119-sres55

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 55 Agreed to Senate

    (ATS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 55

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

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 4, 2025

Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. 
Blumenthal, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Britt, Mr. Coons, Ms. 
 Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Kaine, Mr. King, 
 Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Markey, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Reed, Ms. Rosen, Mr. 
 Sanders, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Smith, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. 
 Boozman) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
 agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

 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 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 Alaska Native and American Indian youth;
Whereas 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 mentees 
 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 lead 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, to participate regularly in sports or 
 extracurricular activities, to hold a leadership position in a club or 
 sports team, and 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 mentoring 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 parental stress;
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 the benefits of mentoring, 1 out of every 3 young persons 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 Senate--

    (1) recognizes January 2025 as ``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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