III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2ND SESSION S. RES. 529 

Recognizing January 2024 as ‘‘National Mentoring Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 18, 2024 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

KAINE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. REED, Mr. LANKFORD, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. CARPER, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. KING, Ms. 

SMITH, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Ms. BUTLER, Mr. COONS, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. 

BALDWIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. WYDEN, 

Mr. BRAUN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. MULLIN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing January 2024 as ‘‘National Mentoring Month’’. 

Whereas the goals of National Mentoring Month are to raise 

awareness of and celebrate the powerful impact of mentoring relationships, recruit new mentors, and encourage 

institutions to integrate quality mentoring into their policies, practices, and programs; 

Whereas quality mentoring fosters positive life and social 

skills, promotes self-esteem, bolsters academic achievement and college access, supports career exploration, and 

nurtures youth leadership development; 


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Whereas mentoring happens in many settings, including community-based programs, elementary and secondary 

schools, colleges, government agencies, religious institutions, and the workplace, and in various ways, including 

formal mentoring matches and informal relationships 

with teachers, coaches, neighbors, faith leaders, and others; 

Whereas effective mentoring of underserved and vulnerable 

populations helps individuals confront challenges and display improved mental health and social-emotional wellbeing; 

Whereas studies have shown that incorporating culture and 

heritage into mentoring programs can improve academic 

outcomes and increase community engagement, especially 

for Alaska Native and American Indian youth; 

Whereas mentoring encourages positive youth development 

and smart daily behaviors, such as finishing homework 

and having healthy social interactions, and has a positive 

impact on the growth and success of a young person; 

Whereas mentors help young people set career goals and can 

help connect mentees to industry professionals to train 

for and find jobs; 

Whereas mentoring programs generally have a significant, 

positive impact on youth academic achievement, school 

connectedness and engagement, and educational success, 

which lead to outcomes such as improved attendance, 

grades and test scores, and classroom behavior; 

Whereas research has found that young people facing risk of 

not completing high school but who had a mentor were, 

compared with their peers, more likely to enroll in college, to participate regularly in sports or extracurricular 


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activities, to hold a leadership position in a club or sports 

team, and to volunteer regularly, and less likely to start 

using drugs; 

Whereas mentoring has long been a staple of juvenile justice 

and violence prevention efforts and can offer comprehensive support to youth at risk for committing violence or 

victimization, as mentoring can address many risk factors 

at once; 

Whereas mentoring relationships for youth facing risk, such 

as foster youth, can have a positive impact on a wide 

range of factors, including mental health, educational 

functioning and attainment, peer relationships, employment, and housing stability; 

Whereas mentoring programs have been found to have a 

meaningful positive impact on mental health symptoms 

across a variety of outcomes, including internalizing and 

externalizing mental health symptoms, interpersonal relationships, and reducing parental stress; 

Whereas mentoring is an innovative, evidence-based practice 

and, uniquely, is both a prevention and intervention 

strategy that can support young people of all demographics and backgrounds in all aspects of their lives; 

Whereas each of the benefits of mentors described in this preamble serves to link youth to economic and social opportunity while also strengthening communities in the 

United States; 

Whereas, despite the benefits of mentoring, 1 out of every 3 

young persons is growing up without a mentor, which 

means a third of the youth of the United States are 

growing up without someone outside of the home to offer 

real life guidance and support; and 


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Whereas this ‘‘mentoring gap’’ demonstrates the need for collaboration between the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to increase resources for relationship-centric supports for youth in communities, schools, and workplaces: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes January 2024 as ‘‘National Men3 toring Month’’; 

4 (2) recognizes the caring adults who serve as 

5 staff and volunteers at quality mentoring programs 

6 and help the young people of the United States find 

7 inner strength and reach their full potential; 

8 (3) acknowledges that mentoring is beneficial 

9 because it supports educational achievement, engage10 ment, and self-confidence, supports young people in 

11 setting career goals and expanding social capital, re12 duces juvenile delinquency, and strengthens commu13 nities; 

14 (4) promotes the establishment and expansion 

15 of quality mentoring programs across the United 

16 States to equip young people with the tools needed 

17 to lead healthy and productive lives; and 

18 (5) supports initiatives to close the ‘‘mentoring 

19 gap’’ that exists for the many young people in the 


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1 United States who do not have meaningful connec2 tions with adults outside the home. 

Æ 


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