Transition-to-Success Mentoring Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 804 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to award grants to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring programs to assist at-risk middle school students with the transition from middle school to high school. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2019 Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. SOTO, Ms. MOORE, and Ms. NOR- TON) 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 award grants to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring programs to assist at-risk middle school students with the transition from middle school to high school. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transition-to-Success 4 Mentoring Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 804 IH SEC. 2. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM. 1 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 2 1002(d) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 3 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6553) is amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘(d) PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION PROGRAMS 5 FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE NEGLECTED, DE- 6 LINQUENT, OR AT-RISK.—There are authorized to be ap- 7 propriated to carry out the activities described in part D, 8 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and such sums as may 9 be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 10 (b) TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO- 11 GRAM.—Part D of title I of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6421 12 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘Subpart 4—Transition-to-Success Mentoring 14 Program 15 ‘‘SEC. 1441. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO- 16 GRAM. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 18 to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants 19 to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school- 20 based mentoring programs to assist eligible students with 21 the transition from middle school to high school. 22 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this 23 section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 24 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con- 25 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 804 IH ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 1 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible 2 entity that receives a grant under this section shall 3 use the grant funds to establish a mentoring pro- 4 gram, or to expand or provide technical support to 5 an existing mentoring program, in all middle schools 6 served by the entity, under which each eligible stu- 7 dent is assigned to a success coach who— 8 ‘‘(A) creates a plan for success for the stu- 9 dent that— 10 ‘‘(i) is created with the student, teach- 11 ers, mentor, and parents of the student; 12 ‘‘(ii) includes, for each academic year, 13 the student’s academic, personal, college, 14 and career exploration goals, and a strat- 15 egy on how to accomplish such goals; 16 ‘‘(iii) identifies the student’s 17 strengths, weaknesses, and academic 18 progress; and 19 ‘‘(iv) includes a plan to educate and 20 support the student’s college or career ex- 21 ploration goals; 22 ‘‘(B) enters into a signed, written agree- 23 ment with the parents of the student that de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 804 IH scribes how the parents should assist the stu- 1 dent in carrying out the plan for success; 2 ‘‘(C) meets with the student at least once 3 per month to— 4 ‘‘(i) assist the student in achieving the 5 goals under the plan for success; 6 ‘‘(ii) identify the student’s academic 7 areas of weaknesses; 8 ‘‘(iii) provide the student with the 9 tools necessary to improve the student’s 10 potential for academic excellence, and en- 11 sure the student’s successful transition 12 from middle school to high school by iden- 13 tifying improved attitude, behavior, 14 coursework, and social involvement; and 15 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a student with be- 16 havioral issues, assist the student in behav- 17 ior management techniques; 18 ‘‘(D) at least monthly, meets with the stu- 19 dent and the parents, teachers, or counselors of 20 the student to— 21 ‘‘(i) evaluate the student’s progress in 22 achieving the goals under the plan for the 23 current academic year; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 804 IH ‘‘(ii) revise or establish new goals for 1 the next academic year; 2 ‘‘(E) serves as the student’s advocate be- 3 tween the teachers and parents of the student 4 to ensure that the teachers and parents under- 5 stand the student’s plan; and 6 ‘‘(F) serves as the student’s advocate in 7 exploring higher education and career opportu- 8 nities. 9 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligi- 10 ble entity that receives a grant under this section 11 may use such funds to— 12 ‘‘(A) develop and carry out a training pro- 13 gram for success coaches, including providing 14 support to match success coaches with eligible 15 students; 16 ‘‘(B) cover the cost of any materials used 17 by success coaches under the mentoring pro- 18 gram; and 19 ‘‘(C) hire staff to perform or support the 20 program objectives. 21 ‘‘(d) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this section 22 shall be awarded for a period of not more than 5 years. 23 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 804 IH ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An eligible entity 1 receiving a grant under this section shall submit to 2 the Secretary, at the end of each academic year dur- 3 ing the grant period, a report that includes— 4 ‘‘(A) the number of students who partici- 5 pated in the school-based mentoring program 6 that was funded in whole or in part with the 7 grant funds under this section; 8 ‘‘(B) data on the academic achievement of 9 such students; 10 ‘‘(C) the number of contact hours between 11 such students and their success coaches; and 12 ‘‘(D) any other information that the Sec- 13 retary may require to evaluate the success of 14 the school-based mentoring program. 15 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.— 16 ‘‘(A) INTERIM REPORT.—At the end of the 17 third fiscal year for which funds are made 18 available to carry out this section, the Secretary 19 shall submit to Congress an interim report on 20 the success of the school-based mentoring pro- 21 grams funded under this section that includes 22 the information received under paragraph (1). 23 ‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—At the end of the 24 fifth fiscal year for which funds are made avail- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 804 IH able to carry out this section, the Secretary 1 shall submit to Congress a final report on the 2 success of the school-based mentoring programs 3 funded under this section that includes the in- 4 formation received under paragraph (1). 5 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) AT-RISK STUDENT.—The term ‘at-risk stu- 7 dent’ means a student who has been identified as a 8 student who has below a 2.0 grade point average or 9 the equivalent or who has been determined by par- 10 ents, teachers, or other school officials to— 11 ‘‘(A) be at-risk of academic failure; 12 ‘‘(B) have expressed interest in dropping 13 out of school; 14 ‘‘(C) show signs of a drug or alcohol prob- 15 lem; 16 ‘‘(D) be pregnant or a parent; 17 ‘‘(E) have come into contact with the juve- 18 nile justice system in the past; 19 ‘‘(F) have limited English proficiency; 20 ‘‘(G) be a gang member; or 21 ‘‘(H) have a high absenteeism rate at 22 school. 23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 24 tity’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 804 IH ‘‘(A) a local educational agency that— 1 ‘‘(i) receives, or is eligible to receive, 2 funds under part A of this title; or 3 ‘‘(ii) is a high-need local educational 4 agency; or 5 ‘‘(B) a partnership between a local edu- 6 cational agency described in subparagraph (A) 7 and a nonprofit, community-based organization. 8 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 9 student’ means a student who— 10 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in a middle school served 11 by an eligible entity; and 12 ‘‘(B) is an at-risk student. 13 ‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 14 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 15 means a local educational agency that serves at least 16 one high-need school. 17 ‘‘(5) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘high- 18 need school’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 19 tion 2211(b)(2). 20 ‘‘(6) MIDDLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘middle 21 school’ means a nonprofit institutional day or resi- 22 dential school, including a public charter school, that 23 provides middle school education, as determined 24 under State law, except that the term does not in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 804 IH clude any education below grade 6 or beyond grade 1 9. 2 ‘‘(7) SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING.—The term 3 ‘school-based mentoring’ refers to mentoring activi- 4 ties that— 5 ‘‘(A) are closely coordinated with a school 6 by involving teachers, counselors, and other 7 school staff who may identify and refer stu- 8 dents for mentoring services; and 9 ‘‘(B) assist at-risk students in improving 10 academic achievement, reducing disciplinary re- 11 ferrals, and increasing positive regard for 12 school. 13 ‘‘(8) SUCCESS COACH.—The term ‘success 14 coach’ means an individual who— 15 ‘‘(A) is— 16 ‘‘(i) an employee or volunteer of a 17 local educational agency in which a men- 18 toring program receiving support under 19 this section is being carried out; or 20 ‘‘(ii) a volunteer or employee from a 21 nonprofit, community-based organization 22 that provides volunteers for mentoring pro- 23 grams in secondary schools; and 24 ‘‘(B) prior to becoming a success coach— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 804 IH ‘‘(i) received training and support in 1 mentoring from an eligible entity, which, at 2 a minimum, was 2 hours in length and 3 covered the roles and responsibilities of a 4 success coach; and 5 ‘‘(ii) underwent a screening by an eli- 6 gible entity that included— 7 ‘‘(I) appropriate job reference 8 checks; 9 ‘‘(II) child and domestic abuse 10 record checks; and 11 ‘‘(III) criminal background 12 checks.’’. 13 SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 14 The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary 15 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 16 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 17 to section 1432 the following: 18 ‘‘SUBPART 4—TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM ‘‘Sec. 1441. Transition-to-success mentoring program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H804.IH H804 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS