II
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 545
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 9, 2009
Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Akaka, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Carper) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To develop capacity and infrastructure for mentoring programs.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the Mentoring for All Act of
2009
.
Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to support youth mentoring through the creation of a $50,000,000 competitive fund to serve more of the at-risk youth of the United States. Such monies would build and strengthen mentoring infrastructure and provide subgrants to increase the availability of mentoring in the United States.
Grants to develop capacity and infrastructure for mentoring programs
Title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511 et seq.) is amended—
by redesignating subtitles F through I as subtitles G through J, respectively; and
by inserting after subtitle E the following:
Grants to develop capacity and infrastructure for mentoring programs
Definitions
In this subtitle:
Eligible entity
The term eligible entity means—
a mentoring program;
a nonprofit organization (such as an after-school center or church), a school, or local governmental agency, that desires to add a mentoring component to the work of the organization, school, or agency; or
a local collaborative.
Local collaborative
The term local collaborative means a collaborative that—
shall include—
not less than 2 youth mentoring organizations experienced in providing quality mentoring services; and
not less than 1 entity that can provide volunteers (such as a corporation, institution of higher education, or service organization); and
may include 1 or more entities described in paragraph (1)(B).
Local mentoring partnership
The term local mentoring partnership means a nonpartisan, collaborative, public-private sector effort that—
works to grow and strengthen direct-service mentoring programs in all forms and settings to—
increase the number of at-risk youth in the local service area receiving mentoring from screened and trained adult mentors;
increase the resources in the local service area dedicated to mentoring;
promote quality standards for mentoring programs; and
expand mentoring opportunities tailored to the needs and circumstances of youth;
implements a service area mentoring plan that—
raises public awareness about mentoring via a media campaign throughout the local service area;
increases recruitment and referral of mentors;
develops new mentoring resources;
provides affordable and accessible mentoring training and technical assistance; and
collects and tracks mentoring data;
is not a mentoring program; and
does not provide direct mentoring services to youth.
Mentoring
The term mentoring means a structured and trusting relationship—
that brings youth together with caring individuals who serve as mentors and offer guidance, support, and encouragement aimed at developing the competence and character of the mentees;
that may take many forms, including—
traditional mentoring (1 adult to 1 youth);
group mentoring (1 adult to more than 1 but not more than 4 youth);
team mentoring (several adults working with small groups of youth, in which the adult to youth ratio is not greater than 1 to 4);
peer mentoring (caring youth mentoring other youth); and
e-mentoring (mentoring via e-mail and the Internet); and
in which the mentor and mentee meet or communicate regularly for a minimum of 4 hours per month (or, in the case of e-mentoring, the mentor and mentee communicate on at least a weekly basis) for not less than 9 months.
Mentoring program
The term mentoring program means a nonprofit organization, school, or local governmental agency, that provides youth mentoring in a setting such as a workplace, a school, a faith-based or nonprofit organization location, an afterschool center, a juvenile corrections facility, or other community setting.
Mentoring services
The term mentoring services means services and activities that a mentoring program should undertake to ensure that the program is offering high-quality mentoring, including—
hiring staff and training staff in mentoring best practices;
reaching and enrolling eligible youth;
developing partnerships with local organizations;
recruiting, screening, and training adult volunteers;
matching youth with suitable adult volunteer mentors;
providing casework support and oversight of the mentoring relationship; and
evaluating outcomes for mentored youth.
State mentoring partnership
The term State mentoring partnership means a nonpartisan, collaborative, public-private sector effort that—
works to grow and strengthen direct-service mentoring programs in all forms and settings to—
increase the number of at-risk youth in the State receiving mentoring from screened and trained adult mentors;
increase State resources dedicated to mentoring;
promote quality standards for mentoring programs; and
expand mentoring opportunities tailored to the needs and circumstances of youth;
implements a service area mentoring plan that—
raises public awareness about mentoring via a statewide media campaign;
increases recruitment and referral of mentors;
develops new mentoring resources;
provides affordable and accessible mentoring training and technical assistance; and
collects and tracks mentoring data;
is not a mentoring program; and
does not provide direct mentoring services to youth.
Mentoring capacity-building grant program
Definition of eligible mentoring partnership
In this section, the term eligible mentoring partnership means a State mentoring partnership or local mentoring partnership that has an interest in—
significantly increasing the number of mentors within the partnership's State or local service area, respectively; and
supporting all types, models, and brands of youth mentoring.
Program authorized
In general
The Corporation shall establish a capacity-building grant program to award, on a competitive basis, 3-year grants to eligible mentoring partnerships to enable the mentoring partnerships to carry out the activities described in subsection (d).
Amount of grants
The Corporation shall determine the amount of each grant under this section based on—
the demonstrated need for service within the partnership's proposed service area;
the scope of the activities proposed to be funded under the grant; and
the likely impact of the proposed activities on increasing the percentage of children with mentors, and the quality of mentoring programs, within the partnership's proposed service area.
Application
An eligible mentoring partnership that desires to receive a grant under this section shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Corporation may reasonably require.
Use of funds
In general
An eligible mentoring partnership that receives a grant under this section shall use—
not less than 80 percent of the amounts provided under the grant to award subgrants under paragraph (2) in order to support mentoring programs within the partnership's service area; and
not more than 20 percent of such amounts to carry out 1 or more partnership activities described in paragraph (3) that are identified in the service area mentoring plan of the partnership, in order to provide expanded, high-quality services within the service area.
Subgrants for local mentoring
In general
An eligible mentoring partnership that receives a grant under this section shall make subgrants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to support all of the components of providing high-quality mentoring services.
Application
An eligible entity desiring a subgrant under this paragraph shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the eligible mentoring partnership shall reasonably require.
Priority
In awarding subgrants under subparagraph (A), an eligible mentoring partnership may give priority to eligible entities that are local collaboratives.
Amount of subgrants
The eligible mentoring partnership shall determine the amount of each subgrant under this paragraph based on—
the demonstrated need for service within the area served by the eligible entity;
the scope of the proposed activities to be funded by the subgrant; and
the likely impact of the proposed activities on increasing the number of mentors within the area served by the eligible entity.
Duration of subgrant period
The duration of a subgrant awarded under this paragraph shall be not less than 1 year nor more than 3 years, and shall be decided by the eligible mentoring partnership based on the eligible mentoring partnership's assessment of the subgrant program’s capacity.
Partnership activities
The service area mentoring plan activities that may be carried out by an eligible mentoring partnership in accordance with paragraph (1)(B) include the following:
Increasing capacity—
to provide high-quality volunteer training and technical assistance to all mentoring programs within the partnership's service area, including those programs that receive funding through subgrants under paragraph (2); and
to support organizations wishing to add a mentoring component to the organization's work, such as an after-school center, church, or school.
Undertaking significant outreach and recruitment efforts in support of all mentoring programs in the partnership's service area, including those mentoring programs that receive funding through the subgrants under paragraph (2), such as creating—
a new initiative targeted at a specific population of volunteers;
an awareness-building campaign; or
a targeted outreach campaign to partners such as lead corporations, service organizations, or institutions of higher education that can provide wholesale access to volunteers.
Collecting and analyzing data on the subgrants under paragraph (2) and other mentoring programs, and making subsequent recommendations for improvement, to ensure mentoring is taking place in a high-quality way.
Carrying out special projects that—
would positively impact mentoring in the partnership's service area; and
address any mentoring needs specific to the service area.
National coordination
An eligible mentoring partnership receiving a grant under this section shall participate in the national network of mentoring partnerships, in order to ensure collaboration and to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, assistance, and support.
Matching requirements
New grantees
An eligible mentoring partnership that receives a grant under this section and has not previously received such a grant shall provide toward the cost of the activities assisted under the grant, an amount equal to—
for the first year of the grant, 10 percent of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such year;
for the second year of the grant, 25 percent of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such year; and
for the third year of the grant, 50 percent of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such year.
Experienced grantees
An eligible mentoring partnership that receives a grant under this section and has previously received such a grant shall provide toward the cost of the activities assisted under the grant an amount equal to 50 percent of the Federal funds provided under the grant.
In cash or in-kind
A matching requirement under this subsection may be provided in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated.
Grant program to build State and national mentoring infrastructure
Program authorized
The Corporation shall award, on a competitive basis, 3-year grants to entities or collaboratives of entities to enable the entities or collaboratives to—
build the necessary infrastructure to create a State mentoring partnership; or
implement mentoring projects of national scope.
Application
An entity or collaborative of entities that desires to receive a grant under this section shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Corporation may reasonably require.
Amount of grants
The Corporation shall determine the amount of each grant under this section based on—
the demonstrated need for service within the proposed service area of the entity or collaborative;
the scope of the activities proposed to be funded under the grant; and
the likely impact of the proposed activities on increasing the percentage of children with mentors, and the quality of mentoring programs, within the proposed service area.
Use of funds
State mentoring infrastructure
An entity or collaborative of entities that receives a grant for the purpose described in subsection (a)(1) shall use the grant funds to support planning and implementation for the development of a new State mentoring partnership where a State mentoring partnership does not exist at the time of the application, or to help a local mentoring partnership expand statewide to become a State mentoring partnership. State mentoring partnership creation may include—
conducting an assessment on the state of mentoring;
hiring critical staff for the mentoring partnership;
developing a strategic plan;
engaging key public or private supporters and providers; and
beginning to provide services to mentoring programs;
creating and launching the new mentoring partnership that—
by not later than the end of the second year of the grant, provides recruitment and technical assistance or training services for mentoring programs in that State;
by not later than the end of the third year of the grant, meets the definition of a State mentoring partnership and is able to carry out the activities and functions described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 167(7); and
will be able to compete for funding under section 167A(b) in the future; and
accessing knowledge, assistance, and support provided by the national network of mentoring partnerships.
National mentoring infrastructure
An entity or collaborative of entities that receives a grant for the purpose described in subsection (a)(2) shall use the grant funds to support, at the national level, projects that are critical collectively to improve the ability of direct service mentoring programs, State mentoring partnerships, and local mentoring partnerships to increase the quality and availability of mentoring, which projects may include—
conducting research;
tracking and evaluating data; and
developing and disseminating national training and technical assistance resources.
Matching requirements
New grantees
An entity or collaborative of entities that receives a grant under this section and has not previously received such a grant shall provide toward the cost of the activities assisted under the grant, an amount equal to—
for the first year of the grant, 10 percent of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such year;
for the second year of the grant, 25 percent of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such year; and
for the third year of the grant, 50 percent of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such year.
Experienced grantees
An entity or collaborative of entities that receives a grant under this section and has previously received such a grant shall provide toward the cost of the activities assisted under the grant an amount equal to 50 percent of the Federal funds provided under the grant.
In cash or in-kind
A matching requirement under this subsection may be provided in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated.
National activities
The Corporation shall—
evaluate the activities carried out under this subtitle; and
provide training and technical assistance to recipients of financial assistance under this subtitle, drawing upon the knowledge, assistance, and support provided by the national network of mentoring partnerships.
Reports and evaluations
Report to Corporation
For each fiscal year, each recipient of a grant under this subtitle during that fiscal year shall submit to the Corporation, by the date specified by the Corporation, a report regarding the effectiveness of activities carried out using the grant. Each report shall include an evaluation of the grant program in such form and containing such information as the Corporation may reasonably require.
Report to Congress
Not less often than once every 3 years, the Corporation shall submit a report to the Education and Labor Committee of the House of Representatives and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee of the Senate on the effectiveness of the activities carried out under this subtitle to include, at a minimum—
the number of State mentoring partnerships and local mentoring partnerships supported; and
the impact of such mentoring partnerships on the partnerships' service areas, such as—
the growth in the number of mentoring relationships;
the quality and types of mentoring programs; and
the impact of subgrants under section 167A on local mentoring programs.
Authorization of appropriations
Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Corporation to carry out this subtitle $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 to 2015.
Reservations
From the amount appropriated under subsection (a) for a fiscal year—
80 percent of such amount shall be used to carry out section 167A;
15 percent of such amount shall be used to carry out section 167B; and
5 percent of such amount shall be used to carry out sections 167C and 167D.
.
Conforming amendments
Conforming amendments
The National Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.) is amended—
in section 118(a)
(42 U.S.C. 12551(a)), by striking subtitle H
and inserting
subtitle I
;
in section
122(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)(2)), by striking subtitle I
and
inserting subtitle J
;
in section
193A(f)(1) (42 U.S.C. 12651d(f)(1)), by striking subtitles C and
I
and inserting subtitles C and J
; and
in section 501(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 12681(a)(2))—
in the paragraph
heading, by striking subtitles c, d, and h
and inserting
subtitles c, d, and
i
;
in subparagraph
(A), by striking subtitles C and H
and inserting
subtitles C and I
; and
in subparagraph
(B), by striking subtitle H
and inserting subtitle
I
.
Table of contents
The table of contents in section 1(b) of the National Community Service Act of 1990 is amended—
by striking the item relating to the subtitle heading for subtitle I of title I and inserting the following:
Subtitle J—American
Conservation and Youth Corps
;
by striking the item relating to the subtitle heading for subtitle H of title I and inserting the following:
Subtitle I—Investment
for Quality and Innovation
;
by striking the item relating to the subtitle heading for subtitle G of title I and inserting the following:
Subtitle H—Corporation
for National and Community Service
;
by striking the item relating to the subtitle heading for subtitle F of title I and inserting the following:
Subtitle
G—Administrative Provisions
;
by inserting after the item relating to section 166 the following:
Subtitle F—Grants to develop capacity and infrastructure for mentoring programs
Sec. 167. Definitions.
Sec. 167A. Mentoring capacity-building grant program.
Sec. 167B. Grant program to build State and national mentoring infrastructure.
Sec. 167C. National activities.
Sec. 167D. Reports and evaluations.
Sec. 167E. Authorization of appropriations.
.