II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1658 

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 

JULY 27, 2017 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. DUCKWORTH) 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 2017’’. 

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 Act: 

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 three or more 

10 times 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; or 

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

22 high rate of community violence. 

23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en24 tity’— 


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

2 agency, high-need school, or local government 

3 entity; and 

4 ‘‘(B) may include a partnership between 

5 an entity described in subparagraph (A) and a 

6 nonprofit, community-based, or faith-based or7 ganization, or institution of higher education 

8 (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)). 

10 ‘‘(3) ENGLISH LEARNER.—The term ‘English 

11 learner’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

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

14 ‘‘(4) FOSTER CARE.—The term ‘foster care’ has 

15 the meaning given the term in section 1355.20 of 

16 title 45, Code of Federal Regulations. 

17 ‘‘(5) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN18 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 

19 means a local educational agency that serves at least 

20 1 high-need school. 

21 ‘‘(6) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘high22 need school’ has the meaning given the term in sec23 tion 2211 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu24 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6631). 


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1 ‘‘(7) HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS.—The 

2 term ‘homeless children and youths’ has the mean3 ing given the term in section 725 of the McKinney4 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 

5 ‘‘(8) SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING.—The term 

6 ‘school-based mentoring’ means a structured, man7 aged, evidenced-based program conducted in part8 nership with teachers, administrators, school psy9 chologists, school social workers or counselors, and 

10 other school staff, in which at-risk students are ap11 propriately matched with screened and trained pro12 fessional or volunteer mentors who provide guidance, 

13 support, and encouragement, involving meetings, 

14 group-based sessions, and educational and work15 force-related activities on a regular basis to prepare 

16 at-risk students for success in high school, postsec17 ondary education, and the workforce. 

18 ‘‘(b) SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING COMPETITIVE

19 GRANT PROGRAM.— 

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

21 grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to 

22 establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring 

23 programs that— 

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

25 in high-need schools in developing cognitive 


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1 skills and promoting social-emotional learning 

2 to prepare them for success in high school, 

3 postsecondary education, and the workforce by 

4 linking them with mentors who— 

5 ‘‘(i) have received mentor training, in6 cluding on trauma-informed practices and 

7 youth engagement; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) have been screened using appro9 priate reference checks and criminal back10 ground checks; 

11 ‘‘(B) provide coaching and technical assist12 ance to mentors in such mentoring program; 

13 ‘‘(C) provide at-risk students with a posi14 tive relationship with a skilled adult offering 

15 support and guidance; 

16 ‘‘(D) improve the academic achievement of 

17 at-risk students; 

18 ‘‘(E) foster positive relationships between 

19 at-risk students and their peers, teachers, other 

20 adults, and family members; 

21 ‘‘(F) reduce dropout rates and absenteeism 

22 and improve school engagement of at-risk stu23 dents and their families; 

24 ‘‘(G) reduce juvenile justice involvement of 

25 at-risk students; 


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1 ‘‘(H) develop the cognitive and social-emo2 tional skills of at-risk students; 

3 ‘‘(I) develop the workforce readiness skills 

4 of at-risk students; 

5 ‘‘(J) encourage at-risk students to partici6 pate in community service activities; and 

7 ‘‘(K) encourage at-risk students to set 

8 goals and plan for their futures, including en9 couraging such students to make plans for post10 secondary education and the workforce. 

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

12 grants under this section for a period not to exceed 

13 5 years. 

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

15 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

16 Secretary an application that includes— 

17 ‘‘(A) a needs assessment that includes 

18 baseline data on the measures described in 

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

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

21 paragraph (1). 

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

23 the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that— 

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

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


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1 areas, rural areas, or who attend schools with 

2 high rates of community violence; 

3 ‘‘(B) provide at-risk students with opportu4 nities for job training, professional development, 

5 work shadowing, internships, networking, re6 sume writing and review, interview preparation, 

7 college application assistance, college visits, and 

8 leadership development through community 

9 service, including through partnerships with the 

10 private sector and local businesses to provide 

11 internship and career exploration activities and 

12 resources; and 

13 ‘‘(C) seek to provide match lengths be14 tween at-risk students and mentors of not less 

15 than 8 months. 

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

17 receives a grant under this section may use such 

18 funds to— 

19 ‘‘(A) develop and carry out regular train20 ing for mentors, including on— 

21 ‘‘(i) the impact of adverse childhood 

22 experiences; 

23 ‘‘(ii) trauma-informed practices and 

24 interventions; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) supporting homeless children 

2 and youths; 

3 ‘‘(iv) supporting children and youth in 

4 foster care or youth who have been emanci5 pated from foster care but are still enrolled 

6 in high school; 

7 ‘‘(v) cultural competency; 

8 ‘‘(vi) confidentiality requirements for 

9 working with children and youth in foster 

10 care; and 

11 ‘‘(vii) working in coordination with a 

12 public school system; 

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

14 mentors; 

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

16 objectives of the school-based mentoring pro17 gram; 

18 ‘‘(D) provide youth engagement activities, 

19 such as— 

20 ‘‘(i) enrichment field trips to cultural 

21 destinations; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) career or academic exploration 

23 activities; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) conduct program evaluation, includ2 ing by acquiring and analyzing the data de3 scribed under paragraph (6). 

4 ‘‘(6) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

6 months after the end of each academic year 

7 during the grant period, an eligible entity re8 ceiving a grant under this section shall submit 

9 to the Secretary a report that includes— 

10 ‘‘(i) the number of students who par11 ticipated in the school-based mentoring 

12 program that was funded in whole or in 

13 part with the grant funds; 

14 ‘‘(ii) data on the academic achieve15 ment, dropout rates, truancy, absenteeism, 

16 outcomes of arrests for violent crime, sum17 mer employment, and college enrollment of 

18 students in the program; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the number of group sessions 

20 and number of one-to-one contacts between 

21 students in the program and their men22 tors; 

23 ‘‘(iv) the average attendance of stu24 dents enrolled in the program; 


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1 ‘‘(v) data on social emotional develop2 ment of students as assessed with a vali3 dated social emotional assessment tool; and 

4 ‘‘(vi) any other information that the 

5 Secretary may require to evaluate the suc6 cess of the school-based mentoring pro7 gram. 

8 ‘‘(B) STUDENT PRIVACY.—An eligible enti9 ty shall ensure that the report submitted under 

10 subparagraph (A) is prepared in a manner that 

11 protects the privacy rights of each student in 

12 accordance with section 444 of the General 

13 Education Provisions Act (commonly referred 

14 to as the ‘Family Educational Rights and Pri15 vacy Act of 1974’) (20 U.S.C. 1232g). 

16 ‘‘(7) MENTORING RESOURCES AND COMMUNITY

17 SERVICE COORDINATION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary 

19 shall work with the Office of Juvenile Justice 

20 and Delinquency Prevention to— 

21 ‘‘(i) refer grantees under this section 

22 to the National Mentoring Resource Center 

23 to obtain resources on best practices and 

24 research related to mentoring and to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Aug 08, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1658.IS S1658

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1 quest no-cost training and technical assist2 ance; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) provide grantees under this sec4 tion with information to promote positive 

5 youth development, including transitional 

6 services for at-risk students returning from 

7 correctional facilities. 

8 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec9 retary shall coordinate with the Corporation for 

10 National and Community Service, including 

11 through entering into an interagency agreement 

12 or a memorandum of understanding, to provide 

13 technical assistance and other resources to sup14 port grantees under this section as they provide 

15 mentoring and community service-related activi16 ties for at-risk students. 

17 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS.—There are author18 ized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums 

19 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2018 through 

20 2023.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES STUDY ON 

22 SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING PROGRAMS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education, act24 ing through the Director of the Institute of Education 

25 Sciences, shall conduct a study to— 


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1 (1) identify successful school-based mentoring 

2 programs and effective strategies for administering 

3 and monitoring such programs; 

4 (2) evaluate the role of mentors in promoting 

5 cognitive development and social-emotional learning 

6 to enhance academic achievement and to improve 

7 workforce readiness; and 

8 (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the grant pro9 gram under section 136 of the Carl D. Perkins Ca10 reer and Technical Education Act of 2006, as added 

11 by section 3, on student academic outcomes and 

12 youth career development. 

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

14 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education, act15 ing through the Director of the Institute of Education 

16 Sciences, shall submit the results of the study to the ap17 propriate Congressional committees. 

Æ 


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