PRINTER'S NO. 3923
No. 2608 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY REICHLEY, DALLY, MANN, ELLIS, THOMAS, BEYER, BOYD,
BUNT, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, CRAHALLA, CREIGHTON,
DENLINGER, DeWEESE, FREEMAN, GEIST, GEORGE, GINGRICH,
GODSHALL, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HARHART, KOTIK, MYERS, NAILOR,
PHILLIPS, REED, ROONEY, SAINATO, SAMUELSON, SAYLOR, SCAVELLO,
SIPTROTH, E. Z. TAYLOR, J. TAYLOR, YOUNGBLOOD, YUDICHAK,
GRELL, KAUFFMAN, McNAUGHTON, GERGELY, ZUG, B. SMITH AND
PALLONE, APRIL 24, 2006
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, APRIL 24, 2006
AN ACT
1 Establishing the School-Based Mentoring Grant Program; imposing
2 additional powers and duties on the Department of Education;
3 and making an appropriation.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the School-Based
8 Mentoring Grant Program Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Department." The Department of Education of the
14 Commonwealth.
15 "Program." The School-Based Mentoring Grant Program
1 established by this act.
2 "Qualified organization." A nonprofit based menotoring
3 organization which is a dues-paying affiliate with a national
4 mentoring organization with the primary mission of one-to-one
5 mentoring, which meets the qualifications set forth in this act.
6 "School-based mentoring service." A relationship in which
7 both the students and mentors share everyday experiences that
8 enrich their lives with the expectation that youth will benefit
9 from the presence of additional caring mentors in their lives.
10 Section 3. School-Based Mentoring Grant Program.
11 (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established the School-
12 Based Mentoring Grant Program.
13 (b) Administration and purpose.--The program shall be
14 administered by the department to provide grants to qualified
15 organizations for school-based mentoring programs which qualify
16 for such grants under this act.
17 (c) Grants.--A qualified organization may apply to the
18 department for a school-based mentoring grant if the qualified
19 organization has a written agreement with a school district to
20 provide school-based mentoring services to students in
21 kindergarten through grade 12 who reside within the boundaries
22 of the school district.
23 (d) Qualifications.--In order to be qualified to receive
24 grants under this act, the organization providing school-based
25 mentoring service must meet all of the following criteria:
26 (1) The organization must be a nonprofit mentoring
27 organization, which is a dues-paying affiliate with a
28 national mentoring organization, with the primary mission of
29 one-to-one mentoring, which qualifies as a tax-exempt
30 organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
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1 Code of 1986 (Public Law 99-514, 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3)).
2 (2) The organization must provide screening of volunteer
3 mentors, including a personal interview with a degreed
4 professional paid staff member, reference checks, criminal
5 and child abuse background checks and training for each
6 potential mentor.
7 (3) Each mentor-student relationship must be supported
8 by professionally trained paid staff which must include
9 contact and evaluation with the mentor, the student and the
10 student's parent or guardian within two weeks of the
11 beginning of the relationship and monthly thereafter for the
12 first year of the relationship. The contact and evaluation
13 must be performed on a quarterly basis after the first year
14 of the relationship.
15 (4) The organization must provide school-based mentoring
16 which consists of all of the following elements:
17 (i) Teachers or other school personnel refer
18 students in the school district in kindergarten through
19 grade 12 who could benefit from adult friendship and
20 support.
21 (ii) Mentors committing to meeting with the students
22 for at least one hour per week throughout the academic
23 year.
24 (iii) Mentors meeting one-to-one with the students
25 at the student's school.
26 (iv) Mentors and students spending some time on
27 schoolwork and also engaging in other activities that
28 help build a strong relationship, such as playing sports
29 and games, exploring the Internet, doing artwork, writing
30 a story, eating lunch together, talking or other similar
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1 activities.
2 (5) The organization must utilize program-based outcome
3 evaluations which evaluate short-term and long-term project
4 outcomes. In the case of school-based mentoring, teachers and
5 mentors must fill out a program-based outcome evaluation
6 report which will provide quantifiable data on the short-term
7 and long-term changes in the developmental outcomes to
8 measure the effectiveness of the program six months after
9 being matched with a student and at the end of the school
10 year.
11 (e) Limitations.--No grants shall be made to any qualified
12 organization in excess of $1,000, exclusive of matching funds,
13 for each student being provided mentoring services by a
14 qualified organization.
15 (f) Matching requirement.--Each qualified organization must
16 have the ability to provide up to a 50% match for department
17 grants in financial or in-kind support from other public or
18 private sources based upon departmental guidelines. In-kind
19 support may not exceed half of the required match. In-kind
20 support may consist of a donation of cash, personal property or
21 services the value of which is the net cost of the donation to
22 the donor or the pro rata hourly wage, including benefits, of
23 the individual performing the services.
24 Section 4. Appropriation.
25 The sum of $5,000,000, or as much thereof as may be
26 necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Department of Education
27 for the fiscal year July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, to carry out
28 the provisions of this act.
29 Section 5. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect immediately.
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