I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 653 
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 31, 2023 
Mr. CARSON (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. 
CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, and Mr. THOMPSON 
of Mississippi) 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 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transition-to-Success 
Mentoring Act’’. 
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areas, or rural areas, or who attend schools 
with high rates of community violence; 
‘‘(B) provide eligible students with oppor-
tunities for postsecondary education prepara-
tion and career development, including— 
‘‘(i) job training, professional develop-
ment, work shadowing, internships, net-
working, re´sume´ writing and review, inter-
view preparation, transition services for 
students with disabilities, application as-
sistance and visits to institutions of higher 
education, and leadership development 
through community service; and 
‘‘(ii) partnerships with the private sec-
tor and local businesses to provide intern-
ship and career exploration activities and 
resources; 
‘‘(C) seek to provide match lengths be-
tween eligible students and success coaches for 
at least 1 academic year; and 
‘‘(D) indicate how, and the degree to 
which, children were consulted and engaged in 
the development, design, and implementation of 
the school-based mentoring program. 
‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 
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‘‘(1) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible 
entity that receives a grant under this section shall 
use the grant funds to establish a school-based men-
toring program, or to expand or provide technical 
support to an existing school-based mentoring pro-
gram, in all middle schools served by the entity, 
under which each eligible student is assigned to a 
success coach who— 
‘‘(A) creates a plan for success for the stu-
dent that— 
‘‘(i) is created with the student, men-
tor, relevant school staff (such as a teacher 
or school counselor), and parents of the 
student; 
‘‘(ii) includes, for each academic year, 
the student’s academic, personal, college, 
and career exploration goals, and a strat-
egy on how to accomplish such goals; 
‘‘(iii) 
identifies 
the 
student’s 
strengths, areas for improvement, and aca-
demic progress; and 
‘‘(iv) includes a plan to educate and 
support the student’s college or career ex-
ploration goals; 
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‘‘(B) enters into a signed, written agree-
ment with the parents of the student that de-
scribes how the parents should assist the stu-
dent in carrying out the plan for success; 
‘‘(C) meets with the student at least once 
per month to— 
‘‘(i) assist the student in achieving the 
goals under the plan for success; 
‘‘(ii) identify the student’s academic 
areas for improvement; 
‘‘(iii) connect the student with the 
tools and resources necessary to help im-
prove the student’s potential for academic 
success; 
‘‘(iv) ensure the student’s successful 
transition from middle school to high 
school by identifying opportunities to help 
the student develop a positive attitude to-
ward school, improve classroom behavior, 
complete coursework, and socialize with 
peers; and 
‘‘(v) in the case of a student with be-
havioral issues, assist the student in behav-
ior management techniques; 
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‘‘(D) at least quarterly, meets with the stu-
dent and the parents, teachers, or counselors of 
the student to— 
‘‘(i) evaluate the student’s progress in 
achieving the goals under the plan for the 
current academic year; and 
‘‘(ii) revise or establish new goals for 
the next academic year; and 
‘‘(E) assists the student in exploring high-
er education and career exposure opportunities. 
‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligi-
ble entity that receives a grant under this section 
may use such funds to— 
‘‘(A) develop and carry out regular train-
ing for success coaches, including on— 
‘‘(i) the impact of adverse childhood 
experiences; 
‘‘(ii) trauma-informed practices and 
interventions; 
‘‘(iii) supporting homeless children 
and youths; 
‘‘(iv) supporting children and youth in 
foster care; 
‘‘(v) cultural competency; 
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‘‘(vi) meeting all appropriate privacy 
and confidentiality requirements for stu-
dents, including students in foster care; 
‘‘(vii) working in coordination with a 
public school system; 
‘‘(viii) positive youth development and 
engagement practices; and 
‘‘(ix) disability inclusion practices to 
ensure access and participation by students 
with disabilities; 
‘‘(B) recruit, screen, match, compensate, 
and train success coaches, and pay for costs re-
lated to success coach and mentee participation 
in the program; 
‘‘(C) hire staff to perform or support the 
objectives of the school-based mentoring pro-
gram; 
‘‘(D) provide inclusive and accessible youth 
engagement activities, such as— 
‘‘(i) enrichment field trips to cultural 
destinations; 
‘‘(ii) career awareness activities, in-
cluding job site visits, informational inter-
views, re´sume´ writing, interview prepara-
tion, and networking; and 
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‘‘(iii) academic or postsecondary edu-
cation preparation activities, including 
trade or vocational school visits, visits to 
institutions of higher education, and assist-
ance in applying to institutions of higher 
education; 
‘‘(E) provide activities or programming 
with the purpose of engaging and connecting 
the student to the school community; and 
‘‘(F) conduct program evaluation, includ-
ing by acquiring and analyzing the data de-
scribed under subsection (e). 
‘‘(d) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this section 
shall be awarded for a period of not more than 5 years. 
‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE
ENTITIES.—An eligible entity 
receiving a grant under this section shall submit to 
the Secretary, at the end of each academic year dur-
ing the grant period, a report that includes— 
‘‘(A) the number of students who partici-
pated in the school-based mentoring program 
that was funded in whole or in part with the 
grant funds under this section; 
‘‘(B) demographic data on such students; 
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‘‘(C) data on the academic achievement, 
dropout rates, truancy, absenteeism, outcomes 
of arrests for violent crime, summer employ-
ment, and postsecondary education enrollment 
of such students; 
‘‘(D) the number of contact hours between 
such students and their success coaches; 
‘‘(E) the number of students with disabil-
ities connected to transition services; 
‘‘(F) data on social-emotional development 
of students as assessed with a validated social- 
emotional assessment tool; and 
‘‘(G) any other information that the Sec-
retary may require to evaluate the success of 
the school-based mentoring program. 
‘‘(2) SECRETARY.— 
‘‘(A) INTERIM REPORT.—At the end of the 
third fiscal year for which funds are made 
available to carry out this section, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress an interim report on 
the success of the school-based mentoring pro-
grams funded under this section that includes 
the information received under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—At the end of the 
fifth fiscal year for which funds are made avail-
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able to carry out this section, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress a final report on the 
success of the school-based mentoring programs 
funded under this section that includes the in-
formation received under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(f) MENTORING
RESOURCES
AND
COMMUNITY 
SERVICE COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall work with 
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 
to— 
‘‘(1) refer grantees under this section to the 
National Mentoring Resource Center to obtain re-
sources on best practices and research related to 
mentoring and to request no-cost training and tech-
nical assistance; and 
‘‘(2) provide grantees under this section with 
information regarding transitional services for eligi-
ble students returning from correctional facilities 
and transition services for students with disabilities. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means— 
‘‘(A) a local educational agency that— 
‘‘(i) receives, or is eligible to receive, 
funds under part A of this title; or 
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‘‘(ii) is a high-need local educational 
agency; or 
‘‘(B) a partnership between a local edu-
cational agency described in subparagraph (A) 
and a nonprofit, community-based organization. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 
student’ means a student who— 
‘‘(A) is enrolled in a middle school served 
by an eligible entity; and 
‘‘(B) is an at-risk student. 
‘‘(3) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 
means a local educational agency that serves at least 
one high-need school. 
‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED
SCHOOL.—The term ‘high- 
need school’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 2211(b)(2). 
‘‘(5) MIDDLE
SCHOOL.—The term ‘middle 
school’ means a nonprofit institutional day or resi-
dential school, including a public charter school, that 
provides middle school education, as determined 
under State law, except that the term does not in-
clude any education below grade 6 or beyond grade 
9. 
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‘‘(6) SCHOOL-BASED
MENTORING.—The term 
‘school-based mentoring’ means mentoring activities 
that— 
‘‘(A) are closely coordinated with a school 
by involving teachers, counselors, and other 
school staff who may identify and refer stu-
dents for mentoring services; and 
‘‘(B) assist at-risk students in improving 
academic achievement and attitudes toward 
school and reducing disciplinary referrals. 
‘‘(7) SUCCESS
COACH.—The term ‘success 
coach’ means an individual who— 
‘‘(A) is— 
‘‘(i) an employee or volunteer of a 
local educational agency in which a men-
toring program receiving support under 
this section is being carried out; or 
‘‘(ii) a volunteer or employee from a 
nonprofit, community-based organization 
that provides volunteers for mentoring pro-
grams in secondary schools; and 
‘‘(B) prior to becoming a success coach— 
‘‘(i) received training from an eligible 
entity, which, at a minimum, was 2 hours 
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in length and covered the roles and respon-
sibilities of a success coach; and 
‘‘(ii) underwent a screening by an eli-
gible entity that included— 
‘‘(I) appropriate job reference 
checks; 
‘‘(II) child and domestic abuse 
record checks; and 
‘‘(III) 
criminal 
background 
checks.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 
section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 1432 the following: 
‘‘SUBPART 4—TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM 
‘‘Sec. 1441. Transition-to-success mentoring program.’’. 
Æ 
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