II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3559 

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 

JUNE 30, 2010 

Mr. DODD 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 2009’’. 

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— 

10 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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

2 ‘‘achievement of such children’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘outcomes of such children by improving their 

4 school connectedness, decreasing absenteeism, 

5 and increasing academic performance’’; 

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

7 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

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

9 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

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

13 lacks strong positive role models’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘who lacks strong positive role models, who is a fos15 ter youth, or who has 1 or both parents incarcer16 ated’’; 

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 or among 1 or more 

21 local educational agencies, nonprofit community22 based organizations, and other partners, such as cor23 porations, universities, or foster care group homes’’; 

24 and 


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

2 successful’’ after ‘‘responsible’’. 

3 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 4130(b) of the Ele4 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 7140(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

7 of paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘this subpart under 

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

9 subsection (d)’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘(particu11 larly’’ and all that follows through ‘‘failure)’’ and in12 serting ‘‘, particularly children living in rural, subur13 ban, or urban areas facing high rates of crime, gang 

14 involvement, drug use, school dropouts, or youth sui15 cides,’’; 

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

17 and (viii) and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(vi) Encourage setting goals and 

19 planning for the future, including encour20 agement of graduation from secondary 

21 school, planning for postsecondary edu22 cation or training, and participating in in23 ternships. 

24 ‘‘(vii) Discourage involvement in 

25 gangs.’’; 


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1 (4) in paragraph (4)— 

2 (A) by striking subparagraph (D) and in3 serting the following: 

4 ‘‘(D) an assurance that each mentor will 

5 be assigned to not more than 3 children, and 

6 that when assigned to more than 1 child (which 

7 is preferable where practicable), the assignment 

8 shall not undermine the mentor’s ability to be 

9 an effective mentor or to establish a close rela10 tionship with each mentored child;’’; 

11 (B) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

12 after the semicolon; 

13 (C) in subparagraph (J)(iv), by striking 

14 the period and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

16 ‘‘(K) information regarding the staffing 

17 plan and levels the eligible entity will use to 

18 monitor the mentor and mentee match over the 

19 duration of the match; and 

20 ‘‘(L) information regarding how the eligi21 ble entity will meet the matching funds require22 ment described in paragraph (7).’’; 

23 (5) in paragraph (5)— 

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

25 clause (i) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) serves children with greatest need 

2 who live in rural areas, high-crime areas, 

3 troubled home environments, or commu4 nities with a high rate of youth suicide, 

5 who attended a school with violence prob6 lems, or who are foster children;’’; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

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

9 and rural’’ and inserting ‘‘urban, subur10 ban, and rural’’; 

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

12 ‘‘children,’’ after ‘‘organizations,’’; and 

13 (iii) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘and 

14 sustain the mentoring program for the du15 ration of the grant and beyond’’ after 

16 ‘‘mentoring program’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end following: 

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

19 grants under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

20 shall consider eligible entities who have received 

21 funding in a prior grant cycle for a new grant 

22 only if each of the following criteria is met: 

23 ‘‘(i) Performance during the initial 

24 grant was satisfactory in terms of program 

25 design and numbers of children served. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The subsequent grant will exclu2 sively support expanded service to a new 

3 geographic area or target population. 

4 ‘‘(iii) The eligible entity demonstrates 

5 that the eligible entity is able to provide 

6 the matching funds required under para7 graph (7)(B) for all years of the new 

8 grant. 

9 ‘‘(F) POLICY ON ONE ENTITY RECEIVING

10 TWO GRANTS AT SAME TIME.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro12 vided in clause (ii), in awarding grants 

13 under subparagraph (A) the Secretary may 

14 have in effect a policy under which an eli15 gible entity is prohibited from receiving 2 

16 grants under this subsection at the same 

17 time. 

18 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—The policy de19 scribed in clause (i) shall not prohibit an 

20 eligible entity from receiving 2 grants 

21 under this subsection at the same time 

22 when the periods of the 2 grants overlap 

23 by 3 months or less.’’; and 

24 (6) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(7) MATCHING FUNDS.—Each eligible entity 

2 receiving a grant under this subsection shall provide, 

3 toward the cost of the activities assisted under the 

4 grant, matching funds in an amount that— 

5 ‘‘(A) in the case of the first multiyear 

6 grant awarded to the eligible entity under this 

7 subsection— 

8 ‘‘(i) in the first year of the grant, is 

9 not less than 10 percent of the grant 

10 amount awarded for that year; 

11 ‘‘(ii) in the second year of the grant, 

12 is not less than 25 percent of the grant 

13 amount awarded for that year; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) in the third year of the grant, is 

15 not less than 50 percent of the grant 

16 amount awarded for that year; and 

17 ‘‘(B) in the case of the eligible entity re18 ceiving subsequent grant funding under para19 graph (5)(E) for a year, is not less than 50 per20 cent of the grant amount awarded for that 

21 year.’’. 

22 (c) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4130 of the Elemen24 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 


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

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(c) ENSURING QUALITY GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) SUPPORT FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In 

5 order to ensure the strongest possible outcomes for 

6 children mentored through this section, the Sec7 retary shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) provide training and technical assist9 ance to eligible entities that receive a grant 

10 under subsection (b), beginning in the first year 

11 of the grant and continuing throughout the du12 ration of the grant; 

13 ‘‘(B) track the mentoring practices and 

14 outcomes of all eligible entities that receive a 

15 grant under subsection (b) throughout the du16 ration of the grant utilizing a robust online 

17 tracking and evaluation system; and 

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

19 detailing the number of children served by eligi20 ble entities that receive a grant under sub21 section (b) and the outcomes achieved for those 

22 children. 

23 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH ON SCHOOL-BASED MEN24 TORING.—In order to ensure that eligible entities 

25 that receive a grant under subsection (b) have access 


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1 to the most current research-based knowledge about 

2 building and carrying out strong and effective men3 toring programs, the Secretary shall carry out the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(A) Consult with leading mentoring orga6 nizations and researchers, including the Federal 

7 Mentoring Council and the National Mentoring 

8 Working Group, to determine priorities for re9 search on school-based mentoring and appro10 priate research design, with consideration for— 

11 ‘‘(i) determining the ideal school envi12 ronments in which school-based mentoring 

13 succeeds; 

14 ‘‘(ii) identifying techniques for match15 ing children with specific characteristics 

16 (such as age, academic situation, risk fac17 tors) with the most appropriate mentoring 

18 models; 

19 ‘‘(iii) determining the ideal infrastruc20 ture needed to foster the expansion of 

21 school-based mentoring in a sustainable 

22 way; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) refining best practices, match 

24 activities, and a range of mentoring models 


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1 to lead to the best possible outcomes for 

2 children. 

3 ‘‘(B) Award grants or contracts to high4 quality research entities to perform research on 

5 the priorities identified in subparagraph (A), 

6 which research shall meet the following criteria: 

7 ‘‘(i) The proposed research design 

8 shall meet accepted standards within the 

9 academic community. 

10 ‘‘(ii) All research results and findings 

11 shall be widely disseminated to eligible en12 tities that receive a grant under subsection 

13 (b) and to the larger mentoring commu14 nity. 

15 ‘‘(C) Award grants or contracts under sub16 paragraph (B) only if amount the appropriated 

17 under subsection (d)(1) for each fiscal year for 

18 which such grant or contract is awarded ex19 ceeds $50,000,000. 

20 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; RES21 ERVATIONS OF CERTAIN AMOUNTS.— 

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

23 be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 and such sums as 

25 may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RESERVATIONS.—Each fiscal year the Sec2 retary shall reserve— 

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

4 amount appropriated for that fiscal year under 

5 paragraph (1) for expenditure on support for el6 igible entities as authorized by subsection 

7 (c)(1); and 

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

9 amount appropriated for that fiscal year under 

10 paragraph (1) for expenditure on research as 

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

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

13 4130(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7140(b)) is further 

15 amended— 

16 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i) of 

17 paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘this section’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘this sec20 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; 

21 (C) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

22 (A) of paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘this section’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; 


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1 (D) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (5), 

2 by inserting ‘‘under this subsection’’ after 

3 ‘‘grants’’; and 

4 (E) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6), 

5 by striking ‘‘this section’’ each place the term 

6 appears and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’. 

7 (d) REVISIONS TO OTHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 

8 (1) TRANSITION SERVICES.—Section 

9 1418(a)(2)(C) of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

11 amended— 

12 (A) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

13 the semicolon; 

14 (B) in clause (v), by striking the period 

15 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

18 (2) NATIONAL SAFE AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS

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

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

21 7131(a)(2)) is amended— 

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

23 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

24 (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 

25 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 


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

2 ‘‘(E) school and community-based men3 toring programs;’’. 

4 (3) INCLUSION OF MENTORING FOR MINORITY

5 PROGRAMS.— 

6 (A) IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL OP7 PORTUNITIES FOR INDIAN CHILDREN.—Section 

8 7121(c)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary 

9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7441(c)(1)) 

10 is amended— 

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

12 ‘‘, including mentoring programs and 

13 projects,’’ after ‘‘programs and projects’’; 

14 and 

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

16 ‘‘, including mentoring programs,’’ after 

17 ‘‘programs’’. 

18 (B) NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION.—Sec19 tion 7205(a)(3) of the Elementary and Sec20 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

21 7515(a)(3)) is amended— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (H)(ii), by insert23 ing ‘‘, including afterschool mentoring pro24 grams’’ after ‘‘programs’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (I)(iii), by insert2 ing ‘‘, mentoring,’’ after ‘‘counseling’’. 

3 (C) ALASKA NATIVE EDUCATION.—Section 

4 7304(a)(2)(P) of the Elementary and Sec5 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6 7544(a)(2)(P)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 

7 mentoring programs’’ after ‘‘Success program’’. 

Æ 


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