I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2952 
To support the establishment or expansion and operation of programs using 
a network of public and private community entities to provide mentoring 
for children in foster care. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 20, 2017 
Ms. BASS (for herself, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, 
Ms. LEE, Ms. MOORE, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. TED LIEU of Cali-
fornia, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To support the establishment or expansion and operation 
of programs using a network of public and private com-
munity entities to provide mentoring for children in fos-
ter care. 
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 ‘‘Foster Youth Men-
toring Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) Research shows that mentors make a dif-
ference in children’s lives. At-risk youth who have 
mentors are 55 percent more likely to enroll in col-
lege. Students who meet regularly with their men-
tors are 52 percent less likely than their peers to 
skip a day of school. Youth who have mentors are 
also 130 percent more likely to hold a leadership po-
sition. 
(2) Children that have mentors have improved 
relationships with adults, fewer disciplinary refer-
rals, and more confidence to achieve their goals. 
(3) In 2014, 415,129 children were in foster 
care. Of those children 62,108 were between the 
ages of 10 and 13, and 120,567 were between the 
ages of 14 and 18. 
(4) Mentoring programs that serve foster chil-
dren are unique and require additional consider-
ations, including specialized training and support 
necessary to provide for consistent, long-term rela-
tionships for children in care. 
(5) Mentoring programs can be used as an ef-
fective preventative or intervention strategy to sup-
port positive outcomes for foster youth. 
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SEC. 3. PROGRAMS FOR MENTORING CHILDREN IN FOSTER 
CARE. 
Subpart 2 of part B of title IV of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 629 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 439A. PROGRAMS FOR MENTORING CHILDREN IN 
FOSTER CARE. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 
authorize the Secretary to make grants to eligible appli-
cants to support the establishment or expansion and oper-
ation of programs using a network of public and private 
community entities to provide mentoring for children in 
foster care. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.—The term 
‘children in foster care’ means children who have 
been removed from the custody of their biological or 
adoptive parents by a State child welfare agency. 
‘‘(2) 
MENTORING.—The 
term 
‘mentoring’ 
means a structured, managed program— 
‘‘(A) in which children are appropriately 
matched with screened and trained adult volun-
teers for consistent relationships; 
‘‘(B) that can include direct one-on-one, 
group, peer, or a combination of these types of 
mentoring services; 
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‘‘(C) that involves meetings and activities 
on a regular basis; and 
‘‘(D) that is intended to meet, in part, the 
child’s need for involvement with a caring and 
supportive adult who provides a positive role 
model. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means— 
‘‘(A) a nonprofit organization; 
‘‘(B) a State child welfare agency; 
‘‘(C) a local educational agency; 
‘‘(D) an Indian tribe or a tribal organiza-
tion; or 
‘‘(E) a faith-based organization. 
‘‘(c) GRANT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 
out a program to award grants to eligible entities to 
support the establishment or expansion and oper-
ation of programs using networks of public and pri-
vate community entities to provide mentoring for 
children in foster care. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To be eli-
gible for a grant under paragraph (1), an eligible en-
tity shall submit to the Secretary an application con-
taining the following: 
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‘‘(A) PROGRAM DESIGN.—A description of 
the proposed program to be carried out using 
amounts provided under this grant, including— 
‘‘(i) the number of mentor-child 
matches proposed to be established and 
maintained annually under the program; 
‘‘(ii) the targeted age range of youth 
to be served by the program; 
‘‘(iii) such information as the Sec-
retary may require concerning the methods 
to be used to recruit, screen, support, and 
oversee individuals participating as men-
tors, and to evaluate outcomes for partici-
pating children, including information nec-
essary to demonstrate compliance with re-
quirements established by the Secretary for 
the program; and 
‘‘(iv) such other information as the 
Secretary may require. 
‘‘(B) TRAINING.—An assurance that all 
mentors covered under the program will receive 
intensive and ongoing training in the following 
areas: 
‘‘(i) Child development, including the 
importance of bonding. 
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‘‘(ii) Family dynamics, including the 
effects of domestic violence. 
‘‘(iii) The foster care system and fos-
ter care principles and practices. 
‘‘(iv) Recognizing and reporting child 
abuse and neglect. 
‘‘(v) Confidentiality requirements for 
working with children in foster care. 
‘‘(vi) Working in coordination with the 
child welfare system. 
‘‘(vii) Other matters related to work-
ing with children in foster care. 
‘‘(C) SCREENING.—An assurance that all 
mentors covered under the program are appro-
priately screened and have demonstrated a will-
ingness to comply with all aspects of the mentor 
program, including— 
‘‘(i) a description of the methods to be 
used to conduct criminal background 
checks on all prospective mentors; and 
‘‘(ii) a description of the methods to 
be used to ensure that the mentors are 
willing and able to serve as a mentor on a 
long-term, consistent basis. 
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‘‘(D) COMMUNITY CONSULTATION; COORDI-
NATION
WITH
OTHER
PROGRAMS.—A dem-
onstration that, in developing and implementing 
the program, the eligible entity will, to the ex-
tent feasible and appropriate— 
‘‘(i) consult with— 
‘‘(I) public and private commu-
nity entities, including religious orga-
nizations and Indian tribal organiza-
tions and urban Indian organizations; 
and 
‘‘(II) family members of children 
who may be potential clients of the 
program; 
‘‘(ii) coordinate the mentoring pro-
gram and the eligible entity’s activities 
with other Federal, State, and local pro-
grams serving children and youth; and 
‘‘(iii) consult and coordinate with ap-
propriate Federal, State, and local correc-
tions, workforce development, and sub-
stance abuse and mental health agencies. 
‘‘(E) EQUAL ACCESS FOR LOCAL SERVICE 
PROVIDERS.—An assurance that public and pri-
vate entities and nonprofit community organiza-
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tions, including religious organizations and In-
dian organizations, will be eligible to participate 
on an equal basis. 
‘‘(F) RECORDS, REPORTS, AND AUDITS.— 
An agreement that the eligible entity will main-
tain such records, make such reports, and co-
operate with such reviews or audits as the Sec-
retary may find necessary for purposes of over-
sight of project activities and expenditures. 
‘‘(G) EVALUATION.—An agreement that 
the eligible entity will cooperate fully with the 
Secretary’s ongoing and final evaluation of the 
program under the plan, by means including 
providing the Secretary access to the program, 
the program’s staff, program-related records 
and documents, and each public or private com-
munity entity receiving funding under the plan. 
‘‘(3) 
CONSIDERATIONS
IN
AWARDING 
GRANTS.—In awarding grants under this subsection, 
the Secretary shall take into consideration— 
‘‘(A) the overall qualifications and capacity 
of the eligible entity and its partners to effec-
tively carry out a mentoring program under this 
subsection; 
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‘‘(B) the level and quality of training pro-
vided to mentors under the program; 
‘‘(C) evidence of coordination of the pro-
gram with the social services and education pro-
grams of the State or political subdivision; 
‘‘(D) the ability of the eligible entity to 
provide supervision and support for mentors 
under the program and the youth served by 
such mentors; 
‘‘(E) the number of children in foster care 
served by the State or political subdivision; and 
‘‘(F) any other factors that the Secretary 
determines to be significant with respect to the 
need for, or the potential success of, carrying 
out a mentoring program under this section. 
‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that 
receives a grant under this subsection may use such 
funds to— 
‘‘(A) develop and carry out a training pro-
gram and ongoing support for mentors; 
‘‘(B) recruit mentors for children in foster 
care; and 
‘‘(C) provide activities that will help the 
development of a child in foster care who is 
participating in the program. 
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‘‘(iii) the number of children in foster 
care on waiting lists for such mentoring 
programs. 
‘‘(D) Any other information that the Sec-
retary determines to be relevant to the evalua-
tion of the program under this section. 
‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this section— 
‘‘(A) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2018 and 2019; and 
‘‘(B) such sums as may be necessary for 
each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 
Æ 
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