I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6481 

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 25, 2022 

Mr. CARSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

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) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

3 1002(d) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

4 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6553) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(d) PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

6 FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE NEGLECTED, DE7 LINQUENT, OR AT-RISK.—There are authorized to be ap8 propriated to carry out the activities described in part D, 

9 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2023 and such sums as may 

10 be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

11 (b) TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO12 GRAM.—Part D of title I of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6421 

13 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

15 Program 

16 ‘‘SEC. 1441. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO17 GRAM. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

19 to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants 

20 to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school21 based mentoring programs to assist eligible students with 

22 the transition from middle school to high school. 

23 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this 

24 section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 

25 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con26 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 

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

3 entity that receives a grant under this section shall 

4 use the grant funds to establish a mentoring pro5 gram, or to expand or provide technical support to 

6 an existing mentoring program, in all middle schools 

7 served by the entity, under which each eligible stu8 dent is assigned to a 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 monthly, 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 a training pro15 gram for success coaches; 

16 ‘‘(B) pay for costs related to success coach 

17 and mentee participation in the program; 

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

19 program objectives; 

20 ‘‘(D) recruit, screen, and match new suc21 cess coaches; and 

22 ‘‘(E) provide activities or programming 

23 with the purpose of engaging and connecting 

24 the student to the school community. 


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

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

3 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

5 receiving a grant under this section shall submit to 

6 the Secretary, at the end of each academic year dur7 ing the grant period, a report that includes— 

8 ‘‘(A) the number of students who partici9 pated in the school-based mentoring program 

10 that was funded in whole or in part with the 

11 grant funds under this section; 

12 ‘‘(B) data on the academic achievement of 

13 such students; 

14 ‘‘(C) the number of contact hours between 

15 such students and their success coaches; and 

16 ‘‘(D) any other information that the Sec17 retary may require to evaluate the success of 

18 the school-based mentoring program. 

19 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.— 

20 ‘‘(A) INTERIM REPORT.—At the end of the 

21 third fiscal year for which funds are made 

22 available to carry out this section, the Secretary 

23 shall submit to Congress an interim report on 

24 the success of the school-based mentoring proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Jan 26, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6481.IH H6481

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1 grams funded under this section that includes 

2 the information received under paragraph (1). 

3 ‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—At the end of the 

4 fifth fiscal year for which funds are made avail5 able to carry out this section, the Secretary 

6 shall submit to Congress a final report on the 

7 success of the school-based mentoring programs 

8 funded under this section that includes the in9 formation received under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) AT-RISK.—The term ‘at-risk’ has the 

12 meaning given such term in section 1432 of the Ele13 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

14 U.S.C. 6472). 

15 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en16 tity’ means— 

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

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

19 funds under part A of this title; or 

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

21 agency; or 

22 ‘‘(B) a partnership between a local edu23 cational agency described in subparagraph (A) 

24 and a nonprofit, community-based organization. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 

2 student’ means a student who— 

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

4 by an eligible entity; and 

5 ‘‘(B) is an at-risk student. 

6 ‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN7 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 

8 means a local educational agency that serves at least 

9 one high-need school. 

10 ‘‘(5) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘high11 need school’ has the meaning given the term in sec12 tion 2211(b)(2). 

13 ‘‘(6) MIDDLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘middle 

14 school’ means a nonprofit institutional day or resi15 dential school, including a public charter school, that 

16 provides middle school education, as determined 

17 under State law, except that the term does not in18 clude any education below grade 6 or beyond grade 

19 9. 

20 ‘‘(7) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ has the 

21 meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Ele22 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

23 U.S.C. 7801). 


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

2 ‘school-based mentoring’ refers to mentoring activi3 ties 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 ‘‘(9) 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 SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

12 The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary 

13 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 

14 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

15 to section 1432 the following: 

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

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

Æ 


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