III
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. RES. 55
Recognizing January 2025 as ‘‘National Mentoring Month’’.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY4, 2025
Mr. W
HITEHOUSE(for himself, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BARRASSO,
Mr. B
LUMENTHAL, Ms. BLUNTROCHESTER, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. BRITT,
Mr. C
OONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HASSAN, Mr.
L
ANKFORD, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.
M
URPHY, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms.
S
MITH, Mr. VANHOLLEN, 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 men-
toring relationships, recruit new mentors, and encourage
institutions to integrate quality mentoring into their poli-
cies, practices, and programs;
Whereas quality mentoring fosters positive life and social
skills, promotes self-esteem, bolsters academic achieve-
ment and college access, supports career exploration, and
nurtures youth leadership development;
Whereas mentoring happens in many settings, including com-
munity-based programs, elementary and secondary
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schools, colleges, government agencies, religious institu-
tions, and the workplace, and in various ways, including
formal mentoring matches and informal relationships
with teachers, coaches, neighbors, faith leaders, and oth-
ers;
Whereas effective mentoring of underserved and vulnerable
populations helps individuals confront challenges and dis-
play 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 col-
lege, to participate regularly in sports or extracurricular
activities, to hold a leadership position in a club or sports
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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 comprehen-
sive 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, employ-
ment, 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 rela-
tionships, 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 demo-
graphics and backgrounds in all aspects of their lives;
Whereas each of the benefits of mentors described in this pre-
amble serves to link youth to economic and social oppor-
tunity 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
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Whereas this ‘‘mentoring gap’’ demonstrates the need for col-
laboration between the private, public, and nonprofit sec-
tors to increase resources for relationship-centric sup-
ports for youth in communities, schools, and workplaces:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate— 1
(1) recognizes January 2025 as ‘‘National Men-2
toring Month’’; 3
(2) recognizes the caring adults who serve as 4
staff and volunteers at quality mentoring programs 5
and help the young people of the United States find 6
inner strength and reach their full potential; 7
(3) acknowledges that mentoring is beneficial 8
because it supports educational achievement, engage-9
ment, and self-confidence, supports young people in 10
setting career goals and expanding social capital, re-11
duces juvenile delinquency, and strengthens commu-12
nities; 13
(4) promotes the establishment and expansion 14
of quality mentoring programs across the United 15
States to equip young people with the tools needed 16
to lead healthy and productive lives; and 17
(5) supports initiatives to close the ‘‘mentoring 18
gap’’ that exists for the many young people in the 19
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United States who do not have meaningful connec-1
tions with adults outside the home. 2
Æ
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