Sponsors (15)
The bill directs targeted federal resources and evidence-driven evaluation to expand mentoring and workforce-readiness supports for underserved youth—potentially improving education and employment outcomes—while creating new, open-ended federal costs and administrative and privacy burdens that may limit some community providers and reduce mentor availability in high-need areas.
Children and youth—especially students and young adults—gain access to structured mentoring, workforce-readiness services, and credential-aligned training that improve job and education prospects over multi-year support.
High-need and underserved communities (high-poverty, rural, high-violence areas) receive funding priority, directing resources to youth who face the greatest barriers.
Youth with disabilities and those transitioning from correctional facilities get tailored supports and vocational services to improve reintegration and access to training and jobs.
Taxpayers face new, open-ended federal spending because costs are covered by “such sums as may be necessary,” which could increase budgetary pressure or require tradeoffs elsewhere.
Community-based organizations and nonprofits may incur higher administrative and compliance costs (background checks, validated assessments, reporting), reducing funds available for direct services.
Requiring exclusion of mentors with certain convictions within the prior seven years could substantially shrink the mentor pool in communities with higher incarceration rates, limiting program reach where need is greatest.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 28, 2025 by Janice D. Schakowsky · Last progress January 28, 2025
Creates a competitive mentoring grant program run by the Department of Labor to help community groups and partnerships build or expand mentoring services for youth, especially in high-poverty, rural, or high-risk communities. Grants may fund mentor recruitment and training, background checks, workforce-readiness and work-based learning, credentialed training, paid or unpaid work experiences, transition supports, data collection, subgrants, and technical assistance, and awards can last up to three years. Requires grantees to report participant demographics, academic and employment outcomes, and social-emotional outcomes (using a validated tool) while protecting student privacy; directs the Labor Department to coordinate with juvenile justice and education offices for referrals and resources; and authorizes “such sums as may be necessary” for FY2026–FY2030. The bill also requires a Department of Labor study, due within three years, to identify effective mentoring practices and evaluate the new grant program’s impact on academic and career outcomes for youth.