MENTOR-supported Bill to Increase Opportunity for Youth Introduced in Congress
MENTOR-supported Bill to Increase Opportunity for Youth Introduced in Congress
Mentoring to Succeed Act Prioritizes Career Exploration for Youth at a Time They Need It Most
BOSTON – This week, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Representative Lori Trahan (D-MA) introduced legislation that will provide youth with access to career exploration opportunities, which can help them expand their sense of what is possible in the workplace and better access their futures. The bill provides this opportunity by making available competitive grants to establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring programs, specifically to support students in middle school and high school in developing the social-emotional skills to prepare them for success in their education and the workforce.
“Mentoring provides young people with the social capital, confidence, and support necessary to thrive at school, the workplace, and beyond,” said David Shapiro, CEO of MENTOR. “The Mentoring to Succeed Act centers the critical role relationships play in career exploration, access, and navigation. MENTOR is thankful to Senator Durbin, Senator Duckworth, Representative Schakowsky and Representative Trahan for their leadership to create policies and resources that incorporate the power of mentoring relationships into schools and occupational exploration, and ultimately, the lives of our young people. We must be fiercely committed to ensuring we don’t lose any ground on preserving and building the social capital and connections our young people need now more than ever.”
The bill comes at a time when young people are particularly affected by the social and economic repercussions of the global pandemic and a shift to virtual learning and disrupted social connections and enrichment opportunities. The Mentoring to Succeed Act has broad support from youth-serving organizations, including America’s Promise Alliance, College Mentors for Kids, Inc., Jobs for the Future, National Disability Mentoring Coalition, Year Up, and Youth Guidance.
What the Mentoring to Succeed Act Aims to Accomplish:
The Mentoring to Succeed Act will provide middle school and high school students with relationships to develop social-emotional skills and prepare them for future education and work. The bill authorizes funds for school districts, local governments, and community-based non-profit organizations to create or expand school-based mentoring to support students while intentionally combining trauma-informed training for mentors and supporting career exploration and workforce development goals. The bill expands mentoring by:
- Matching middle and high school students with the additional support of mentors. This personalized support is especially focused on students who are trailing their peers academically, are pregnant or parenting, chronically absent, in foster care, have come into contact with the juvenile justice system, have an incarcerated parent, are English language learners or experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
- Implementing mentoring services that ensure that mentors are screened, trained on trauma-informed practices, youth engagement, and cultural competency, and are provided ongoing support and technical assistance throughout their mentoring relationship.
- Developing the workforce readiness skills of students and encouraging them to participate in community service activities
- Prioritizing funding for school districts or local governments that serve youth with the greatest needs living in areas facing higher poverty and crime rates, rural areas, or who attend schools with higher rates of community violence.
ABOUT MENTOR
MENTOR is the unifying champion for quality youth mentoring in the United States. Our mission is to expand the quality and quantity of mentoring relationships nationwide. Potential is equally distributed; opportunity is not. A major driver of healthy development and opportunity is who you know and who’s in your corner. 30 years ago, MENTOR was created to expand that opportunity for young people by building a youth mentoring field and movement. The result: a more than 10-fold increase in young people in structured mentoring relationships. Today, we are the expert voice representing a movement that is diverse and broad and seeps into every aspect of daily life – meeting young people everywhere they are from schools to workplaces and beyond.