I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2963
To establish a youth mentoring program.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 8, 1997
Mr. ROTHMAN (for himself, Mr. HYDE, and Mr. CONYERS) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce
A BILL
To establish a youth mentoring program.
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 ‘‘JUMP Ahead Act of
1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) millions of young people in America live in
areas in which drug use and violent and property
crimes are pervasive;
(2) unfortunately, many of these same young
people come from single parent homes, or from envi-
ronments in which there is no responsible, caring
adult supervision;
(3) all children and adolescents need caring
adults in their lives, and mentoring is an effective
way to fill this special need for at-risk children. The
special bond of commitment fostered by the mutual
respect inherent in effective mentoring can be the tie
that binds a young person to a better future;
(4) through a mentoring relationship, adult vol-
unteers and participating youth make a significant
commitment of time and energy to develop relation-
ships devoted to personal, academic, or career devel-
opment and social, artistic, or athletic growth;
(5) rigorous independent studies have confirmed
that effective mentoring programs can significantly
reduce and prevent the use of alcohol and drugs by
young people, improve school attendance and per-
formance, improve peer and family and peer rela-
tionships, and reduce violent behavior;
(6) since the inception of the Federal JUMP
program, dozens of innovative, effective mentoring
programs have received funding grants;
(7) unfortunately, despite the recent growth in
public and private mentoring initiatives, it is re-
ported that between 5,000,000 and 15,000,000 addi-
tional children in the United States could benefit
from being matched with a mentor; and
(8) although great strides have been made in
reaching at-risk youth since the inception of the
JUMP program, millions of vulnerable American
children are not being reached, and without an in-
creased commitment to connect these young people
to responsible adult role models, our country risks
losing an entire generation to drugs, crime, and un-
productive lives.
SEC. 3. JUVENILE MENTORING GRANTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 288B of the Juvenile Jus-
tice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.
5667e–2) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before
‘‘The Administrator shall’’;
(2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(2) are intended to achieve 1 or more of the
following goals:
‘‘(A) Discourage at-risk youth from—
‘‘(i) using illegal drugs and alcohol;
‘‘(ii) engaging in violence;
‘‘(iii) using guns and other dangerous
weapons;
‘‘(iv) engaging in other criminal and
antisocial behavior; and
‘‘(v) becoming involved in gangs.
‘‘(B) Promote personal and social respon-
sibility among at-risk youth.
‘‘(C) Increase at-risk youth’s participation
in, and enhance the ability of those youth to
benefit from, elementary and secondary edu-
cation.
‘‘(D) Encourage at-risk youth participation
in community service and community activities.
‘‘(E) Provide general guidance to at-risk
youth.’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) AMOUNT AND DURATION.—Each grant under
this part shall be awarded in an amount not to exceed
a total of $200,000 over a period of not more than 3 years.
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 to carry out this
part.’’.
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION GRANTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the De-
partment of Justice may make grants to national organi-
zations or agencies serving youth, in order to enable those
organizations or agencies—
(1) to conduct a multisite demonstration
project, involving between 5 and 10 project sites,
that—
(A) provides an opportunity to compare
various mentoring models for the purpose of
evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of
those models;
(B) allows for innovative programs de-
signed under the oversight of a national organi-
zation or agency serving youth, which programs
may include—
(i) technical assistance;
(ii) training; and
(iii) research and evaluation; and
(C) disseminates the results of such dem-
onstration project to allow for the determina-
tion of the best practices for various mentoring
programs;
(2) to develop and evaluate screening standards
for mentoring programs; and
(3) to develop and evaluate volunteer recruit-
ment techniques and activities for mentoring pro-
grams.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 to carry out this
section.
SEC. 5. EVALUATIONS; REPORTS.
(a) EVALUATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall
enter into a contract with an evaluating organization
that has demonstrated experience in conducting eval-
uations, for the conduct of an ongoing rigorous eval-
uation of the programs and activities assisted under
this Act or under section 228B of the Juvenile Jus-
tice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42
U.S.C. 5667e–2) (as amended by this Act).
(2) CRITERIA.—The Attorney General shall
establish a minimum criteria for evaluating the
programs and activities assisted under this Act or
under section 228B of the Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.
5667e–2) (as amended by this Act), which shall pro-
vide for a description of the implementation of the
program or activity, and the effect of the program
panied by such information, as the evaluating orga-
nization may reasonably require.
(2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Not later than
4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report
evaluating the effectiveness of grants awarded under
this Act and under section 228B of the Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42
U.S.C. 5667e–2) (as amended by this Act), in—
(A) reducing juvenile delinquency and gang
participation;
(B) reducing the school dropout rate; and
(C) improving academic performance of ju-
veniles.
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