II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1812 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to 

strengthen mentoring programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18 (legislative day, JULY 17), 2007 

Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. KERRY, Mr. AKAKA, and Mr. BAYH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to strengthen mentoring programs, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Mentoring America’s 

5 Children Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO MENTORING PROGRAMS. 

7 (a) PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS.—Section 4130(a) of the 

8 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 7140(a)) is amended— 

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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

3 ‘‘achievement of such children’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘outcomes of such children by improving their 

5 school connectedness, decreasing absenteeism, 

6 and increasing academic performance’’; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

8 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (C) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(F) to foster character education.’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘or who 

14 lacks strong positive role models’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘who lacks strong positive role models, is a foster 

16 youth, or has 1 or both parents incarcerated’’; 

17 (3) in paragraph (2)(B)(iii), by striking ‘‘a 

18 partnership between a local educational agency and 

19 a nonprofit, community-based organization’’ and in20 serting ‘‘a consortium between 1 or more local edu21 cational agencies, nonprofit community-based orga22 nizations, and other partners, such as corporations, 

23 universities, or foster care group homes’’; and 

24 (4) in paragraph (2)(C)(iii), by inserting ‘‘and 

25 successful’’ after ‘‘responsible’’. 

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1 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 4130(b) of the Ele2 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

3 7140(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 

5 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘this subpart under 

6 section 4003(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘this section under 

7 subsection (d)’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘(particu9 larly’’ and all that follows through ‘‘failure)’’ and in10 serting ‘‘, particularly children living in rural, subur11 ban, or urban areas facing high rates of crime, gang 

12 involvement, drug use, dropouts, or youth suicides,’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking clauses (vi) 

14 and (viii) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(vi) Encourage setting goals and 

16 planning for the future, including encour17 agement of graduation from secondary 

18 school, planning for postsecondary edu19 cation or training, and participating in in20 ternships. 

21 ‘‘(vii) Discourage involvement in 

22 gangs.’’; 

23 (4) in paragraph (4)— 

24 (A) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

25 at the end; 

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1 (B) in subparagraph (J), by striking the 

2 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

3 and 

4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(K) information regarding the staffing 

6 plan and levels the eligible entity will use to 

7 monitor the mentor/mentee match over the du8 ration of the match; and 

9 ‘‘(L) information regarding the eligible en10 tity’s sustainability plan, specifically how the el11 igible entity will meet the required match, 

12 which is— 

13 ‘‘(i) in year 1 of the grant, not less 

14 than 10 percent of the amount awarded for 

15 that year; 

16 ‘‘(ii) in year 2 of the grant, not less 

17 than 25 percent of the amount awarded for 

18 that year; 

19 ‘‘(iii) in year 3 of the grant, not less 

20 than 50 percent of the amount awarded for 

21 that year; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) for an entity receiving subse23 quent funding under paragraph (5)(E), in 

24 all 3 years of the grant the match shall be 

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1 not less than 50 percent of the amount 

2 awarded for that year.’’; 

3 (5) in paragraph (5)— 

4 (A) by striking subparagraph (B)(i) and 

5 inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) serves children with greatest need 

7 living in rural areas, high-crime areas, 

8 troubled home environments, or commu9 nities with a high rate of youth suicide, 

10 who attended school with violence prob11 lems, or who are foster children;’’; 

12 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

13 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘urban 

14 and rural’’ and inserting ‘‘urban, subur15 ban, and rural’’; 

16 (ii) in clause (ii)(II), by inserting 

17 after ‘‘organizations,’’ the following: ‘‘chil18 dren,’’; and 

19 (iii) in clause (iii), by inserting after 

20 ‘‘mentoring program’’ the following: ‘‘and 

21 sustain it for the duration of the grant and 

22 beyond’’; and 

23 (C) by adding at the end following: 

24 ‘‘(E) SUBSEQUENT GRANTS.—In awarding 

25 grants under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

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1 shall consider entities who have received fund2 ing in a prior grant cycle for a new grant only 

3 if each of the following criteria is met: 

4 ‘‘(i) Performance during the initial 

5 grant was satisfactory in terms of program 

6 design and numbers of children served. 

7 ‘‘(ii) The subsequent grant will exclu8 sively support expanded service to a new 

9 geographic area or target population. 

10 ‘‘(iii) The eligible entity demonstrates 

11 that it is able to provide a 50 percent 

12 match to Federal funds for all 3 years of 

13 the new grant. 

14 ‘‘(F) POLICY ON ONE ENTITY HAVING TWO

15 GRANTS AT SAME TIME.—In awarding grants 

16 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may 

17 have in effect a policy under which an entity is 

18 prohibited from having 2 grants at the same 

19 time. However, such a policy shall not prohibit 

20 an entity from having 2 grants at the same 

21 time when the periods of the 2 grants overlap 

22 by 3 months or less.’’. 

23 (c) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.—Section 4130 of the 

24 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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1 U.S.C. 7140) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(c) ENSURING QUALITY GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) SUPPORT FOR GRANTEES.—In order to en5 sure the strongest possible outcomes for children 

6 mentored through this section, the Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) provide training and technical assist8 ance to grant recipients, beginning in year 1 

9 and continuing throughout the span of the 

10 grant; 

11 ‘‘(B) track the mentoring practices and 

12 outcomes of all grant recipients throughout the 

13 3-year span of the grant utilizing a robust on14 line tracking and evaluation system; and 

15 ‘‘(C) submit an annual report to Congress 

16 detailing the number of children served by 

17 grant recipients and the outcomes achieved for 

18 those children. 

19 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH ON SCHOOL-BASED MEN20 TORING.—In order to ensure that grant recipients 

21 have access to the most current research-based 

22 knowledge about building and carrying out strong 

23 and effective mentoring programs, the Secretary 

24 shall do the following: 

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1 ‘‘(A) Consult with leading mentoring orga2 nizations and researchers, including the Federal 

3 Mentoring Council and the National Mentoring 

4 Working Group, to determine priorities for re5 search on school-based mentoring and appro6 priate research design, with consideration for— 

7 ‘‘(i) determining the ideal school envi8 ronments in which school-based mentoring 

9 succeeds; 

10 ‘‘(ii) identifying techniques for match11 ing children with specific characteristics 

12 (such as age, academic situation, risk fac13 tors) with the most appropriate mentoring 

14 models; 

15 ‘‘(iii) determining the ideal infrastruc16 ture needed to foster the expansion of 

17 school-based mentoring in a sustainable 

18 way; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) refining best practices, match 

20 activities, and a range of mentoring models 

21 to lead to the best possible outcomes for 

22 children. 

23 ‘‘(B) Issue grants or contracts to high24 quality research entities to perform research on 

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1 the priorities identified in subparagraph (A), 

2 with the following criteria: 

3 ‘‘(i) The proposed research design 

4 shall meet accepted standards within the 

5 academic community. 

6 ‘‘(ii) All research results and findings 

7 shall be widely disseminated to existing 

8 grantees and to the larger mentoring com9 munity. 

10 ‘‘(C) Issue grants or contracts only if 

11 amount appropriated for each fiscal year under 

12 subsection (d)(1) exceeds $50,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; RES14 ERVATION OF CERTAIN AMOUNTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

16 be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as 

18 may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(2) RESERVATIONS.—Each fiscal year, the 

20 Secretary shall reserve— 

21 ‘‘(A) not more than 5 percent of the 

22 amount appropriated for that fiscal year under 

23 paragraph (1) for expenditure on support for 

24 grantees as authorized by subsection (c)(1); and 

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1 ‘‘(B) not more than 10 percent of the 

2 amount appropriated for that fiscal year under 

3 paragraph (1) for expenditure on research as 

4 authorized by subsection (c)(2).’’. 

5 (d) REVISIONS TO OTHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 

6 (1) INCLUSION OF MENTORING FOR MINORITY

7 PROGRAMS.— 

8 (A) Section 7121(c)(1) of the Elementary 

9 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

10 U.S.C. 7441(c)(1)) is amended— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (E), by inserting 

12 ‘‘, including mentoring,’’ after ‘‘programs 

13 and projects’’; and 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (J), by inserting 

15 ‘‘, including mentoring,’’ after ‘‘programs’’. 

16 (B) Section 7205(a)(3) of the Elementary 

17 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

18 U.S.C. 7515(a)(3)) is amended— 

19 (i) in subparagraph (H)(ii), by insert20 ing ‘‘, including mentoring’’ after ‘‘pro21 grams’’; and 

22 (ii) in subparagraph (I)(iii), by insert23 ing ‘‘, mentoring,’’ after ‘‘counseling’’. 

24 (C) Section 7304(a)(2)(P) of the Elemen25 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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1 U.S.C. 7544(a)(2)(P)) is amended by inserting 

2 ‘‘or mentoring programs’’ after ‘‘program’’. 

3 (2) TRANSITION SERVICES.—Section 

4 1418(a)(2)(C) of the Elementary and Secondary 

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6438(a)(2)(C)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (B) in clause (v), by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(vi) youth mentoring programs.’’. 

13 (3) NATIONAL SAFE AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS

14 PROGRAMS.—Section 4121(a)(2) of the Elementary 

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

16 7131(a)(2)) is amended— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

18 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (D), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

20 at the end; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(E) school and community-based men23 toring programs;’’. 

Æ 

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