Sponsors (15)
The bill expands access to evidence-based mentoring and targeted supports—especially for high-need and disabled youth—while imposing new administrative and operational costs on grantees and relying on a multi-year federal evaluation that may be slow and limited in scope.
Students and eligible youth gain access to federally supported, evidence-based mentoring and workforce-readiness programs that can improve academic achievement and career readiness.
Low-income and high-need youth in high-poverty, rural, or violence-impacted communities are prioritized for grants, increasing targeted supports where needs are greatest.
Youth with disabilities receive explicit inclusion and transition supports (including priority for vocational rehabilitation and credential pathways), improving access to postsecondary and employment pathways.
Community-based organizations face administrative burden from three-year grant limits, mandatory reporting/evaluation, and recurring reapplication requirements.
Required background checks, training, and data collection increase operational costs for grantees, potentially reducing funds available for direct services to youth.
Priority for entities already serving high-need youth may disadvantage newer or smaller organizations, limiting local innovation and reducing service options in some communities.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Adds a WIOA youth mentoring program authority and requires a Labor Department study on mentoring effectiveness, with results due in 3 years.
Official title: To establish a competitive grant program to support the establishment, expansion, or enhancement of youth mentoring programs for eligible youth, and to provide for social and emotional learning, employability skill development, career exploration, work-based learning, and other youth workforce opportunities.
Introduced January 28, 2025 by Janice D. Schakowsky · Last progress January 28, 2025
Creates a new federal youth mentoring program authority within the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to support community-based mentoring that helps secondary-school-aged youth build cognitive and social-emotional skills and prepare for postsecondary education and careers. It also directs the Department of Labor to study which mentoring models and oversight practices are most effective and to evaluate the new grant program's impact on academic and career outcomes, with a report to Congress due within three years.