I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 913 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to 
strengthen mentoring programs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2009 
Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Ms. MCCOL-
LUM, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. HONDA, and Ms. CORRINE 
BROWN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to strengthen mentoring programs, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Mentoring America’s 
Children Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO MENTORING PROGRAMS. 
(a) PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS.—Section 4130(a) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7140(a)) is amended— 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (B) by striking 
‘‘achievement of such children’’ and inserting 
‘‘outcomes of such children by improving their 
school connectedness, decreasing absenteeism, 
and increasing academic performance’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘and’’ 
at the end; 
(C) in subparagraph (E) by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(F) to foster character education.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)(B)(iii) by striking ‘‘a part-
nership between a local educational agency and a 
nonprofit, community-based organization’’ and in-
serting ‘‘a consortium between one or more local 
educational agencies; nonprofit community-based or-
ganizations; and other partners, such as corpora-
tions or universities, or both’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (2)(C)(iii) by inserting after 
‘‘responsible’’ the following: ‘‘and successful’’. 
(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 4130(b) of such Act 
(20 U.S.C. 7140(b)) is amended— 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
(1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘under section 
4003(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘under subsection (d)’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)(A) by striking ‘‘(particu-
larly’’ and all that follows through ‘‘failure)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘, particularly children living in rural, subur-
ban, or urban areas facing high rates of crime, gang 
involvement, drug use, and dropouts,’’; 
(3) in paragraph (4)— 
(A) by amending subparagraph (D) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(D) an assurance that each mentor will 
be assigned to no more than three children, and 
that when assigned more than one child (which 
is preferable where practicable), the assignment 
must not undermine the mentor’s ability to be 
an effective mentor or to establish a close rela-
tionship with each mentored child;’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (I) by striking ‘‘and’’ 
at the end; 
(C) in subparagraph (J) by striking the 
period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(K) information regarding the staffing 
plan and levels the eligible entity will use to 
monitor the mentor/mentee match over the du-
ration of the match; and 
‘‘(L) information regarding the eligible en-
tity’s sustainability plan, specifically how the el-
igible entity will meet the required match, 
which is— 
‘‘(i) in year 1 of the grant, at least 10 
percent of the amount awarded for that 
year; 
‘‘(ii) in year 2 of the grant, at least 
25 percent of the amount awarded for that 
year; 
‘‘(iii) in year 3 of the grant, at least 
50 percent of the amount awarded for that 
year; and 
‘‘(iv) for an entity receiving subse-
quent funding under subparagraph (E) of 
paragraph (5), in all three years of the 
grant the match shall be at least 50 per-
cent of the amount awarded for that 
year.’’; 
(4) in paragraph (5)(C)— 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
(A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘urban and 
rural’’ and inserting ‘‘urban, suburban, and 
rural’’; 
(B) in clause (ii)(II), by inserting after 
‘‘organizations,’’ the following: ‘‘children,’’; and 
(C) in clause (iii), by inserting after ‘‘men-
toring program’’ the following: ‘‘and sustain it 
for the duration of the grant and beyond’’; and 
(5) in paragraph (5), by adding at the end fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(E) SUBSEQUENT GRANTS.—In awarding 
grants under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
shall consider entities who have received fund-
ing in a prior grant cycle for a new grant only 
if each of the following criteria are met: 
‘‘(i) Performance during the initial 
grant was satisfactory in terms of program 
design and numbers of children served. 
‘‘(ii) The subsequent grant will exclu-
sively support expanded service to a new 
geographic area or target population. 
‘‘(iii) The eligible entity demonstrates 
that it is able to provide a 50 percent 
match to Federal funds for all three years 
of the new grant. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(F) POLICY ON ONE ENTITY HAVING TWO 
GRANTS AT SAME TIME.—In awarding grants 
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may 
have in effect a policy under which an entity is 
prohibited from having two grants at the same 
time. However, such a policy shall not prohibit 
an entity from having two grants at the same 
time when the periods of the two grants overlap 
by three months or less.’’. 
(c) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.—Section 4130 of such 
Act (20 U.S.C. 7140) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(c) ENSURING QUALITY GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) SUPPORT FOR GRANTEES.—In order to en-
sure the strongest possible outcomes for children 
mentored through this section, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) provide training and technical assist-
ance to grant recipients, beginning in year 1 
and continuing throughout the span of the 
grant; 
‘‘(B) track the mentoring practices and 
outcomes of all grant recipients throughout the 
3-year span of the grant utilizing a robust on-
line tracking and evaluation system; and 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(C) submit an annual report to Congress 
detailing the number of children served by 
grant recipients and the outcomes achieved for 
those children. 
‘‘(2) RESEARCH
ON
SCHOOL-BASED
MEN-
TORING.—In order to ensure that grant recipients 
have access to the most current research-based 
knowledge about building and carrying out strong 
and effective mentoring programs, the Secretary 
shall do the following: 
‘‘(A) Consult with leading mentoring orga-
nizations and researchers, including the Federal 
Mentoring Council and the National Mentoring 
Working Group, to determine priorities for re-
search on school-based mentoring and appro-
priate research design, with consideration for— 
‘‘(i) determining the ideal school envi-
ronments in which school-based mentoring 
succeeds; 
‘‘(ii) identifying techniques for match-
ing children with specific characteristics 
(such as age, academic situation, risk fac-
tors) with the most appropriate mentoring 
models; 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(iii) determining the ideal infrastruc-
ture needed to foster the expansion of 
school-based mentoring in a sustainable 
way; and 
‘‘(iv) refining best practices, match 
activities, and a range of mentoring models 
to lead to the best possible outcomes for 
children. 
‘‘(B) Issue grants or contracts to high- 
quality research entities to perform research on 
the priorities identified in subparagraph (A), 
with the following criteria: 
‘‘(i) The proposed research design 
must meet accepted standards within the 
academic community. 
‘‘(ii) All research results and findings 
must be widely disseminated to existing 
grantees and to the larger mentoring com-
munity. 
‘‘(C) Issue grants or contracts only if 
amount appropriated for each fiscal year under 
paragraph (1) of subsection (d) exceeds 
$50,000,000. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS; RES-
ERVATION OF CERTAIN AMOUNTS.— 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 
be 
appropriated 
to 
carry 
out 
this 
section 
$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as 
may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year. 
‘‘(2) RESERVATIONS.—Each fiscal year, the 
Secretary shall reserve— 
‘‘(A) not more than 5 percent of the 
amount appropriated for that fiscal year under 
paragraph (1) for expenditure on support for 
grantees as authorized by paragraph (1) of sub-
section (c); and 
‘‘(B) not more than 10 percent of the 
amount appropriated for that fiscal year under 
paragraph (1) for expenditure on research as 
authorized by paragraph (2) of subsection (c).’’. 
(d) REVISIONS TO OTHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 
(1) INCLUSION OF MENTORING FOR MINORITY 
PROGRAMS.— 
(A) Section 7121(c)(1) of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7441(c)(1)) is amended— 
(i) in subparagraph (E) by inserting 
after ‘‘programs and projects’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, including mentoring,’’; and 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
(ii) in subparagraph (J) by inserting 
after ‘‘programs’’ the following: ‘‘, includ-
ing mentoring,’’. 
(B) Section 7205(a)(3) of that Act (20 
U.S.C. 7515(a)(3)) is amended— 
(i) in subparagraph (H)(ii) by insert-
ing after ‘‘programs’’ the following: ‘‘, in-
cluding mentoring’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (I)(iii) by insert-
ing after ‘‘counseling’’ the following: ‘‘, 
mentoring,’’. 
(C) Section 7304(a)(2)(P) of that Act (20 
U.S.C. 7544(a)(2)(P)) is amended by inserting 
after ‘‘program’’ the following: ‘‘or mentoring 
programs’’. 
(2) 
TRANSITION
SERVICES.—Section 
1418(a)(2)(C) 
of 
that 
Act 
(20 
U.S.C. 
6438(a)(2)(C)) is amended— 
(A) in clause (iv) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(B) in clause (v) by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(vi) youth mentoring programs.’’. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
(3) NATIONAL SAFE AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS 
PROGRAMS.—Section 4121(a)(2) of that Act (20 
U.S.C. 7131(a)(2)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ 
at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (D) by adding ‘‘and’’ 
at the end; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(E) school and community-based men-
toring programs;’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
04:28 Feb 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H913.IH
H913
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS