IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 787 

Recognizing January 2020 as ‘‘National Mentoring Month’’, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2020 

Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself and Mr. HURD of Texas) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 

and Labor 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing January 2020 as ‘‘National Mentoring Month’’, 

and for other purposes. 

Whereas the goals of National Mentoring Month are to raise 

awareness of youth mentoring, recruit individuals to mentor, celebrate the powerful impact of mentoring relationships that form and thrive each day because of the caring 

adults who volunteer their time for young people, and encourage mentoring programs to engage and integrate 

quality mentoring into their efforts, and thank the mentors who made us who we are today; 

Whereas many young people across the Nation make everyday choices that lead up to life’s big decisions without 

guidance and support; 


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Whereas mentoring relationships provide powerful tools for 

connection and are critical for our Nation’s future; 

Whereas a mentor is a caring, consistent presence who devotes time to help a young person discover personal 

strength and achieve his or her potential; 

Whereas quality mentoring supports positive life and social 

skills, promotes self-esteem, bolsters academic achievement and college access, and nurtures youth leadership 

development; 

Whereas mentoring relationships are a shared opportunity for 

learning and growth, positively impacting both the mentor and the mentee; 

Whereas mentoring programs are run by many different organizations and agencies with different goals for young 

people. Seventy-nine percent of programs are nonprofits, 

9 percent are K–12 schools or districts, 3 percent are 

government agencies, 3 percent are higher education institutions, and the remaining 6 percent are religious institutions, for-profits, healthcare facilities, and others; 

Whereas forty-seven percent of mentoring programs note that 

mentor recruitment is a large challenge for them, and 

caring adults volunteering as mentors in their communities can help solve this challenge and provide critical 

human capital to programs; 

Whereas mentoring programs have been shown to be effective 

in helping young people make healthy choices, and youth 

who meet regularly with their mentors are 46 percent 

less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs; 

Whereas research shows that young people who were at risk 

for not completing high school but who had mentors were 

55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college, 81 perVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Jan 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR787.IH HR787

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cent more likely to report participating regularly in 

sports or extracurricular activities, more than twice as 

likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or 

sports team, and 78 percent more likely to pay it forward 

by volunteering regularly in their communities, and that 

90 percent are now interested in becoming mentors themselves; 

Whereas mentoring can play a role in helping young people 

attend school regularly, as research shows that students 

who meet regularly with their mentors are 52 percent 

less likely than their peers to skip a day of school and 

37 percent less likely to skip a class; 

Whereas mentors prepare young people for professional careers by helping them set career goals, introducing them 

to industry professionals, and helping them train for and 

find jobs; 

Whereas all of the above listed benefits link youth to economic and social capital while also strengthening communities; and 

Whereas despite these benefits, 9 million young people in the 

United States feel isolated from meaningful connections 

with adults outside their homes, constituting a ‘‘mentoring gap’’ that demonstrates a need for collaboration 

and resources: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes National Mentoring Month; 

3 (2) recognizes the caring adults who serve as 

4 staff and volunteers at quality mentoring programs 

5 and who help our young people find inner strength 

6 and reach their full potential; 


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1 (3) acknowledges that mentoring is beneficial 

2 because it supports educational achievement, encour3 ages self-confidence, supports young people in set4 ting career goals and expanding social capital, and 

5 improves positive personal, professional, and aca6 demic outcomes; 

7 (4) promotes the creation and expansion of 

8 quality mentoring programs across the country to 

9 equip young people with the tools needed to lead 

10 healthy and productive lives; and 

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

12 gap’’ by highlighting the powerful impact every adult 

13 can have by becoming a mentor. 

Æ 


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