[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 545 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 545

     To develop capacity and infrastructure for mentoring programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mentoring for All Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. 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.

SEC. 3. 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--
            (1) by redesignating subtitles F through I as subtitles G 
        through J, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subtitle E the following:

    ``Subtitle F--Grants to Develop Capacity and Infrastructure for 
                           Mentoring Programs

``SEC. 167. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subtitle:
            ``(1) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
                    ``(A) a mentoring program;
                    ``(B) 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
                    ``(C) a local collaborative.
            ``(2) Local collaborative.--The term `local collaborative' 
        means a collaborative that--
                    ``(A) shall include--
                            ``(i) not less than 2 youth mentoring 
                        organizations experienced in providing quality 
                        mentoring services; and
                            ``(ii) not less than 1 entity that can 
                        provide volunteers (such as a corporation, 
                        institution of higher education, or service 
                        organization); and
                    ``(B) may include 1 or more entities described in 
                paragraph (1)(B).
            ``(3) Local mentoring partnership.--The term `local 
        mentoring partnership' means a nonpartisan, collaborative, 
        public-private sector effort that--
                    ``(A) works to grow and strengthen direct-service 
                mentoring programs in all forms and settings to--
                            ``(i) increase the number of at-risk youth 
                        in the local service area receiving mentoring 
                        from screened and trained adult mentors;
                            ``(ii) increase the resources in the local 
                        service area dedicated to mentoring;
                            ``(iii) promote quality standards for 
                        mentoring programs; and
                            ``(iv) expand mentoring opportunities 
                        tailored to the needs and circumstances of 
                        youth;
                    ``(B) implements a service area mentoring plan 
                that--
                            ``(i) raises public awareness about 
                        mentoring via a media campaign throughout the 
                        local service area;
                            ``(ii) increases recruitment and referral 
                        of mentors;
                            ``(iii) develops new mentoring resources;
                            ``(iv) provides affordable and accessible 
                        mentoring training and technical assistance; 
                        and
                            ``(v) collects and tracks mentoring data;
                    ``(C) is not a mentoring program; and
                    ``(D) does not provide direct mentoring services to 
                youth.
            ``(4) Mentoring.--The term `mentoring' means a structured 
        and trusting relationship--
                    ``(A) 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;
                    ``(B) that may take many forms, including--
                            ``(i) traditional mentoring (1 adult to 1 
                        youth);
                            ``(ii) group mentoring (1 adult to more 
                        than 1 but not more than 4 youth);
                            ``(iii) team mentoring (several adults 
                        working with small groups of youth, in which 
                        the adult to youth ratio is not greater than 1 
                        to 4);
                            ``(iv) peer mentoring (caring youth 
                        mentoring other youth); and
                            ``(v) e-mentoring (mentoring via e-mail and 
                        the Internet); and
                    ``(C) 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.
            ``(5) 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.
            ``(6) 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--
                    ``(A) hiring staff and training staff in mentoring 
                best practices;
                    ``(B) reaching and enrolling eligible youth;
                    ``(C) developing partnerships with local 
                organizations;
                    ``(D) recruiting, screening, and training adult 
                volunteers;
                    ``(E) matching youth with suitable adult volunteer 
                mentors;
                    ``(F) providing casework support and oversight of 
                the mentoring relationship; and
                    ``(G) evaluating outcomes for mentored youth.
            ``(7) State mentoring partnership.--The term `State 
        mentoring partnership' means a nonpartisan, collaborative, 
        public-private sector effort that--
                    ``(A) works to grow and strengthen direct-service 
                mentoring programs in all forms and settings to--
                            ``(i) increase the number of at-risk youth 
                        in the State receiving mentoring from screened 
                        and trained adult mentors;
                            ``(ii) increase State resources dedicated 
                        to mentoring;
                            ``(iii) promote quality standards for 
                        mentoring programs; and
                            ``(iv) expand mentoring opportunities 
                        tailored to the needs and circumstances of 
                        youth;
                    ``(B) implements a service area mentoring plan 
                that--
                            ``(i) raises public awareness about 
                        mentoring via a statewide media campaign;
                            ``(ii) increases recruitment and referral 
                        of mentors;
                            ``(iii) develops new mentoring resources;
                            ``(iv) provides affordable and accessible 
                        mentoring training and technical assistance; 
                        and
                            ``(v) collects and tracks mentoring data;
                    ``(C) is not a mentoring program; and
                    ``(D) does not provide direct mentoring services to 
                youth.

``SEC. 167A. MENTORING CAPACITY-BUILDING GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) 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--
            ``(1) significantly increasing the number of mentors within 
        the partnership's State or local service area, respectively; 
        and
            ``(2) supporting all types, models, and brands of youth 
        mentoring.
    ``(b) Program Authorized.--
            ``(1) 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).
            ``(2) Amount of grants.--The Corporation shall determine 
        the amount of each grant under this section based on--
                    ``(A) the demonstrated need for service within the 
                partnership's proposed service area;
                    ``(B) the scope of the activities proposed to be 
                funded under the grant; and
                    ``(C) 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.
    ``(c) 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.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible mentoring partnership that 
        receives a grant under this section shall use--
                    ``(A) 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
                    ``(B) 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.
            ``(2) Subgrants for local mentoring.--
                    ``(A) 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.
                    ``(B) 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.
                    ``(C) Priority.--In awarding subgrants under 
                subparagraph (A), an eligible mentoring partnership may 
                give priority to eligible entities that are local 
                collaboratives.
                    ``(D) Amount of subgrants.--The eligible mentoring 
                partnership shall determine the amount of each subgrant 
                under this paragraph based on--
                            ``(i) the demonstrated need for service 
                        within the area served by the eligible entity;
                            ``(ii) the scope of the proposed activities 
                        to be funded by the subgrant; and
                            ``(iii) the likely impact of the proposed 
                        activities on increasing the number of mentors 
                        within the area served by the eligible entity.
                    ``(E) 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.
            ``(3) 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:
                    ``(A) Increasing capacity--
                            ``(i) 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
                            ``(ii) to support organizations wishing to 
                        add a mentoring component to the organization's 
                        work, such as an after-school center, church, 
                        or school.
                    ``(B) 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--
                            ``(i) a new initiative targeted at a 
                        specific population of volunteers;
                            ``(ii) an awareness-building campaign; or
                            ``(iii) a targeted outreach campaign to 
                        partners such as lead corporations, service 
                        organizations, or institutions of higher 
                        education that can provide wholesale access to 
                        volunteers.
                    ``(C) 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.
                    ``(D) Carrying out special projects that--
                            ``(i) would positively impact mentoring in 
                        the partnership's service area; and
                            ``(ii) address any mentoring needs specific 
                        to the service area.
            ``(4) 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.
    ``(e) Matching Requirements.--
            ``(1) 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--
                    ``(A) for the first year of the grant, 10 percent 
                of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such 
                year;
                    ``(B) for the second year of the grant, 25 percent 
                of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such 
                year; and
                    ``(C) for the third year of the grant, 50 percent 
                of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such 
                year.
            ``(2) 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.
            ``(3) In cash or in-kind.--A matching requirement under 
        this subsection may be provided in cash or in-kind, fairly 
        evaluated.

``SEC. 167B. GRANT PROGRAM TO BUILD STATE AND NATIONAL MENTORING 
              INFRASTRUCTURE.

    ``(a) 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--
            ``(1) build the necessary infrastructure to create a State 
        mentoring partnership; or
            ``(2) implement mentoring projects of national scope.
    ``(b) 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.
    ``(c) Amount of Grants.--The Corporation shall determine the amount 
of each grant under this section based on--
            ``(1) the demonstrated need for service within the proposed 
        service area of the entity or collaborative;
            ``(2) the scope of the activities proposed to be funded 
        under the grant; and
            ``(3) 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.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) 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--
                    ``(A)(i) conducting an assessment on the state of 
                mentoring;
                    ``(ii) hiring critical staff for the mentoring 
                partnership;
                    ``(iii) developing a strategic plan;
                    ``(iv) engaging key public or private supporters 
                and providers; and
                    ``(v) beginning to provide services to mentoring 
                programs;
                    ``(B) creating and launching the new mentoring 
                partnership that--
                            ``(i) 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;
                            ``(ii) 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
                            ``(iii) will be able to compete for funding 
                        under section 167A(b) in the future; and
                    ``(C) accessing knowledge, assistance, and support 
                provided by the national network of mentoring 
                partnerships.
            ``(2) 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--
                    ``(A) conducting research;
                    ``(B) tracking and evaluating data; and
                    ``(C) developing and disseminating national 
                training and technical assistance resources.
    ``(e) Matching Requirements.--
            ``(1) 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--
                    ``(A) for the first year of the grant, 10 percent 
                of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such 
                year;
                    ``(B) for the second year of the grant, 25 percent 
                of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such 
                year; and
                    ``(C) for the third year of the grant, 50 percent 
                of the Federal funds provided under the grant for such 
                year.
            ``(2) 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.
            ``(3) In cash or in-kind.--A matching requirement under 
        this subsection may be provided in cash or in-kind, fairly 
        evaluated.

``SEC. 167C. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

    ``The Corporation shall--
            ``(1) evaluate the activities carried out under this 
        subtitle; and
            ``(2) 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.

``SEC. 167D. REPORTS AND EVALUATIONS.

    ``(a) 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.
    ``(b) 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--
            ``(1) the number of State mentoring partnerships and local 
        mentoring partnerships supported; and
            ``(2) the impact of such mentoring partnerships on the 
        partnerships' service areas, such as--
                    ``(A) the growth in the number of mentoring 
                relationships;
                    ``(B) the quality and types of mentoring programs; 
                and
                    ``(C) the impact of subgrants under section 167A on 
                local mentoring programs.

``SEC. 167E. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``(a) 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.
    ``(b) Reservations.--From the amount appropriated under subsection 
(a) for a fiscal year--
            ``(1) 80 percent of such amount shall be used to carry out 
        section 167A;
            ``(2) 15 percent of such amount shall be used to carry out 
        section 167B; and
            ``(3) 5 percent of such amount shall be used to carry out 
        sections 167C and 167D.''.

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Conforming Amendments.--The National Community Service Act of 
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 118(a) (42 U.S.C. 12551(a)), by striking 
        ``subtitle H'' and inserting ``subtitle I'';
            (2) in section 122(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 12572(a)(2)), by 
        striking ``subtitle I'' and inserting ``subtitle J'';
            (3) 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
            (4) in section 501(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 12681(a)(2))--
                    (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 
                ``subtitles c, d, and h'' and inserting ``subtitles c, 
                d, and i'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``subtitles C 
                and H'' and inserting ``subtitles C and I''; and
                    (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``subtitle H'' 
                and inserting ``subtitle I''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the National Community Service Act of 1990 is amended--
            (1) 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'';

            (2) 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'';

            (3) 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'';

            (4) by striking the item relating to the subtitle heading 
        for subtitle F of title I and inserting the following:

               ``Subtitle G--Administrative Provisions'';

        and
            (5) 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.''.
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