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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 58 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 58

       Recognizing January 2015 as ``National Mentoring Month''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 29, 2015

 Mr. Isakson (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. Capito, and Mr. Brown) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
       Recognizing January 2015 as ``National Mentoring Month''.

Whereas in 2002, the Harvard School of Public Health and MENTOR: the National 
        Mentoring Partnership created National Mentoring Month;
Whereas the goals of National Mentoring Month are to raise awareness of 
        mentoring, recruit individuals to serve as mentors, and encourage 
        organizations to engage and integrate quality in mentoring into their 
        efforts;
Whereas a mentor is a caring, consistent presence who devotes time to a young 
        person to help that young person discover personal strength and achieve 
        his or her potential through a structured and trusting relationship;
Whereas quality mentoring encourages positive choices, promotes self-esteem, 
        supports academic achievement and introduces young people to new ideas;
Whereas mentoring programs have been 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 55 percent more likely to be 
        enrolled in college, 81 percent more likely to report participating 
        regularly in sports or extracurricular activities, more than twice as 
        likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team, 
        and 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities 
        than young people who were at risk for not completing high school and 
        who did not have a mentor;
Whereas youth development experts agree that mentoring is critical to the 
        social, emotional, and cognitive development of youth, helping them 
        navigate the path to adulthood more successfully;
Whereas mentors help young people set career goals and use their personal 
        contacts to help young people meet industry professionals and find jobs;
Whereas mentoring is a proven cost-effective investment: for every dollar 
        invested in mentoring, there is a 3-dollar return to society;
Whereas all of the above-listed benefits serve to link youth to economic 
        opportunity while also strengthening the fiber of our communities; and
Whereas despite these benefits, 1 in 3 youth will reach age 19 without a mentor, 
        constituting a ``mentoring gap'' that demonstrates a need for 
        collaboration and resources: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes January 2015 as ``National Mentoring 
        Month'';
            (2) recognizes the men and women who serve as staff and 
        volunteers at quality mentoring programs and who help our young 
        people find inner strength and reach their full potential;
            (3) acknowledges that mentoring is beneficial because it 
        encourages educational achievement, reduces juvenile 
        delinquency, improves life outcomes, and strengthens 
        communities;
            (4) promotes the creation and expansion of quality 
        mentoring programs across the country to equip young people 
        with the tools needed to lead healthy and productive lives; and
            (5) supports initiatives to close the ``mentoring gap''.
                                 <all>
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