I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3061 

To support the establishment or expansion and operation of programs using 

a network of public and private community entities to provide mentoring 

for children in foster care. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 3, 2019 

Ms. BASS (for herself, Mr. BACON, Mr. LANGEVIN, and Mr. SCHWEIKERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 

and Means 

A BILL 

To support the establishment or expansion and operation 

of programs using a network of public and private community entities to provide mentoring for children in foster care. 

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 ‘‘Foster Youth Men5 toring Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Research shows that mentors make a dif2 ference in young people’s lives. At-risk youth who 

3 have mentors are 55 percent more likely to enroll in 

4 college. Students who meet regularly with their men5 tors are 52 percent less likely than their peers to 

6 skip a day of school. Youth who have mentors are 

7 also 130 percent more likely to hold a leadership po8 sition. 

9 (2) Young people that have mentors have im10 proved relationships with adults, fewer disciplinary 

11 referrals, and more confidence to achieve their goals. 

12 (3) In 2017, 442,995 youth were in foster care. 

13 Of those youth 70,858 were between the ages of 10 

14 and 13, and 101,983 were between the ages of 14 

15 and 20. 

16 (4) Mentoring programs that serve foster youth 

17 are unique and require additional considerations, in18 cluding specialized training and support necessary to 

19 provide for consistent, long-term relationships for 

20 children in foster care. 

21 (5) Mentoring programs can be used as an ef22 fective preventative or intervention strategy to sup23 port positive outcomes for foster youth. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROGRAMS FOR MENTORING CHILDREN IN FOSTER 

2 CARE. 

3 Subpart 2 of part B of title IV of the Social Security 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 629 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 439A. PROGRAMS FOR MENTORING CHILDREN IN 

7 FOSTER CARE. 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

9 authorize the Secretary to make grants to eligible appli10 cants to support the establishment or expansion and oper11 ation of programs using a network of public and private 

12 community entities to provide mentoring for children in 

13 foster care. 

14 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.—The term 

16 ‘children in foster care’ means children who have 

17 been removed from the custody of their biological or 

18 adoptive parents by a State child welfare agency. 

19 ‘‘(2) MENTORING.—The term ‘mentoring’ 

20 means a structured, managed program— 

21 ‘‘(A) in which children are appropriately 

22 matched with screened and trained adult volun23 teers for consistent relationships; 

24 ‘‘(B) that can include direct one-on-one, 

25 group, peer, or a combination of these types of 

26 mentoring services; 


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1 ‘‘(C) that involves meetings and activities 

2 on a regular basis; and 

3 ‘‘(D) that is intended to meet, in part, the 

4 child’s need for involvement with a caring and 

5 supportive adult who provides a positive role 

6 model. 

7 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en8 tity’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) a nonprofit organization; 

10 ‘‘(B) a State child welfare agency; 

11 ‘‘(C) a local educational agency; 

12 ‘‘(D) an Indian tribe or a tribal organiza13 tion; or 

14 ‘‘(E) a faith-based organization. 

15 ‘‘(c) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

17 out a program to award grants to eligible entities to 

18 support the establishment or expansion and oper19 ation of programs using networks of public and pri20 vate community entities to provide mentoring for 

21 children in foster care. 

22 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To be eli23 gible for a grant under paragraph (1), an eligible en24 tity shall submit to the Secretary an application con25 taining the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM DESIGN.—A description of 

2 the proposed program to be carried out using 

3 amounts provided under this grant, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) the number of mentor-child 

5 matches proposed to be established and 

6 maintained annually under the program; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the targeted age range of youth 

8 to be served by the program; 

9 ‘‘(iii) such information as the Sec10 retary may require concerning the methods 

11 to be used to recruit, screen, support, and 

12 oversee individuals participating as men13 tors, and to evaluate outcomes for partici14 pating children, including information nec15 essary to demonstrate compliance with re16 quirements established by the Secretary for 

17 the program; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) such other information as the 

19 Secretary may require. 

20 ‘‘(B) RECRUITMENT.—An assurance that 

21 the program will engage in recruitment strate22 gies for mentors that realistically portray the 

23 benefits, practices, supports, and challenges of 

24 participating in the program. 


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1 ‘‘(C) TRAINING.—An assurance that all 

2 mentors covered under the program will receive 

3 intensive and ongoing training in the following 

4 areas: 

5 ‘‘(i) Child development, including the 

6 importance of bonding. 

7 ‘‘(ii) Family dynamics, including the 

8 effects of domestic violence and trauma. 

9 ‘‘(iii) The foster care system and fos10 ter care principles and practices. 

11 ‘‘(iv) Cultural competence practices 

12 and relationship building strategies. 

13 ‘‘(v) Positive youth development prac14 tices. 

15 ‘‘(vi) Recognizing and reporting child 

16 abuse and neglect. 

17 ‘‘(vii) Confidentiality requirements for 

18 working with children in foster care. 

19 ‘‘(viii) Working in coordination with 

20 the child welfare system. 

21 ‘‘(ix) Other matters related to work22 ing with children in foster care. 

23 ‘‘(D) SCREENING.—An assurance that all 

24 mentors covered under the program are appro25 priately screened and have demonstrated a willVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3061.IH H3061

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1 ingness to comply with all aspects of the mentor 

2 program, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) a description of the methods to be 

4 used to conduct criminal background 

5 checks on all prospective mentors; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) a description of the methods to 

7 be used to ensure that the mentors are 

8 willing and able to serve as a mentor on a 

9 long-term, consistent basis. 

10 ‘‘(E) COMMUNITY CONSULTATION; COORDI11 NATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.—A dem12 onstration that, in developing and implementing 

13 the program, the eligible entity will, to the ex14 tent feasible and appropriate— 

15 ‘‘(i) consult with— 

16 ‘‘(I) public and private commu17 nity entities, including religious orga18 nizations and Indian tribal organiza19 tions and urban Indian organizations; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) family members of children 

22 who may be potential clients of the 

23 program; 

24 ‘‘(ii) coordinate the mentoring pro25 gram and the eligible entity’s activities 


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1 with other Federal, State, and local pro2 grams serving children and youth; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) consult and coordinate with ap4 propriate Federal, State, and local correc5 tions, workforce development, and sub6 stance abuse and mental health agencies. 

7 ‘‘(F) EQUAL ACCESS FOR LOCAL SERVICE

8 PROVIDERS.—An assurance that public and pri9 vate entities and nonprofit community organiza10 tions, including religious organizations and In11 dian organizations, will be eligible to participate 

12 on an equal basis. 

13 ‘‘(G) RECORDS, REPORTS, AND AUDITS.— 

14 An agreement that the eligible entity will main15 tain such records, make such reports, and co16 operate with such reviews or audits as the Sec17 retary may find necessary for purposes of over18 sight of project activities and expenditures. 

19 ‘‘(H) EVALUATION.—An agreement that 

20 the eligible entity will cooperate fully with the 

21 Secretary’s ongoing and final evaluation of the 

22 program under the plan, by means including 

23 providing the Secretary access to the program, 

24 the program’s staff, program-related records 


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1 and documents, and each public or private com2 munity entity receiving funding under the plan. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS IN AWARDING

4 GRANTS.—In awarding grants under this subsection, 

5 the Secretary shall take into consideration— 

6 ‘‘(A) the feasibility and strength of a plan 

7 to recruit and support transition-aged foster 

8 youth; 

9 ‘‘(B) the overall qualifications and capacity 

10 of the eligible entity and its partners to effec11 tively carry out a mentoring program under this 

12 subsection; 

13 ‘‘(C) the level and quality of training pro14 vided to mentors under the program; 

15 ‘‘(D) evidence of coordination of the pro16 gram with the social services and education pro17 grams of the State or political subdivision; 

18 ‘‘(E) the ability of the eligible entity to 

19 provide supervision and support for mentors 

20 under the program and the youth served by 

21 such mentors; 

22 ‘‘(F) the number of children in foster care 

23 served by the State or political subdivision; and 

24 ‘‘(G) any other factors that the Secretary 

25 determines to be significant with respect to the 


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1 need for, or the potential success of, carrying 

2 out a mentoring program under this section. 

3 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that 

4 receives a grant under this subsection may use such 

5 funds to— 

6 ‘‘(A) develop and carry out a training pro7 gram and ongoing support for mentors; 

8 ‘‘(B) recruit mentors for children in foster 

9 care; and 

10 ‘‘(C) provide activities that will help the 

11 development of a child in foster care who is 

12 participating in the program. 

13 ‘‘(5) GRANT AMOUNT.—In awarding grants 

14 under this subsection, the Secretary shall scale 

15 grants to account for the eligible entity’s annual 

16 budget and capacity. 

17 ‘‘(6) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

18 after the date of enactment of this section, and an19 nually thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and 

20 submit to Congress a report that includes the fol21 lowing with respect to the year involved: 

22 ‘‘(A) A description of the number of pro23 grams receiving grant awards under this sub24 section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) A description of the number of men2 tors who serve in the programs described in 

3 subparagraph (A). 

4 ‘‘(C) A description of— 

5 ‘‘(i) the number of children in foster 

6 care who participated in mentoring pro7 grams funded by the grant funds under 

8 this subsection; 

9 ‘‘(ii) data on the academic achieve10 ment of the children in mentoring pro11 grams funded by the grant funds under 

12 this subsection; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the number of children in foster 

14 care on waiting lists for such mentoring 

15 programs. 

16 ‘‘(D) Any other information that the Sec17 retary determines to be relevant to the evalua18 tion of the program under this section. 

19 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

21 this section— 

22 ‘‘(A) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

23 2019 and 2020; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) such sums as may be necessary for 

2 each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

Æ 


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