SEC. 2. GRANTS TO SUPPORT MENTORING PROGRAMS.
Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8001 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘PART M—MENTORING PROGRAMS
‘‘SEC. 10999P. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this part, the following definitions apply:
‘‘(1) CHILD WITH GREATEST NEED.—The term
‘child with greatest need’ means a child at risk of
educational failure, dropping out of school, or in-
volvement in criminal or delinquent activities, or
that has lack of strong positive adult role models.
‘‘(2) MENTOR.—The term ‘mentor’ means an
individual who works with a child to provide a posi-
tive role model for the child, to establish a sup-
portive relationship with the child, and to provide
the child with academic assistance and exposure to
new experiences and examples of opportunity that
enhance the ability of the child to become a respon-
sible adult.
‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of
the several States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands.
‘‘SEC. 10999Q. PURPOSES.
‘‘The purposes of this part are to make assistance
available to promote mentoring programs for children with
greatest need—
‘‘(1) to assist such children in receiving support
and guidance from a caring adult;
‘‘(2) to improve the academic performance of
such children;
‘‘(3) to improve interpersonal relationships be-
tween such children and their peers, teachers, other
adults, and family members;
‘‘(4) to reduce the dropout rate of such chil-
dren; and
‘‘(5) to reduce juvenile delinquency and involve-
ment in gangs by such children.
‘‘SEC. 10999R. GRANT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this section,
the Secretary may make grants to eligible entities to assist
such entities in establishing and supporting mentoring
programs and activities that—
‘‘(1) are designed to link children with greatest
need (particularly such children living in rural areas,
high crime areas, or troubled home environments, or
such children experiencing educational failure) with
responsible adults, who—
‘‘(A) have received training and support in
mentoring;
‘‘(B) have been screened using appropriate
reference checks, child and domestic abuse
record checks, and criminal background checks;
and
‘‘(C) are interested in working with youth;
and
‘‘(2) are intended to achieve 1 or more of the
following goals:
‘‘(A) Provide general guidance to children
with greatest need.
‘‘(B) Promote personal and social responsi-
bility among children with greatest need.
‘‘(C) Increase participation by children
with greatest need in, and enhance their ability
to benefit from, elementary and secondary edu-
cation.
‘‘(D) Discourage illegal use of drugs and
alcohol, violence, use of dangerous weapons,
promiscuous behavior, and other criminal,
harmful, or potentially harmful activity by chil-
dren with greatest need.
‘‘(E) Encourage children with greatest
need to participate in community service and
community activities.
‘‘(F) Encourage children with greatest
need to set goals for themselves or to plan for
their futures, including encouraging such chil-
dren to make graduation from secondary school
a goal and to make plans for postsecondary
education or training.
‘‘(G) Discourage involvement of children
with greatest need in gangs.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Each of the following is
an entity eligible to receive a grant under subsection (a):
‘‘(1) A local educational agency.
‘‘(2) A nonprofit, community-based organiza-
tion.
‘‘(3) A partnership between an agency referred
to in paragraph (1) and an organization referred to
in paragraph (2).
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each entity receiving a
grant under this section shall use the grant funds
for activities that establish or implement a men-
toring program, including—
‘‘(A) hiring of mentoring coordinators and
support staff;
‘‘(B) providing for the professional devel-
opment of mentoring coordinators and support
staff;
‘‘(C) recruitment, screening, and training
of adult mentors;
‘‘(D) reimbursement of schools, if appro-
priate, for the use of school materials or sup-
plies in carrying out the program;
‘‘(E) dissemination of outreach materials;
‘‘(F) evaluation of the program using sci-
entifically based methods; and
‘‘(G) such other activities as the Secretary
may reasonably prescribe by rule.
‘‘(2) 
PROHIBITED
USES.—Notwithstanding
paragraph (1), an entity receiving a grant under this
section may not use the grant funds—
‘‘(A) to directly compensate mentors;
‘‘(B) to obtain educational or other mate-
rials or equipment that would otherwise be used
in the ordinary course of the entity’s oper-
ations;
‘‘(C) to support litigation of any kind; or
‘‘(D) for any other purpose reasonably pro-
hibited by the Secretary by rule.
‘‘(d) TERM OF GRANT.—Each grant made under this
section shall be available for expenditure for a period of
3 years.
‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—Each eligible entity seeking a
grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an
application that includes—
‘‘(1) a description of the mentoring plan the ap-
plicant proposes to carry out with such grant;
‘‘(2) information on the children expected to be
served by the mentoring program for which such
grant is sought;
‘‘(3) a description of the mechanism that appli-
cant will use to match children with mentors based
on the needs of the children;
‘‘(4) an assurance that no mentor will be as-
signed to mentor so many children that the assign-
ment would undermine either the mentor’s ability to
be an effective mentor or the mentor’s ability to es-
tablish a close relationship (a one-on-one relation-
ship, where practicable) with each mentored child;
‘‘(5) an assurance that mentoring programs will
provide children with a variety of experiences and
support, including—