty, high-crime 

9 areas, or rural areas, or who attend schools 

10 with high rates of community violence; 

11 ‘‘(B) provide at-risk students with opportu12 nities for postsecondary education preparation 

13 and career development, including— 

14 ‘‘(i) job training, professional develop15 ment, work shadowing, internships, net16 working, re ́sume ́ writing and review, inter17 view preparation, transition services for 

18 students with disabilities, application as19 sistance and visits to institutions of higher 

20 education, and leadership development 

21 through community service; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) partnerships with the private sec23 tor and local businesses to provide intern24 ship and career exploration activities and 

25 resources; 


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1 ‘‘(C) seek to provide match lengths be2 tween at-risk students and mentors for at least 

3 1 academic year; and 

4 ‘‘(D) consult and engage youth in the de5 velopment, design, and implementation of the 

6 program. 

7 ‘‘(5) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that 

8 receives a grant under this section may use such 

9 funds to— 

10 ‘‘(A) develop and carry out regular train11 ing for mentors, including on— 

12 ‘‘(i) the impact of adverse childhood 

13 experiences; 

14 ‘‘(ii) trauma-informed practices and 

15 interventions; 

16 ‘‘(iii) supporting homeless children 

17 and youths; 

18 ‘‘(iv) supporting children and youth in 

19 foster care or youth who have been emanci20 pated from foster care, but are still en21 rolled in high school; 

22 ‘‘(v) cultural competency; 

23 ‘‘(vi) meeting all appropriate privacy 

24 and confidentiality requirements for stu25 dents, including students in foster care; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) working in coordination with a 

2 public school system; 

3 ‘‘(viii) positive youth development and 

4 engagement practices; and 

5 ‘‘(ix) disability inclusion practices to 

6 ensure access and participation by students 

7 with disabilities; 

8 ‘‘(B) recruit, screen, match, train, and 

9 compensate mentors; 

10 ‘‘(C) hire staff to perform or support the 

11 objectives of the school-based mentoring pro12 gram; 

13 ‘‘(D) provide inclusive and accessible youth 

14 engagement activities, such as— 

15 ‘‘(i) enrichment field trips to cultural 

16 destinations; 

17 ‘‘(ii) career awareness activities, in18 cluding job site visits, informational inter19 views, re ́sume ́ writing, interview prepara20 tion, and networking; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) academic or postsecondary edu22 cation preparation activities, including 

23 trade or vocational school visits, visits to 

24 institutions of higher education, and assistVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Jan 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S65.IS S65

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1 ance in applying to institutions of higher 

2 education; and 

3 ‘‘(E) conduct program evaluation, includ4 ing by acquiring and analyzing the data de5 scribed under paragraph (6). 

6 ‘‘(6) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

8 months after the end of each academic year 

9 during the grant period, an eligible entity re10 ceiving a grant under this section shall submit 

11 to the Secretary a report that includes— 

12 ‘‘(i) the number of students and men13 tors, and the demographics of the students 

14 and mentors, who participated in the 

15 school-based mentoring program that was 

16 funded in whole or in part with the grant 

17 funds; 

18 ‘‘(ii) data on the academic achieve19 ment, dropout rates, truancy, absenteeism, 

20 outcomes of arrests for violent crime, sum21 mer employment, and postsecondary edu22 cation enrollment of students in the pro23 gram; 

24 ‘‘(iii) the number of group sessions 

25 and number of one-to-one contacts between 


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1 students in the program and their men2 tors; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the average attendance of stu4 dents enrolled in the program; 

5 ‘‘(v) the number of students with dis6 abilities connected to transition services; 

7 ‘‘(vi) data on social-emotional develop8 ment of students as assessed with a vali9 dated social-emotional assessment tool; and 

10 ‘‘(vii) any other information that the 

11 Secretary may require to evaluate the suc12 cess of the school-based mentoring pro13 gram. 

14 ‘‘(B) STUDENT PRIVACY.—An eligible enti15 ty shall ensure that the report submitted under 

16 subparagraph (A) is prepared in a manner that 

17 protects the privacy rights of each student in 

18 accordance with section 444 of the General 

19 Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g; 

20 commonly known as the ‘Family Educational 

21 Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’). 

22 ‘‘(7) MENTORING RESOURCES AND COMMUNITY

23 SERVICE COORDINATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec2 retary shall work with the Office of Juvenile 

3 Justice and Delinquency Prevention to— 

4 ‘‘(i) refer grantees under this section 

5 to the National Mentoring Resource Center 

6 to obtain resources on best practices and 

7 research related to mentoring and to re8 quest no-cost training and technical assist9 ance; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) provide grantees under this sec11 tion with information regarding transi12 tional services for at-risk students return13 ing from correctional facilities and transi14 tion services for students with disabilities. 

15 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

16 shall, to the extent possible, coordinate with the 

17 Corporation for National and Community Serv18 ice, including through entering into an inter19 agency agreement or a memorandum of under20 standing, to support mentoring and community 

21 service-related activities for at-risk students. 

22 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS.—There are author23 ized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums 

24 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2023 through 

25 2028.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES STUDY ON 

2 SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education, act4 ing through the Director of the Institute of Education 

5 Sciences, shall conduct a study to— 

6 (1) identify successful school-based mentoring 

7 programs and effective strategies for administering 

8 and monitoring such programs; 

9 (2) evaluate the role of mentors in promoting 

10 cognitive development and social-emotional learning 

11 to enhance academic achievement and to improve 

12 workforce readiness; and 

13 (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the grant pro14 gram under section 136 of the Carl D. Perkins Ca15 reer and Technical Education Act of 2006, as added 

16 by section 3, on student academic outcomes and 

17 youth career development. 

18 (b) TIMING.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education, act20 ing through the Director of the Institute of Education 

21 Sciences, shall submit the results of the study described 

22 in subsection (a) to the appropriate congressional commit23 tees. 

Æ 


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