119-hres160

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 160 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 160

 Recognizing January 2025 as ``National Mentoring Month''.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 24, 2025

Ms. Scanlon (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mrs. 
 Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Titus, 
Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Carson, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Beatty, 
Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Crow, 
 Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Mr. 
Tonko, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Ross, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, 
 Mrs. McIver, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Moulton, Ms. 
Schakowsky, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Landsman, and Mr. DeSaulnier) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
 and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Recognizing January 2025 as ``National Mentoring Month''.

Whereas the goals of National Mentoring Month are to raise awareness of and 
 celebrate the powerful impact of mentoring relationships, recruit new 
 mentors, and encourage institutions to integrate quality mentoring into 
 their policies, practices, and programs;
Whereas quality mentoring fosters positive life and social skills, promotes 
 self-esteem, bolsters academic achievement and college access, supports 
 career exploration, and nurtures youth leadership development;
Whereas mentoring happens in many settings, including community-based programs, 
 elementary and secondary schools, colleges, government agencies, 
 religious institutions, and the workplace, and in various ways, 
 including formal mentoring matches and informal relationships with 
 teachers, coaches, neighbors, faith leaders, and others;
Whereas effective mentoring of underserved and vulnerable populations helps 
 individuals confront challenges they may face, and display improved 
 mental health and social-emotional well-being;
Whereas studies have shown that incorporating culture and heritage into 
 mentoring programs can improve academic outcomes and increase community 
 engagement, especially for Alaskan Native and American Indian youth;
Whereas youth development experts agree that mentoring encourages positive youth 
 development and smart daily behaviors, such as finishing homework and 
 having healthy social interactions, and has a positive impact on the 
 growth and success of a young person;
Whereas mentors help young people set career goals and can help connect them to 
 industry professionals to train for and find jobs;
Whereas mentoring programs generally have a significant, positive impact on 
 youth academic achievement, school connectedness and engagement, and 
 educational success, which leads to outcomes such as improved 
 attendance, grades and test scores, and classroom behavior;
Whereas research has found that young people facing risk of not completing high 
 school but who had a mentor were, compared with their peers, more likely 
 to enroll in college, more likely to participate regularly in sports or 
 extracurricular activities, more likely to hold a leadership position in 
 a club or sports team, more likely to volunteer regularly, and less 
 likely to start using drugs;
Whereas mentoring has long been a staple of juvenile justice and violence 
 prevention efforts, and can offer comprehensive support to youth at risk 
 for committing violence or victimization, as it can address many risk 
 factors at once;
Whereas mentoring relationships for youth facing risk, such as foster youth, can 
 have a positive impact on a wide range of factors, including mental 
 health, educational functioning and attainment, peer relationships, 
 employment, and housing stability;
Whereas mentoring programs have been found to have a meaningful positive impact 
 on mental health symptoms across a variety of outcomes, including 
 internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms, interpersonal 
 relationships, and reducing stress experienced by their parents;
Whereas mentoring is an innovative, evidence-based practice and, uniquely, is 
 both a prevention and intervention strategy that can support young 
 people of all demographics and backgrounds in all aspects of their 
 lives;
Whereas each of the benefits of mentors described in this preamble serves to 
 link youth to economic and social opportunity while also strengthening 
 communities in the United States;
Whereas, despite those described benefits, one young person of every three is 
 growing up without a mentor, which means a third of the youth of the 
 United States are growing up without someone outside of the home to 
 offer real life guidance and support; and
Whereas this ``mentoring gap'' demonstrates the need for collaboration between 
 the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to increase resources for 
 relationship-centric supports for youth in communities, schools, and 
 workplaces: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

    (1) recognizes ``National Mentoring Month'';

    (2) recognizes the caring adults who serve as staff and 
 volunteers at quality mentoring programs and help the young 
 people of the United States find inner strength and reach their 
 full potential;

    (3) acknowledges that mentoring is beneficial because it 
 supports educational achievement, engagement and self-
 confidence, supports young people in setting career goals and 
 expanding social capital, reduces juvenile delinquency, and 
 strengthens communities;

    (4) promotes the establishment and expansion of quality 
 mentoring programs across the United States to equip young 
 people with the tools needed to lead healthy and productive 
 lives; and

    (5) supports initiatives to close the ``mentoring gap'' 
 that exists for the many young people in the United States who 
 do not have meaningful connections with adults outside the 
 home.
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