I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 653 

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 31, 2023 

Mr. CARSON (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, and Mr. THOMPSON

of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

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) TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO3 GRAM.—Part D of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6421 et seq.) is amend5 ed by adding at the end the following: 

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

7 Program 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1441. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO9 GRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

11 grants to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support 

12 school-based mentoring programs to assist eligible stu13 dents with the transition from middle school to high 

14 school. 

15 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under 

17 this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli18 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such man19 ner, and containing such information as the Sec20 retary may require. 

21 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients, 

22 the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

23 that— 

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

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


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1 areas, or rural areas, or who attend schools 

2 with high rates of community violence; 

3 ‘‘(B) provide eligible students with oppor4 tunities for postsecondary education prepara5 tion and career development, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) job training, professional develop7 ment, work shadowing, internships, net8 working, re ́sume ́ writing and review, inter9 view preparation, transition services for 

10 students with disabilities, application as11 sistance and visits to institutions of higher 

12 education, and leadership development 

13 through community service; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) partnerships with the private sec15 tor and local businesses to provide intern16 ship and career exploration activities and 

17 resources; 

18 ‘‘(C) seek to provide match lengths be19 tween eligible students and success coaches for 

20 at least 1 academic year; and 

21 ‘‘(D) indicate how, and the degree to 

22 which, children were consulted and engaged in 

23 the development, design, and implementation of 

24 the school-based mentoring program. 

25 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 


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

2 entity that receives a grant under this section shall 

3 use the grant funds to establish a school-based men4 toring program, or to expand or provide technical 

5 support to an existing school-based mentoring pro6 gram, in all middle schools served by the entity, 

7 under which each eligible student is assigned to a 

8 success coach who— 

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

11 ‘‘(i) is created with the student, men12 tor, relevant school staff (such as a teacher 

13 or school counselor), and parents of the 

14 student; 

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

16 the student’s academic, personal, college, 

17 and career exploration goals, and a strat18 egy on how to accomplish such goals; 

19 ‘‘(iii) identifies the student’s 

20 strengths, areas for improvement, and aca21 demic progress; and 

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

23 support the student’s college or career ex24 ploration goals; 


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1 ‘‘(B) enters into a signed, written agree2 ment with the parents of the student that de3 scribes how the parents should assist the stu4 dent in carrying out the plan for success; 

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

6 per month to— 

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

8 goals under the plan for success; 

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

10 areas for improvement; 

11 ‘‘(iii) connect the student with the 

12 tools and resources necessary to help im13 prove the student’s potential for academic 

14 success; 

15 ‘‘(iv) ensure the student’s successful 

16 transition from middle school to high 

17 school by identifying opportunities to help 

18 the student develop a positive attitude to19 ward school, improve classroom behavior, 

20 complete coursework, and socialize with 

21 peers; and 

22 ‘‘(v) in the case of a student with be23 havioral issues, assist the student in behav24 ior management techniques; 


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1 ‘‘(D) at least quarterly, meets with the stu2 dent and the parents, teachers, or counselors of 

3 the student to— 

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

5 achieving the goals under the plan for the 

6 current academic year; and 

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

8 the next academic year; and 

9 ‘‘(E) assists the student in exploring high10 er education and career exposure opportunities. 

11 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligi12 ble entity that receives a grant under this section 

13 may use such funds to— 

14 ‘‘(A) develop and carry out regular train15 ing for success coaches, including on— 

16 ‘‘(i) the impact of adverse childhood 

17 experiences; 

18 ‘‘(ii) trauma-informed practices and 

19 interventions; 

20 ‘‘(iii) supporting homeless children 

21 and youths; 

22 ‘‘(iv) supporting children and youth in 

23 foster care; 

24 ‘‘(v) cultural competency; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) meeting all appropriate privacy 

2 and confidentiality requirements for stu3 dents, including students in foster care; 

4 ‘‘(vii) working in coordination with a 

5 public school system; 

6 ‘‘(viii) positive youth development and 

7 engagement practices; and 

8 ‘‘(ix) disability inclusion practices to 

9 ensure access and participation by students 

10 with disabilities; 

11 ‘‘(B) recruit, screen, match, compensate, 

12 and train success coaches, and pay for costs re13 lated to success coach and mentee participation 

14 in the program; 

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

16 objectives of the school-based mentoring pro17 gram; 

18 ‘‘(D) provide inclusive and accessible youth 

19 engagement activities, such as— 

20 ‘‘(i) enrichment field trips to cultural 

21 destinations; 

22 ‘‘(ii) career awareness activities, in23 cluding job site visits, informational inter24 views, re ́sume ́ writing, interview prepara25 tion, and networking; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) academic or postsecondary edu2 cation preparation activities, including 

3 trade or vocational school visits, visits to 

4 institutions of higher education, and assist5 ance in applying to institutions of higher 

6 education; 

7 ‘‘(E) provide activities or programming 

8 with the purpose of engaging and connecting 

9 the student to the school community; and 

10 ‘‘(F) conduct program evaluation, includ11 ing by acquiring and analyzing the data de12 scribed under subsection (e). 

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

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

15 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

17 receiving a grant under this section shall submit to 

18 the Secretary, at the end of each academic year dur19 ing the grant period, a report that includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) the number of students who partici21 pated in the school-based mentoring program 

22 that was funded in whole or in part with the 

23 grant funds under this section; 

24 ‘‘(B) demographic data on such students; 


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1 ‘‘(C) data on the academic achievement, 

2 dropout rates, truancy, absenteeism, outcomes 

3 of arrests for violent crime, summer employ4 ment, and postsecondary education enrollment 

5 of such students; 

6 ‘‘(D) the number of contact hours between 

7 such students and their success coaches; 

8 ‘‘(E) the number of students with disabil9 ities connected to transition services; 

10 ‘‘(F) data on social-emotional development 

11 of students as assessed with a validated social12 emotional assessment tool; and 

13 ‘‘(G) 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 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H653.IH H653

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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) MENTORING RESOURCES AND COMMUNITY

7 SERVICE COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall work with 

8 the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

9 to— 

10 ‘‘(1) refer grantees under this section to the 

11 National Mentoring Resource Center to obtain re12 sources on best practices and research related to 

13 mentoring and to request no-cost training and tech14 nical assistance; and 

15 ‘‘(2) provide grantees under this section with 

16 information regarding transitional services for eligi17 ble students returning from correctional facilities 

18 and transition services for students with disabilities. 

19 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en21 tity’ means— 

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

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

24 funds under part A of this title; or 


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

2 agency; or 

3 ‘‘(B) a partnership between a local edu4 cational agency described in subparagraph (A) 

5 and a nonprofit, community-based organization. 

6 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 

7 student’ means a student who— 

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

9 by an eligible entity; and 

10 ‘‘(B) is an at-risk student. 

11 ‘‘(3) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN12 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 

13 means a local educational agency that serves at least 

14 one high-need school. 

15 ‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘high16 need school’ has the meaning given the term in sec17 tion 2211(b)(2). 

18 ‘‘(5) MIDDLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘middle 

19 school’ means a nonprofit institutional day or resi20 dential school, including a public charter school, that 

21 provides middle school education, as determined 

22 under State law, except that the term does not in23 clude any education below grade 6 or beyond grade 

24 9. 


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1 ‘‘(6) SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING.—The term 

2 ‘school-based mentoring’ means mentoring activities 

3 that— 

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

5 by involving teachers, counselors, and other 

6 school staff who may identify and refer stu7 dents for mentoring services; and 

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

9 academic achievement and attitudes toward 

10 school and reducing disciplinary referrals. 

11 ‘‘(7) SUCCESS COACH.—The term ‘success 

12 coach’ means an individual who— 

13 ‘‘(A) is— 

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

15 local educational agency in which a men16 toring program receiving support under 

17 this section is being carried out; or 

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

19 nonprofit, community-based organization 

20 that provides volunteers for mentoring pro21 grams in secondary schools; and 

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

23 ‘‘(i) received training from an eligible 

24 entity, which, at a minimum, was 2 hours 


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1 in length and covered the roles and respon2 sibilities of a success coach; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) underwent a screening by an eli4 gible entity that included— 

5 ‘‘(I) appropriate job reference 

6 checks; 

7 ‘‘(II) child and domestic abuse 

8 record checks; and 

9 ‘‘(III) criminal background 

10 checks.’’. 

11 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

12 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

13 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

14 after the item relating to section 1432 the following: 

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

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

Æ 


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