H.R. 2611 – Reading Mode

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2611

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 7, 2007

Mrs. Davis of California (for herself, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Payne, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Schiff, and Ms. McCollum of Minnesota) 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.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Mentoring America’s Children Act of 2007.

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—

(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 partnership between a local educational agency and a nonprofit, community-based organization and inserting a consortium between one or more local educational agencies; nonprofit community-based organizations; and other partners, such as corporations 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—

(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 (particularly and all that follows through failure) and inserting , particularly children living in rural, suburban, 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 relationship 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:

(K)

information regarding the staffing plan and levels the eligible entity will use to monitor the mentor/mentee match over the duration of the match; and

(L)

information regarding the eligible entity’s sustainability plan, specifically how the eligible 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 subsequent funding under subparagraph (E) of paragraph (5), in all three years of the grant the match shall be at least 50 percent of the amount awarded for that year.

;

(4)

in paragraph (5)(C)—

(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 mentoring program the following: and sustain it for the duration of the grant and beyond; and

(5)

in paragraph (5), by adding at the end following:

(E)

Subsequent grants

In awarding grants under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consider entities who have received funding 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 exclusively 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.

(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 ensure the strongest possible outcomes for children mentored through this section, the Secretary shall—

(A)

provide training and technical assistance 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 online tracking and evaluation system; and

(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 mentoring

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 organizations and researchers, including the Federal Mentoring Council and the National Mentoring Working Group, to determine priorities for research on school-based mentoring and appropriate research design, with consideration for—

(i)

determining the ideal school environments in which school-based mentoring succeeds;

(ii)

identifying techniques for matching children with specific characteristics (such as age, academic situation, risk factors) with the most appropriate mentoring models;

(iii)

determining the ideal infrastructure 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 community.

(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; reservation of certain amounts

(1)

Authorization

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 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 subsection (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 following: , including mentoring,; and

(ii)

in subparagraph (J) by inserting after programs the following: , including mentoring,.

(B)

Section 7205(a)(3) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 7515(a)(3)) is amended—

(i)

in subparagraph (H)(ii) by inserting after programs the following: , including mentoring;

(ii)

in subparagraph (I)(iii) by inserting 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.

(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 mentoring programs;