MENTOR Releases Legislative Agenda for 2009
February 3, 2009: With the 111th Congress in session, MENTOR announced its public affairs priorities, which would help build the infrastructure necessary to expand high-quality mentoring programs across America. The bills (first three priorities) should be introduced shortly.
Highlights of the legislative agenda are:
The Child Protection Improvements Act:
This law would create a streamlined system to allow youth-serving organizations access to nationwide FBI fingerprint searches for volunteers and employees in a timely and affordable manner. It is based on the PROTECT Act pilot, which MENTOR manages in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and which mentoring organizations and others have been using with impressive results for nearly five years.
The Mentoring for All Act:
This law would create a competitive $50 million grant fund to strengthen and grow mentoring infrastructure and provide additional support and funding to direct-service mentoring organizations.
The Mentoring America’s Children Act:
This law would strengthen and reauthorize the U.S. Department of Education’s Mentoring Programs grants, which help local organizations start or expand school-based mentoring programs for children of greatest need in rural areas, high-crime areas, troubled home environments or violent school environments.
$100 million for two competitive grant programs for mentoring in fiscal year 2010 through the Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill: MENTOR is advocating for $50 million for the Department of Education’s Mentoring Programs grants and another $50 million for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Mentoring Children of Prisoners program.
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Tuesday, February 3rd 2009 at 3:44PM
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