I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 804 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to award 

grants to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school-based 

mentoring programs to assist at-risk middle school students with the 

transition from middle school to high school. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2019 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. SOTO, Ms. MOORE, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to award grants to eligible entities to establish, 

expand, or support school-based mentoring programs to 

assist at-risk middle school students with the transition 

from middle school to high school. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transition-to-Success 

5 Mentoring Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

3 1002(d) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

4 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6553) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(d) PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

6 FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE NEGLECTED, DE7 LINQUENT, OR AT-RISK.—There are authorized to be ap8 propriated to carry out the activities described in part D, 

9 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and such sums as may 

10 be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

11 (b) TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO12 GRAM.—Part D of title I of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6421 

13 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘Subpart 4—Transition-to-Success Mentoring 

15 Program 

16 ‘‘SEC. 1441. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO17 GRAM. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

19 to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants 

20 to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school21 based mentoring programs to assist eligible students with 

22 the transition from middle school to high school. 

23 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this 

24 section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 

25 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con26 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible 

3 entity that receives a grant under this section shall 

4 use the grant funds to establish a mentoring pro5 gram, or to expand or provide technical support to 

6 an existing mentoring program, in all middle schools 

7 served by the entity, under which each eligible stu8 dent is assigned to a success coach who— 

9 ‘‘(A) creates a plan for success for the stu10 dent that— 

11 ‘‘(i) is created with the student, teach12 ers, mentor, and parents of the student; 

13 ‘‘(ii) includes, for each academic year, 

14 the student’s academic, personal, college, 

15 and career exploration goals, and a strat16 egy on how to accomplish such goals; 

17 ‘‘(iii) identifies the student’s 

18 strengths, weaknesses, and academic 

19 progress; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) includes a plan to educate and 

21 support the student’s college or career ex22 ploration goals; 

23 ‘‘(B) enters into a signed, written agree24 ment with the parents of the student that deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804

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1 scribes how the parents should assist the stu2 dent in carrying out the plan for success; 

3 ‘‘(C) meets with the student at least once 

4 per month to— 

5 ‘‘(i) assist the student in achieving the 

6 goals under the plan for success; 

7 ‘‘(ii) identify the student’s academic 

8 areas of weaknesses; 

9 ‘‘(iii) provide the student with the 

10 tools necessary to improve the student’s 

11 potential for academic excellence, and en12 sure the student’s successful transition 

13 from middle school to high school by iden14 tifying improved attitude, behavior, 

15 coursework, and social involvement; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a student with be17 havioral issues, assist the student in behav18 ior management techniques; 

19 ‘‘(D) at least monthly, meets with the stu20 dent and the parents, teachers, or counselors of 

21 the student to— 

22 ‘‘(i) evaluate the student’s progress in 

23 achieving the goals under the plan for the 

24 current academic year; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) revise or establish new goals for 

2 the next academic year; 

3 ‘‘(E) serves as the student’s advocate be4 tween the teachers and parents of the student 

5 to ensure that the teachers and parents under6 stand the student’s plan; and 

7 ‘‘(F) serves as the student’s advocate in 

8 exploring higher education and career opportu9 nities. 

10 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligi11 ble entity that receives a grant under this section 

12 may use such funds to— 

13 ‘‘(A) develop and carry out a training pro14 gram for success coaches, including providing 

15 support to match success coaches with eligible 

16 students; 

17 ‘‘(B) cover the cost of any materials used 

18 by success coaches under the mentoring pro19 gram; and 

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

21 program objectives. 

22 ‘‘(d) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this section 

23 shall be awarded for a period of not more than 5 years. 

24 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An eligible entity 

2 receiving a grant under this section shall submit to 

3 the Secretary, at the end of each academic year dur4 ing the grant period, a report that includes— 

5 ‘‘(A) the number of students who partici6 pated in the school-based mentoring program 

7 that was funded in whole or in part with the 

8 grant funds under this section; 

9 ‘‘(B) data on the academic achievement of 

10 such students; 

11 ‘‘(C) the number of contact hours between 

12 such students and their success coaches; and 

13 ‘‘(D) any other information that the Sec14 retary may require to evaluate the success of 

15 the school-based mentoring program. 

16 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.— 

17 ‘‘(A) INTERIM REPORT.—At the end of the 

18 third fiscal year for which funds are made 

19 available to carry out this section, the Secretary 

20 shall submit to Congress an interim report on 

21 the success of the school-based mentoring pro22 grams funded under this section that includes 

23 the information received under paragraph (1). 

24 ‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—At the end of the 

25 fifth fiscal year for which funds are made availVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804

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1 able to carry out this section, the Secretary 

2 shall submit to Congress a final report on the 

3 success of the school-based mentoring programs 

4 funded under this section that includes the in5 formation received under paragraph (1). 

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) AT-RISK STUDENT.—The term ‘at-risk stu8 dent’ means a student who has been identified as a 

9 student who has below a 2.0 grade point average or 

10 the equivalent or who has been determined by par11 ents, teachers, or other school officials to— 

12 ‘‘(A) be at-risk of academic failure; 

13 ‘‘(B) have expressed interest in dropping 

14 out of school; 

15 ‘‘(C) show signs of a drug or alcohol prob16 lem; 

17 ‘‘(D) be pregnant or a parent; 

18 ‘‘(E) have come into contact with the juve19 nile justice system in the past; 

20 ‘‘(F) have limited English proficiency; 

21 ‘‘(G) be a gang member; or 

22 ‘‘(H) have a high absenteeism rate at 

23 school. 

24 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en25 tity’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency that— 

2 ‘‘(i) receives, or is eligible to receive, 

3 funds under part A of this title; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) is a high-need local educational 

5 agency; or 

6 ‘‘(B) a partnership between a local edu7 cational agency described in subparagraph (A) 

8 and a nonprofit, community-based organization. 

9 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 

10 student’ means a student who— 

11 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in a middle school served 

12 by an eligible entity; and 

13 ‘‘(B) is an at-risk student. 

14 ‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN15 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 

16 means a local educational agency that serves at least 

17 one high-need school. 

18 ‘‘(5) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘high19 need school’ has the meaning given the term in sec20 tion 2211(b)(2). 

21 ‘‘(6) MIDDLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘middle 

22 school’ means a nonprofit institutional day or resi23 dential school, including a public charter school, that 

24 provides middle school education, as determined 

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1 clude any education below grade 6 or beyond grade 

2 9. 

3 ‘‘(7) SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING.—The term 

4 ‘school-based mentoring’ refers to mentoring activi5 ties that— 

6 ‘‘(A) are closely coordinated with a school 

7 by involving teachers, counselors, and other 

8 school staff who may identify and refer stu9 dents for mentoring services; and 

10 ‘‘(B) assist at-risk students in improving 

11 academic achievement, reducing disciplinary re12 ferrals, and increasing positive regard for 

13 school. 

14 ‘‘(8) SUCCESS COACH.—The term ‘success 

15 coach’ means an individual who— 

16 ‘‘(A) is— 

17 ‘‘(i) an employee or volunteer of a 

18 local educational agency in which a men19 toring program receiving support under 

20 this section is being carried out; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) a volunteer or employee from a 

22 nonprofit, community-based organization 

23 that provides volunteers for mentoring pro24 grams in secondary schools; and 

25 ‘‘(B) prior to becoming a success coach— 


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1 ‘‘(i) received training and support in 

2 mentoring from an eligible entity, which, at 

3 a minimum, was 2 hours in length and 

4 covered the roles and responsibilities of a 

5 success coach; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) underwent a screening by an eli7 gible entity that included— 

8 ‘‘(I) appropriate job reference 

9 checks; 

10 ‘‘(II) child and domestic abuse 

11 record checks; and 

12 ‘‘(III) criminal background 

13 checks.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

15 The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary 

16 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 

17 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

18 to section 1432 the following: 

‘‘SUBPART 4—TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 1441. Transition-to-success mentoring program.’’. 

Æ 


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