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[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1501 Introduced in House (IH)]

107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1501

    To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to 
 authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support local 
    mentoring programs for children in need, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 4, 2001

  Mr. Osborne (for himself, Mr. Keller, and Mr. Ford) 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 
 authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support local 
    mentoring programs for children in need, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mentoring for Success Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS TO SUPPORT MENTORING PROGRAMS.

    Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 8001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

                      ``PART M--MENTORING PROGRAMS

``SEC. 10999P. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this part, the following definitions apply:
            ``(1) Child with greatest need.--The term `child with 
        greatest need' means a child at risk of educational failure, 
        dropping out of school, or involvement in criminal or 
        delinquent activities, or that has lack of strong positive 
        adult role models.
            ``(2) Mentor.--The term `mentor' means an individual who 
        works with a child to provide a positive role model for the 
        child, to establish a supportive relationship with the child, 
        and to provide the child with academic assistance and exposure 
        to new experiences and examples of opportunity that enhance the 
        ability of the child to become a responsible adult.
            ``(3) State.--The term `State' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

``SEC. 10999Q. PURPOSES.

    ``The purposes of this part are to make assistance available to 
promote mentoring programs for children with greatest need--
            ``(1) to assist such children in receiving support and 
        guidance from a caring adult;
            ``(2) to improve the academic performance of such children;
            ``(3) to improve interpersonal relationships between such 
        children and their peers, teachers, other adults, and family 
        members;
            ``(4) to reduce the dropout rate of such children; and
            ``(5) to reduce juvenile delinquency and involvement in 
        gangs by such children.

``SEC. 10999R. GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--In accordance with this section, the Secretary 
may make grants to eligible entities to assist such entities in 
establishing and supporting mentoring programs and activities that--
            ``(1) are designed to link children with greatest need 
        (particularly such children living in rural areas, high crime 
        areas, or troubled home environments, or such children 
        experiencing educational failure) with responsible adults, 
        who--
                    ``(A) have received training and support in 
                mentoring;
                    ``(B) have been screened using appropriate 
                reference checks, child and domestic abuse record 
                checks, and criminal background checks; and
                    ``(C) are interested in working with youth; and
            ``(2) are intended to achieve 1 or more of the following 
        goals:
                    ``(A) Provide general guidance to children with 
                greatest need.
                    ``(B) Promote personal and social responsibility 
                among children with greatest need.
                    ``(C) Increase participation by children with 
                greatest need in, and enhance their ability to benefit 
                from, elementary and secondary education.
                    ``(D) Discourage illegal use of drugs and alcohol, 
                violence, use of dangerous weapons, promiscuous 
                behavior, and other criminal, harmful, or potentially 
                harmful activity by children with greatest need.
                    ``(E) Encourage children with greatest need to 
                participate in community service and community 
                activities.
                    ``(F) Encourage children with greatest need to set 
                goals for themselves or to plan for their futures, 
                including encouraging such children to make graduation 
                from secondary school a goal and to make plans for 
                postsecondary education or training.
                    ``(G) Discourage involvement of children with 
                greatest need in gangs.
    ``(b) Eligible Entities.--Each of the following is an entity 
eligible to receive a grant under subsection (a):
            ``(1) A local educational agency.
            ``(2) A nonprofit, community-based organization.
            ``(3) A partnership between an agency referred to in 
        paragraph (1) and an organization referred to in paragraph (2).
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each entity receiving a grant under this 
        section shall use the grant funds for activities that establish 
        or implement a mentoring program, including--
                    ``(A) hiring of mentoring coordinators and support 
                staff;
                    ``(B) providing for the professional development of 
                mentoring coordinators and support staff;
                    ``(C) recruitment, screening, and training of adult 
                mentors;
                    ``(D) reimbursement of schools, if appropriate, for 
                the use of school materials or supplies in carrying out 
                the program;
                    ``(E) dissemination of outreach materials;
                    ``(F) evaluation of the program using 
                scientifically based methods; and
                    ``(G) such other activities as the Secretary may 
                reasonably prescribe by rule.
            ``(2) Prohibited uses.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an 
        entity receiving a grant under this section may not use the 
        grant funds--
                    ``(A) to directly compensate mentors;
                    ``(B) to obtain educational or other materials or 
                equipment that would otherwise be used in the ordinary 
                course of the entity's operations;
                    ``(C) to support litigation of any kind; or
                    ``(D) for any other purpose reasonably prohibited 
                by the Secretary by rule.
    ``(d) Term of Grant.--Each grant made under this section shall be 
available for expenditure for a period of 3 years.
    ``(e) Application.--Each eligible entity seeking a grant under this 
section shall submit to the Secretary an application that includes--
            ``(1) a description of the mentoring plan the applicant 
        proposes to carry out with such grant;
            ``(2) information on the children expected to be served by 
        the mentoring program for which such grant is sought;
            ``(3) a description of the mechanism that applicant will 
        use to match children with mentors based on the needs of the 
        children;
            ``(4) an assurance that no mentor will be assigned to 
        mentor so many children that the assignment would undermine 
        either the mentor's ability to be an effective mentor or the 
        mentor's ability to establish a close relationship (a one-on-
        one relationship, where practicable) with each mentored child;
            ``(5) an assurance that mentoring programs will provide 
        children with a variety of experiences and support, including--
                    ``(A) emotional support;
                    ``(B) academic assistance; and
                    ``(C) exposure to experiences that children might 
                not otherwise encounter on their own;
            ``(6) an assurance that mentoring programs will be 
        monitored to ensure that each child assigned a mentor benefits 
        from that assignment and that there will be a provision for the 
        assignment of a new mentor if the relationship between the 
        original mentor is not beneficial to the child;
            ``(7) information on the method by which mentors and 
        children will be recruited to the mentor program;
            ``(8) information on the method by which prospective 
        mentors will be screened;
            ``(9) information on the training that will be provided to 
        mentors; and
            ``(10) information on the system that the applicant will 
        use to manage and monitor information relating to the program's 
        reference checks, child and domestic abuse record checks, and 
        criminal background checks and to its procedure for matching 
        children with mentors.
    ``(f) Selection.--
            ``(1) Competitive basis.--In accordance with this 
        subsection, the Secretary shall select grant recipients from 
        among qualified applicants on a competitive basis.
            ``(2) Priority.--In selecting grant recipients under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to each 
        applicant that--
                    ``(A) serves children with greatest need living in 
                rural areas, high crime areas, or troubled home 
                environments, or who attend schools with violence 
                problems;
                    ``(B) provides background screening of mentors, 
                training of mentors, and technical assistance in 
                carrying out mentoring programs;
                    ``(C) proposes a mentoring program under which each 
                mentor will be assigned to not more children than the 
                mentor can serve effectively; or
                    ``(D) proposes a school-based mentoring program.
            ``(3) Other considerations.--In selecting grant recipients 
        under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall also consider--
                    ``(A) the degree to which the location of the 
                programs proposed by each applicant contributes to a 
                fair distribution of programs with respect to urban and 
                rural locations;
                    ``(B) the quality of the mentoring programs 
                proposed by each applicant, including--
                            ``(i) the resources, if any, the applicant 
                        will dedicate to providing children with 
                        opportunities for job training or postsecondary 
                        education;
                            ``(ii) the degree to which parents, 
                        teachers, community-based organizations, and 
                        the local community have participated, or will 
                        participate, in the design and implementation 
                        of the applicant's mentoring program;
                            ``(iii) the degree to which the applicant 
                        can ensure that mentors will develop 
                        longstanding relationships with the children 
                        they mentor;
                            ``(iv) the degree to which the applicant 
                        will serve children with greatest need in the 
                        4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades; and
                            ``(v) the degree to which the program will 
                        continue to serve children from the 4th grade 
                        through graduation from secondary school; and
                    ``(C) the capability of each applicant to 
                effectively implement its mentoring program.
            ``(4) Grant to each state.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this subsection, in selecting grant recipients 
        under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall select not less than 1 
        grant recipient from each State for which there is a qualified 
        applicant.
    ``(g) Model Screening Guidelines.--
            ``(1) In general.--Based on model screening guidelines 
        developed by the Office of Juvenile Programs of the Department 
        of Justice, the Secretary shall develop and distribute to 
        program participants specific model guidelines for the 
        screening of mentors who seek to participate in programs to be 
        assisted under this part.
            ``(2) Background checks.--The guidelines developed under 
        this subsection shall include, at a minimum, a requirement that 
        potential mentors be subject to reference checks, child and 
        domestic abuse record checks, and criminal background checks.

``SEC. 10999S. STUDY BY GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.

    ``(a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct a study to identify successful school-based mentoring 
programs, and the elements, policies, or procedures of such programs 
that can be replicated.
    ``(b) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of the Mentoring for Success Act, the Comptroller General shall submit 
a report to the Secretary and Congress containing the results of the 
study conducted under this section.
    ``(c) Use of Information.--The Secretary shall use information 
contained in the report referred to in subsection (b)--
            ``(1) to improve the quality of existing mentoring programs 
        assisted under this part and other mentoring programs assisted 
        under this Act; and
            ``(2) to develop models for new programs to be assisted or 
        carried out under this Act.

``SEC. 10999T. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out section 
10999R $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2004.''.
                                 <all>
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